Advances in Responsible Gambling Technology


3/4/10 – The Canadian provincial government of Nova Scotia, always on the lookout for aids to assist gamblers in hewing to responsible gambling principles, has published an article on an interesting new development in the genre.
 
The article refers to a product from the Australian company Techlink Entertainment, which develops responsible gaming solutions for video lottery terminals, slot machines, lottery terminals, the Internet and other gaming systems.
 
One of its products is GamePlan, a unique gambling assist that took ten years to develop and has undergone a two year intensive field-testing process, with results analysed by three independent research firms.
 
GamePlan is a card-based technology that empowers individuals to have more control and information when using gaming machines. Using a small plug-and-play machine called the Responsible Gaming Device, Gameplan provides players with the information they need to make informed and responsible decisions when gambling. TechLink calls this the “player’s reality check”, as it gives players an overall picture of their spending.
 
Players use their card to activate the gaming machine, and then have access to up-to-the-second information on their action.
 
* They find out exactly how much money they have won or lost on a machine.
 
* They can track how much they have spent over the past days, weeks, months, or year.
 
* They can set limits on the amount of money they want to gamble over a period of time.
 
* They can lock themselves out from gambling for any given period of time.
 
"Information and game play tools are the key to helping gamblers," says Techlink President and CEO John Xidos. "Gameplan gives players the best information possible and the tools to help them make more informed choices.
 
"We are just now starting to sell our responsible gaming product lines. The first 10 years were all about developing innovative gaming products that would be able to create new market categories or be creative, and resourceful, additions to existing market categories."
 
Techlink is no penny-ante company, having raised "…well over $25 million without using venture capital money," says Xidos. "The funds we have raised have come primarily come from Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia. This is groundbreaking in and of itself from a financing perspective."
 
The company has established a presence in Nova Scotia, with Xidos saying: "Nova Scotia is a world leader in responsible gambling. This means we can work with a jurisdiction in our own backyard to help us develop the best products and launch them here first to prove their effectiveness."