Welcome to the SiGMA Podcast, where we speak to all the biggest players about the biggest issues in the gaming industry. In this first episode, Wesley Ellul speaks to Adam Doyle, Head of Gaming at RiskNarrative about the role regulation plays in the industry and how you can stay compliant.

Listen to the podcast in full on Spotify:

The UK Gambling Act and changing regulations

Speaking on how the UK GC has changed significantly over the years, Adam Doyle, Head of Gaming at RiskNarrative says, “One thing which we’d definitely say is the UK GC sets very high standards for regulation, and what we’re definitely seeing in new markets – such as The Netherlands, and Ontario, for example, is that they do very much follow the strict procedures that the UK GC is doing, which is very good because it’s obviously all about protecting the players.”

The development over the last 13 years has been significant he claims. “Online gambling only really started in 1990, so it’s still a very new market. It’s one of those things that operators, and suppliers like ourselves, who are very much having to develop year-on-year, really need to make sure that they’re aligning themselves with regulations. So there’s definitely been a number of changes, but personally I think it’s for the better. Some things maybe need a bit more clarification, but hopefully that’s something that we’re really gonna be seeing over the next 6 to 18 months.”

Aligning with the digital age

In a discussion on how the landscape has shifted over the years due to advancing technologies, Adam explains how the UK GC are looking to align with where we are now in 2022,? it is crucial, he says, that they? protect players. “They have to make sure that people are doing everything, within reason, that they can do.”

Adam goes on to share a personal anecdote about his own experience of how technology is changing the way we gamble. “Back in the early two thousands some people didn’t even have WiFi. That’s a common thing now. Now you can gamble without actually leaving your front room because you’ve got your mobile phone. I got into gambling through my granddad, because when I used to go to his house, I would find him listening to the horse racing on the wireless.. For him to go and make a bet, he would actually physically have to get in the car, drive out, and go and put the bet on.”

“So he never really put any money on it. He just listened to it, because obviously there was a lot of effort involved in actually placing a bet back then. So I think what they’re doing is they’re aligning themselves with the fact that technology is out there and it’s very, very easy for people to get addicted to gambling.”

When it comes to AI though, it raises a lot more of the hypothetical he explains. “It flags a lot of what? could be, highlights changing behaviours. It focuses a lot on typical behaviour traits, suggesting that if someone goes down this path, it’s a fraud step for a regulator. That’s not factual. Regulators like facts. That’s not something clear cut – like a fake passport, or popping up on a sanction list. So I think AI and the Blockchain are fantastic technologies, but when these new services come in, it’s not just about giving this information straight to the operator. It’s a process for us to educate the regulator on this new data and why we think it’s a benefit.”

How can regulation bridge the gap between online gambling and responsible playing without constricting innovation?

“I think the one thing which we have to remember about online gambling is that it’s entertainment. One of the things that we’re really seeing, especially around things like affordability, is that at times it can feel a bit like going to gamble is like going to the bank for a loan – there’s a lot of the things the regulations are asking for.”

He goes on to explain that RiskNarrative tries to innovate ways in which can make it as seamless as possible for the players, as well as for the operators. “So there’s things that we look at, like the transactional and behaviour margin of the player, and it’s something which we’re doing very automatically.”

“A lot of the time it can be that operators, especially some of the bigger ones, are seeing so many transactions, deposits, and withdrawals coming through. If you’re looking at something and trying to maintain this via manpower or people power, things are going to slip through the gaps.”

“So with technology, what we try and do as a business is try to hard wire rules in there. When people hit thresholds, the system can automatically monitor them. Doing that helps an operator have their team focus on the events that need looking at. With the technology that we have, we’re trying to support the operators so they can make sure that their players aren’t going above and beyond their needs. So one thing that RiskNarrative tries to do as a business is to make sure that not only are we helping in these big markets, we’re also trying to support new emerging markets globally and really trying to help the operators, while also protecting the players.”

Watch the video interview with Adam Doyle, Head of Gaming at RiskNarrative below: