UK Online
Casinos to Adopt Addict Verification System
With all the anti online casinos stories in the
news it is encouraging to see that the online casinos industry
is taking steps in the right direction to show the anti gambling
lobbyists that they are making efforts to protect gamers in
online casinos.
On June 20th one of the largest Identification Verification
Systems Providers announced that they will launch a web based
Global Self Exclusion Database (GSED). This database protects
gambling addicts from their habits and quells the temptation to
gamble in online casinos.
The service works by preventing any individual whose name
appears on the database list from logging on and opening an
account with participating online casinos. If the user changes
their mind about registering themselves on the strictly
confidential opt in list, they have a cooling off period of
seven days to change their mind and remove their name from the
register. The problem gambler can select a period of time that
they wish to be excluded for. This varies from a one year, to a
five year, through to a lifetime ban. The gambler will not be
able to remove their name from the list and gamble in online
casinos until their selected time frame has expired.
Statistics have shown that approximately 80% of online casinos
licensed in the UK use this Identification Verification System
from the large Washington D.C. based company. The parent company
is backed by Rupert Murdoch and specializes in voter
registration databases.
The new GSED system was created in conjunction with the UK based
National Council on Problem Gambling, and the way it works is as
follows; when the gambler attempts to log on to specific online
casinos their identification details are sent to a central
computer that gives authorisation codes to the online casinos.
If this particular player has registered themselves on the
problem gambler register or for other reasons such as underage
access, false identification details, criminal record, national
watch list or other markers the access code will be denied and
gaming in the online casinos is denied.
The system allows gamblers who feel they are vulnerable, to
register with this database to protect themselves from logging
on to online casinos. Currently there are facilities for
compulsive gamblers but these facilities are not centrally
managed. Most of the responsible online casinos have their own
databases that have compiled lists of problem gamblers.
It is expected that the new technology will be adopted by all
the online casinos that display the eCOGRA "play it safe" seal.
This technology has come in conjunction with a new ruling in
Illinois that requires the states nine casinos (not online
casinos) to adopt a similar database. In these casinos the
gamblers identification card will be swiped and if it shows that
they are self banned addicts, they will be denied access. If the
player is in the casino and caught gambling it is up to the
manager's discretion as to whether the player should be
prosecuted.
UK Online
Casinos to Adopt Addict Verification System
