New Zealand’s biggest casino, SkyCity Auckland, is under scrutiny for failing to protect its customers from problem gambling. In one particular case, a man lost $1 million without intervention from casino employees.
The unnamed man played slot machines at SkyCity Auckland on 23 different occasions between 2017 and 2021. Authorities have determined the man would spend up to nine hours on pokie machines and no one at SkyCity checked intervened.
Casinos Have a Legal Obligation to Customers
Although players are responsible for spending money on casino games, casinos must protect vulnerable customers. At least that’s what the laws in New Zealand dictate.
One of the conditions of accepting a casino license in NZ involves protecting players against gambling harm.
“Casinos are under a host of obligations, which essentially require them to monitor for signs of gambling harm and to intervene when they’re observed,” Vikki Scott, director of gambling at Internal Affairs, told the New Zealand Herald.
SkyCity Auckland has released a statement admitting it failed to fulfill one of its core duties as a casino. The casino went one step ahead and volunteered to close down its casino for five days as an apology to its customers. The casino will allegedly lose $5 million in revenue during the five days.
SkyCity Blames Alert Systems
Every casino has a system that alerts staff members when a player hits a certain threshold too soon. The system can go off if a player loses $100 to $1000 in less than an hour. It can also monitor a player’s weekly and monthly losses.
SkyCity claims their player alert systems didn’t work when the mentioned player lost his money. While systems can fail, SkyCity couldn’t convince authorities why their systems didn’t work for four years. The complainant who lost $1M at the casino lost his money in a period of four years—from 2017 to 2021.
Additionally, the casino couldn’t explain the lack of physical vigilance on its customers. Someone spending multiple hours on a slot machine is a cause for alarm at most casinos.
SkyCity Takes Drastic Measures to Right its Wrongs
After being forced to close its premises for five days, SkyCity took serious action to improve its brand. First, it trained all its employees to monitor customers for problem gambling signs. It also tripled the number of staff whose duty is to check on players.
Secondly, it invented new player alert systems. It bought facial recognition systems and touted plans to create accounts for its customers.
“We are focused on continuous improvement,” Callum Mallett, the casino’s CEO said. “What we can guarantee is our systems are significantly better than they were and we are focused on making sure they get better so this doesn’t happen again,” he added.
When asked if SkyCity would repay the man who lost $1 million, he said he couldn’t admit or disagree on privacy grounds. However, he admitted the casinos failed the man and would correct its wrongdoing.
Things to Check in a Reliable Casino
SkyCity isn’t the first casino to receive criticism for failing to protect vulnerable players. In the UK, casinos pay millions of euros in fines for similar or less serious crimes.
As a result, the more reliable gambling sites take extreme measures to protect their customers. Here are five things online casinos do to protect vulnerable players:
Setting Deposit and Betting Limits
The best casinos give you tools to help manage your finances. A deposit limit prevents you from adding more money to your account after a certain amount. If you set your monthly limit to $100, you can’t deposit more than $100 until the month is over.
A betting limit guides you when playing slots and table games. The tool is particularly helpful to players who tend to overspend. The beauty of this tool is that it can’t be readjusted instantly.
If you have a maximum betting limit of $2 per slot machine, you can’t change it to $4 instantly. There’s usually a cool-down period of several days to ensure you make the decision with no emotional influence.
Player Identification
Every online casino asks for an ID. Sometimes they ask for an address, selfie photo, and utility bill. These details help keep underage players away from gambling. Player identification also helps fight money laundering.
Another reason a casino may ask for your details is to reduce abuse on their platforms. People with multiple accounts can claim a bonus unfairly. One account per person rule ensures the system is fair to everyone.
Real-time Behavioral Monitoring
The best online casinos have systems that monitor players around the clock. As we mentioned earlier, problem-gambling alarms go off if you spend or lose more than a specific amount of money.
A casino may also contact you if they notice a drastic increase in time spent at a website. Asking you to take a break is done through non-intrusive alert messages. No one will forcefully ask you to log out of your account. In fact, most operators engage with you to ensure you’re okay before deciding whether to recommend a break.
New Game Designs
Software providers are stripping down several features in slots to reduce cases of problem gaming. Turbo Spins, a feature that made reels spin faster so that you could play more games, has been eliminated.
You also can’t play more than one slot at the same time. This helps minimize your budget and your potential losses. On the other hand, casinos have become transparent about bonuses, payout rates, and betting limits.
In the past, most casinos didn’t reveal wager requirements until after you made a deposit. Nowadays, they give you the full information. In some countries, casinos are also required to tighten their VIP freebies.
Casinos used to give out prestigious rewards to high-stakes customers because they’re big spenders. However, laws are changing to protect all players, including VIP customers. Under the new laws, you have to prove you can afford high-stakes betting before receiving VIP rewards.
