An Analysis of Consumer Protection for Gamblers Across Different Online Gambling Operators in Ireland: A Descriptive Study

Dedicated Responsible Gambling Page

A total of 35 websites (89.7%) visited had a dedicated responsible gambling page. Of the 22 non-Irish online gambling operators examined, the large majority provided for a link for gamblers to an RG page (n = 20, 90.9%). However, on one occasion, it was listed as ‘information’ rather than RG. In another instance, the link to RG page was not easily accessible, meaning gamblers had to search for it indirectly, using a search engine, such as Google. Fifteen of the 17 Irish operators had a link to a dedicated RG page. One of the operators did not have a RG page, while for another gambling operator, the responsible gambling page was available on its parent website but not on the actual gambling operator’s website. Of the 35 online gambling operators that had a dedicated RG page, all had a warning that gambling can be harmful and all had a statement concerning their commitment to RG.

Reference to Problem Gambling Organisations

Most operators (n = 37) referenced at least one organisation where users could get help for a gambling problem (94.9%). The two operators which did not provide reference to a problem gambling help organisation and/or self-help groups were both Irish domain websites.

Responsible Gambling Software

Approximately half of the gambling operators (n = 18; 46.2%) provided links to gambling filtering software, such as Betfilter or Gamblock to block access to online gambling websites, of which ten were non-Irish (45.5%) and eight were Irish domain operators (47.1%). Three-quarters of the operators (74.7%) mentioned or provided links to age filtering software, including Netnanny, Cybersitter, and/or Cyberpatrol. Eighteen of those were non-Irish domain websites (81.8%), while 11 were Irish domain websites (64.7%).

Self-Assessment Tools

Most operators (n = 27) displayed a problem gambling self-assessment tool (69.2%), either as a checklist or as an interactive quiz. Of the 27 gambling operators with a self-assessment tool, 17 were non-Irish (72.7%), while 11 were Irish domain operators (64.7%). A checklist format was used on 17 websites (63.0%). The interactive format was offered on nine websites (33.3%), with one website offering both formats to users.

Age Verification Check on Account Registration

Of the 39 online gambling operators, all of them (100%) required individuals to be 18 years of age or over and, would not allow a date of birth under 18 years old to be entered when gamblers registered for an account. In addition, all operators (100%) required a phone number, a minority of which (n = 6) sent an authorisation code to the gamblers phone (15.4%). Most gambling operators (n = 37) did not require identity documents to confirm the age of the registrants (94.9%). One operator required further documents (bank/credit card statement or recent utility bill) as part of its setup and, another operator looked for additional age verification (bank/credit card statement or recent utility bill) prior to entering site, although the reason for this concerned possible fraudulent behaviour on the account, rather than being age-related.

Responsible Gambling Information via Email

Out of the 39 gambling operators, three were excluded in the evaluation of this RG practice, either due to difficulties signing up (registration option malfunctioned, despite a number of attempts to register), or because of age verification requirements (requesting proof of address via bank/credit card statement or recent utility bill). Three-quarters of the 36 remaining gambling operators examined (n = 27) sent a welcome email after registration to the players (75%). In a very small number of cases (n = 3), although gamblers did not receive a welcome email, they received other emails including notifications of cooling-off periods (8.33%). Of the 22 gambling operators that sent a welcome email, approximately half of them (n = 13) mentioned RG in the email sent (48.1%). Of these, eight of out 15 were non-Irish operators (53.3%) and 5 out of 12 were Irish domain operators (41.6%). Approximately two-thirds of the gambling operators (n = 17) encouraged depositing funds in the welcome email sent (63%), of which 9 out of 15 were non-Irish domain websites (60%) and 8 out of 12 were Irish operators (66.7%).

Access to Gambling Account History

Of the 39 gambling operators included in this study, three of them (7.6%) were not evaluated for the presence and accessibility of gambling account history, either due technical issues or because (in one instance) the customer was blocked for further verification. However, of the 36 operators examined, the vast majority (n = 35) offered an option for gamblers to access their account history (97.2%).

Responsible Gambling Tools Offered by Website

Almost all of the gambling operators visited online (n = 38) offered some form of responsible gambling tool with their service (97.4%). Of note, the one operator that did not offer any responsible gambling service was listed as a ‘.ie’ website but linked out to a ‘.com’ website, where it stated that it did not accept any business from a number of countries including Ireland. A total of 35 of the online gambling operators (89.7%) offered limit-setting tools with their service. Of the non-Irish sites, 21 offered limit-setting tools (95.5%) compared to the remaining 14 Irish-based sites (82.4%). Of these limits, deposit limits were the most frequently offered, with 33 out of 35 websites offering them to their customers (94.3%). Out of the 22 non-Irish operators, only two operators provided spending limits on specific activities, while only three operators offered loss limits on their casino games and not on all games/activities offered on their websites. Approximately one-third of the gambling operators surveyed (n = 12) offered a single limit-setting option (34.3%). Seven of the operators had the option to set two limits (20%), while nine websites offered three limits (25.7%). Only two operators provided gamblers with four limit-setting options (5.7%).

Link to Limit-Setting on Deposit Page

Cooling-Off and Self-Exclusion Periods

Cooling-off periods refer to any period of exclusion from gambling on the operator’s website for less than six months (following the definition used in the study by Bonello and Griffiths 2017). A total of 25 websites offered cooling-off periods via the gambling website only (64.1%), with 16 of these websites being non-Irish (72.7%) and nine Irish (52.9%). Further, six websites (three Irish, three non-Irish) required customers to contact customer services in order to activate the cooling-off period. This brought the total number of websites offering a cooling-off period to 33 (84.6%), of which 20 were non-Irish (90.9%) and 13 Irish (76.5%).

Other Responsible Gambling Tools

Twenty operators offered session-time reminders (51.3%), most often termed ‘reality checks’. These session-time reminders were offered by 12 non-Irish websites (54.4%) and eight Irish websites (47.1%). Of the Irish operators, only one offered reality checks for some gambling games, such as casino and poker. Of the non-Irish operators, only one offered reality checks for some gambling games except for poker. Other types of RG tools offered by the gambling websites visited included animated educational videos (two websites; 5.1%), a gambling diary (three websites; 7.7%) and a budget calculator (three websites; 7.7%). Two websites, one non-Irish and one Irish, offered forms for permanent offline store exclusion, while three operators offered permanent exclusion, two of which were Irish operators.

Responsible Gambling Tools

A total of 38 out of 39 of the online gambling websites visited (97.4%) offered some form of responsible gambling tool with their service. This is comparable with the Bonello and Griffiths study, which demonstrated that most online gambling operators had RG tools, such as limit-setting (n = 45; 90%), cooling-off periods (n = 36; 72%), and voluntary self-exclusion (n = 43; 86%). Research consistently indicates that gamblers frequently gamble more than intended (Ladouceur et al. 2012). Setting predetermined limits, prior to engaging in gambling, can facilitate gamblers to gamble within their means, by preventing unintended and impulsive transactions occurring as the gambling session progresses (Scannell et al. 2000). In the present study, 35 of the online gambling sites (89.7%) offered limit-setting tools with their service. This is in line with findings from Bonello and Griffiths (2017), where 90% of the online gambling websites evaluated offered limit-setting facilities. Of the non-Irish gambling websites, 21 offered limit-setting tools (95.5%) compared to 14 of Irish-based sites (82.4%). Of these limit-setting tools, deposit limits were the ones most frequently offered, with 33 out of 35 websites offering these to their customers (94.3%).

Spending limits were offered on a restricted number of games on 34% of online gambling websites. Loss limits were offered by 40% of gambling websites and 20% of sites offered session limits. There is empirical evidence that suggests that limit setting can be effective in promoting RG for some individual (Auer and Griffiths 2013). A study carried out by the International Gaming Research Unit comprising 10,865 online gamblers in 2007 found that 70% of players thought that voluntary spending limits would be beneficial (cf. Griffiths et al. 2011). This finding was replicated in a 2009 study by Griffiths et al. (2009b) examining the attitudes and behaviours of 2348 Swedish online gamblers, 70% of whom reported that spending limits were a useful responsible gambling tool. A study examining a sample of 100,000 online gamblers playing on the win2day gambling website showed decreased spending and playing time among poker players after setting a voluntary time limit, with the biggest effect observed among the highest intensity gamblers (Auer and Griffiths 2013). A study by Kim et al. (2014) suggested that the use of time limits is an effective responsible gambling tool. Here, gamblers who were reminded to consider using a time limit tool spent considerably less time gambling than those who did not receive this reminder. A study by Hing et al. (2015a) also emphasised the tendency of regular gamblers to go beyond self-imposed limits, which suggests that online gamblers would benefit from limit-setting mechanisms imposed by online gambling websites.

Reality checks have been posited as a mechanism for interrupting gambling or gaming to allow the player time to reflect to their actions (Harris and Griffiths 2017). This may take the form of session-time reminders or an in-built pause every 20 min during play. Reality checks were offered by one Irish website but only for two games (i.e., casino and poker), and by one non-Irish website only. Pop-up messages were not observed on any of the Irish websites visited. Auer and colleagues (Auer and Griffiths 2015a; Auer et al. 2014) demonstrated in two studies that there is some evidence for a very small increase in the number of gamblers discontinuing their session of play following pop-up messages. They also noted that messages containing more sophisticated data displaying normative and self-appraisal content were a little more effective than simple messages (Auer and Griffiths 2015b).

Cooling-off periods have been claimed to be a useful responsible gambling tool to facilitate a period of time where the player can reflect on their gambling behaviour, with the aim of reducing compulsive gambling and chasing financial losses (Williams et al. 2012). However, there is a lack of consensus about the frequency and duration in breaks of play, which would provide most robust protection to the gambling population (Blaszczynski et al., 2016). Cooling-off periods were defined as a period of less than six months of duration by Bonello and Griffiths (2017). In the present study, seven online gambling websites did not allow a cooling-off period without first contacting customer services. The cooling-off period was less than six months on four online gambling websites. On one online gambling website, the cooling-off period could not be activated until real money had been deposited, which reflected the findings from Bonello and Griffiths (2017), where 72% of websites visited provided a cooling-off period.

Cooling-off periods have previously been identified as a best practice option that should exist for any user to exclude themselves from a site, and that the procedure for self-exclusion should be clearly stated in the rules and procedures page, with a minimum exclusion period of six months (Smeaton and Griffiths 2004). Hing et al. (2015b) conducted a study demonstrating that self-exclusion provides an important harm reduction option with short-term benefits for many participants. While in most cases in the present study the option of self-exclusion was available (100% of non-Irish websites and 94.1% of Irish websites), it was necessary in over 40% of cases to contact customer services for this to be enacted. These rates are higher than those reported by Bonello and Griffiths (2017), in which 86% of evaluated websites provided voluntary self-exclusion periods. In the present study, only three online gambling websites visited offered permanent self-exclusion.

There were a small number of additional RG features offered by some Irish gambling websites. A gambling diary was offered by three gambling websites. A budget calculator was offered by one Irish gambling website and two non-Irish gambling websites. These appear to be RG initiatives that could be offered by all online gambling websites. It should also be noted that there was a lack of personalised feedback or behavioural tracking tools offered by Irish online gambling websites. Auer and Griffiths (2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2016) demonstrated that personalised behavioural feedback utilizing the ‘stages of change’ model (Prochaska et al. 1992) and the principles of motivational interviewing can be effective in promoting more responsible gambling. The introduction of robust behavioural feedback provides a potential opportunity for advancement of RG tools in Ireland.