By Keith Whyte
April 16, 2025 11:44 AM
As Illinois legislators debate legalizing iGaming, problem gambling concerns remain at the forefront. Opponents of online gambling, often traditional gambling companies motivated by competitive concerns, raise some understandable fears about potential increases in problem gambling. However, they should also acknowledge that account-based online wagering is driving a revolution in responsible gambling.
Unlike retail casinos, which have limited ways to monitor individual play, and illegal, unlicensed online gaming platforms that target minors and lack basic consumer protections, regulated online gaming platforms utilize advanced data and technology to better identify, prevent, and address problem gambling-related behaviors. With over 20 years of experience tackling gambling addiction and advising policymakers, I know a legal, regulated market is far safer than offshore platforms. Illinois should embrace the potential for setting a new gold standard in consumer protection and responsible gaming through a regulated, taxed market.
Data analytics has transformed responsible gambling online. By analyzing player behavior, operators can detect patterns indicative of potential gambling problems. For instance, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement requires online betting companies to monitor player activity for signs of problem gambling and intervene accordingly. By assessing variables such as frequency of play, bet sizes, and time spent gambling, operators can proactively reach out to individuals displaying risky behaviors.
While online gambling may be a new issue in Illinois, organizations like the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) developed Internet Responsible Gambling Standards to guide operators in implementing effective measures. These guidelines, continuously updated over the past decade, emphasize informed decision-making, responsible marketing, and support for at-risk players. Independent certification ensures compliance with these standards and continuous improvements in player protection.
Advancements in technology have introduced innovative tools for player protection. Limit-setting features on online gambling platforms let users control their deposits, time, and money. Budgeting and cost-of-play calculators further promote responsible play, and several operators have recently introduced powerful account tools to track and visualize players’ activity.
Efforts to raise consumer awareness about responsible gambling have yielded positive results. According to the American Gaming Association, more than 84% of past-year gamblers are aware of at least one responsible gaming resource, with 91% of sports bettors acknowledging such resources. March’s National Problem Gambling Awareness Month further promotes responsible gaming; telehealth providers and digital health apps make best-in-class treatment services available anywhere, anytime; blocking software adds another layer of protection by preventing a user’s computer from accessing gambling websites. This heightened awareness is crucial for empowering players to seek help when needed.
In many states, gambling operators, regulators, and advocates are leveraging technology to create new approaches to voluntary self-exclusion programs. Through private and protected enrollment to encrypted data-sharing across operators, self-exclusion has become simpler and more effective. Rather than literally walking across the parking lot to the next casino and continuing to gamble, players now have the ability to enroll in self-bans that will work across regulated iGaming operators.
Gambling regulators have an important role to play in ensuring players, their families, communities, and the state are able to minimize the social costs of gambling addiction while maximizing the public benefit from legalized gambling. Regulators need to ensure all operators adhere to stringent responsible gambling practices. They also need to help all consumers distinguish between regulated and unregulated online gambling.
The benefits of a regulated marketplace are clear. Regulated iGaming platforms are required to block access for customers below the legal gaming age and use state-of-the-art technology to verify each player’s identity. Illinoisans are already gambling on unregulated apps like Chumba, Stake, and High 5 Casino, which skirt gaming laws and allow users to bypass age and identity verification with a simple checkbox. In the regulated market, customers can choose to self-exclude if they feel they may be at risk for problem gaming — unregulated apps target these very same people. After investigating an unregulated online casino in Connecticut, regulators found that 10% of its customers had previously attempted to block themselves from using regulated platforms.
By operating outside the legal gaming framework, these unregulated sites dodge state requirements to fund problem gambling education and treatment programs. Unregulated platforms pose a far greater risk — and in some cases may actively cater to — customers most at risk of developing gambling problems.
Having worked in this field for over two decades, I know that gambling addiction stems from a complex interplay of factors, requiring a public health approach that promotes prevention, treatment, research, and education. States must dedicate some of the revenue generated to fund culturally specific programs that support responsible gambling and recovery.
Technology has revolutionized responsible gambling online, enabling more effective identification and prevention of problem gambling behaviors. Through predictive modeling, technological innovation, industry collaboration, consumer education, and stringent regulatory measures, the regulated online gambling industry is making strides toward ensuring a safer and more responsible environment for all players.
Keith Whyte served 26 years as executive director for the National Council of Problem Gambling. He now leads problem gambling advisory firm Safer Gambling Strategies.
Original Article: https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/letters/article_0dc847d9-ec9a-46e7-8ac4-49abf10b2ade.html