And now for something COMPLETELY new (Part 1)
'Casino Wager Limits' and why NO ONE else bothered upto then
I’ll start all of what follows with a simple bit of insight.
Last year (in the UK); the UKGC passed a new law which required the immediate implementation of Max Slots limits for all active customers.
Other jurisdiction; notable Germany & Greece; also have these stipulations in-place but in the case of the UK - there was significant pushback and sector discourse regarding this new law and the rationale / motivations behind it.
Some voices were vehemently opposed to it; sighting that it would backfire (‘Cobra Effect’) and actually drive vulnerable players to illicit operators (‘The Black Market’).
Others claimed it was a vast over-reach on the part of the GC and that such an action would adversely impact the business operations of legitimate; tax-paying companies.
Lived Experience spokespersons also raised concern that such a feature actually would not stem the problem.
My own position (which I made widely-known) was that such a limit was a good thing BUT enforcing it upon customers was not:
Requiring operators to built and release these features was in everyone’s interest but then they should be voluntary for the customers to avail of. This is the same position I take with DEPs and it’s born out of incalculable number of customer interactions. I’ve heard what the [gambling] public want and think - I spent 12 years of my life listening!
Anywho….
LONG BEFORE any regulator had mandated maximum wagering caps on Slot games; I lead a project within PokerStars to introduce an industry-first to the market.
In late 2014; Full Tilt & PokerStars rocked (and somewhat disappointed) the established Online-Poker ecosystem by introducing Casino games. Followed a year or so later by a fully integrated Sportsbook platform.
The days of the poker-purest playground was over.
The months leading up to the launch (originally on Full Tilt as a soft launch) and then into PokerStars fully fledged; were fraught.
Extremely fraught.
The Full Tilt launch [Casino games] went decently IIRC. By that time remember; Full Tilt had lost most of it’s prestige and shine.
The entire FTP Scandal and the Sojourn was still recent enough that the odour of BAD PR was still firmly-set.
Rest assured this is not another Black Friday story.
Now this is going to be the story of how; empowered by my then-department head and ‘Joe’ (previously-mentioned IPM Director), I set about doing something that seemingly no-one else in the Online Casino sector had attempted (or released):
Self-Imposed Max* Casino Wager Limits.
That’s right….
And even though I am one of those true poker-purest; surely if Poker players can be offered functionality and features to tailor their own gaming experience then why shouldn’t there be parity for Casino players in the game clients [Full Tilt & PokerStars]
I have been asked before:
“What is your proudest accomplishment in RG/SG?”
“I dont know really but one of them was creating the self-imposed casino game limits.”
