Safer Gambling Week: Could channelisation come from consequences rather than coddling?

This morning, the Beyond the Regulatory Perimeter: Tackling Europe's Black Market Challenge webinar discussed advertisements, black market figures, and perhaps most importantly, channelisation efforts.

The speakers featured were Maris Catania, LeoVegas Director of Player Sustainability; Ed Birkin, H2 Gambling Capital Managing Director; David Foster, Entain Director of International Regulatory Affairs; and Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General.

Product restrictions, wager caps, limited payment options, strict Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and self-exclusion registers were all introduced as reasons for players to transition to the black market - but how do you get them back?

This is the million pound question, or the $1.3m dollar question for those across the pond, that many regulators around the world are currently facing.

Birkin was the first to answer the question when it was posed to the group by Catania.

"A big reason that many people use these black market sites is because of the products," he said.

It is not an uncommon occurrence for consumers to want to play popular products, but suppliers have not signed, albeit expensive, deals with licensed operators. Instead, they give the products to offshore casinos and end up undermining the legal, onshore market.

"Where is the incentive for players to use incentive markets, or for companies to get licences for markets?" Birkin asked. After all, they are all offered more autonomy in the offshore space, more money and more potential.

However, he argued that regulators should be keeping an eye on where suppliers in particular are offering their games, and if they are found to be offering games in offshore markets, "they should get a tap on the shoulder" with potential ramifications for their licence.

Of course, this is something we saw with Evolution and the UK Gambling Commission last winter.

Birkin concluded that introducing stricter consequences for companies not self-regulating would give them "a commercial reason" to stay within the regulated market - and bring the customers with them.

Hoffstedt agreed, adding that he would like to see some arrests being made for people who breach gambling regulations to set an example.

"This is high up on the agenda for many EU countries," Hoffstedt continued. "Because if you are operating illegal as a casino, there is a chance that you are operating other things illegally too."

Interestingly, Hoffstedt also introduced another facet that has emerged recently.

"We are used to the Euro and most of us speak English, so it's not a problem for people to gamble in the unlicensed market. One of the only ways we can tell if you are attracting local players as a licensed casino is if you accept the local currency and use our local language."

But in order to actively combat this, Hoffstedt argued that: "You need to set up a channelisation goal in each and every jurisdiction. If you have this ambition, then you start to understand the fundamentals of balancing the excitement of the game against the regulations."

After all, once you understand what you are up against, you start to think about introducing new products to attract more onshore customers and figuring out how to make these thrive under the regulations.

Finally, Foster pushed for multi-lateral and multi-national collaboration and coordination - Try saying that sentence fast a few times.

"We see it in so many other sectors, look at the UN with organised crime and drugs, but this doesn't exist yet in the gambling sphere," he offered.

If countries had better channels of communication to discuss potential bad actors, as well as established relationships with e-commerce providers and payment providers within their borders, then action could be taken much faster.