Stewart Kenny takes the spotlight this week as the latest figure in the gaming industry to speak out about the problems seen in the current infrastructure of the gambling industry. The co-founder of Paddy Power, and Chief Executive of the company until 2002, Mr. Kenny called for something pretty unheard of and arguably quite controversial: mandatory limits on deposit amounts for online gaming sites. He also recommended that these be put into place along with defined and fixed cooling off periods and criticised the current lack of real action being taken by the industry to set any such limits on how much, or how often, players can wager in real money gaming online.
One item which received more than passing attention from Kenny as a part of his discourse was online casino gaming, specifically late-night single-session wagering sessions, which he emphasized as a specific and frequent case of major losses being incurred by players. He indicated that the current options in place across different sites for voluntarily opting to set wagering limits were not effective in tackling or helping to prevent problem gambling.
Kenny was on the Paddy Power board until two years ago, and the attitude present in his speech is certainly resonant with other attitudes that have been voiced out of the offices of Paddy Power Betfair. Their view on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) was clearly seen to stand out from the competition when then-CEO Breon Corcoran stated last September that the maximum stake in those machines should be reduced to £10. FOBTs have, of course, been widely criticised as more potentially addictive than other machines due to the rapid and high stakes wagering they offer.
The gambling industry, in both the UK and Ireland, has started to sit up and take notice that changes need to happen to protect the public interest, which is of course in the industry’s long-term interest as well. Perhaps Paddy Power Betfair will be one of the bigger players in the vanguard which brings more responsible attitudes into the industry. It would certainly be both good for the industry and good for Paddy Power Betfair’s brand and reputation if that were the case. The UK Gambling Comission’s recently published Gambling Participation Report found that the most important factor for a player in choosing an operator with whom to play was, in fact, “… that the operator (has a) reputation for being fair and trustworthy.” This trust surely extends to an actionable and genuine concern for protecting their players. This is something the industry needs a lot more of.
