MGC to Hold Responsible Gambling Conference in May

According to information from Boston’s WBZ NewsRadio 1030 quoting the State House News Service, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is busy setting up the details for an upcoming spring conference aimed at hitting the refresh button on responsible gambling policies in the state. 

Improving “Knowledge Mobilization” 

Over the last decade, the MGC has been busy thoroughly collecting relevant data and information regarding all the changing aspects of the gambling world. 

Now, the commission whose goal is to “create a fair, transparent and participatory process for implementing the expanded gaming law” has decided to reunite important actors in the industry and discuss the best solutions for transferring the results of the research into newer and better responsible gaming policies.

The regional conference, which will take place on May 14 at the AC Marriott hotel in Worcester, will reunite around 200 representatives of the Northeast Council on Problem Gambling from New York, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, along with other stakeholders in the industry.

The MGC’s director of research and responsible gaming, Mark Vander Linden, detailed the purpose of the conference was to upgrade and refine “knowledge mobilization”. 

In other words, the commission wishes to “rewrite the playbook” based on the newly revealed evidence from their expansive research. 

This translates to making sure that their research data successfully reaches those organizations and industry representatives who can use it to implement better responsible gambling practices and policies.

2,300 Voluntarily Excluded Players Via the VSE Program

After raising concerns regarding the small percentage of sports bettors who made use of responsible gambling tools since the official launch of legal betting in the Bay State a year ago, 

commissioners are determined to hold a roundtable and come up with solutions for turning responsible gambling tools into a “cool” option for more players. 

In 2023, around 2,300 gamblers chose to voluntarily exclude themselves from casino gambling, sports wagering, or both by signing up for the statewide Voluntary Self-Exclusion Program (VSE) implemented by the MGC in March 2023 at the request of the Legislature.

Around 33% of the individuals completed a reinstatement session to be removed from the program which resulted in 1,573 active members according to data from December 26, 2023.

According to Thursday’s MGC report, a 2018 study revealed that many of the people who keep gambling after using the self-exclusion option reported lower gambling frequency rates as well as fewer losses.

The same study showed that the rates of gambling abstention after enrollment in the VSE program were higher.