Horse betting offers can be made available through both digital and retail channels. In both cases, the lottery operator must ensure that only people over 18 years of age can access horse betting products and that they can moderate their game, for instance, by setting:
- bet limits
- account credit limits
- the amount from which a money transfer is automatically made on their bank account
Retail channel and racetracks
The legal age requirements for horse betting vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In most countries, horse betting is restricted to people over 18 years of age. Age limits should be clearly recognizable for players at retailer outlets. All point-of-sale materials and terminal screens should prominently display the legally designated age limits for betting products. Should there be any doubt about a player’s age, the retailer should ask the players to provide identification.
Full authentication is key to achieving responsible gaming. If authentication is required it enables setting obligatory (or voluntary) loss limits.
Some lotteries require that players enter their date of birth into the lottery terminal (“age gate”) at the retailer to verify their age before play is initiated. At any rate, the retailer is responsible for ensuring that gaming products are not sold to minors. Retailer training and education via e-learning modules, for instance should be an essential part of any lottery company’s responsible gaming program. In horse betting, the retail channel also includes racetracks.
In the retail network and at the racetracks, various touchpoints are used to inform players about betting and to promote, among other things, main races and betting forms. Marketing is important to make potential customers aware of betting products and get them to play. However, it is essential that responsible gaming is an integral part of marketing communications, above all to protect players via sensitization campaigns on underage gaming and addictive gaming.
Some operators have self-service terminals in the retail channel. It is crucial to have responsible gaming messages on the screens of those machines.
Integrating pictograms into the point of sale material of products can be an effective way to bring responsible gaming measures into marketing materials. Such effective signs may include:
The self-exclusion system is a mechanism that can also be used in the retail network when the company has customer identification in that sales channel as well.
Companies need to prepare to introduce this type of system, as regulators in several countries have begun to demand such a feature.
In the self-exclusion system, players can set themselves a ban on all or part of the gambling for a specified time period (from one day to one year). Self-exclusion can be placed on the digital channel or via sales terminals at retail networks or racetracks. It is also highly recommended that all marketing communication and promotion stop during the entire period when the player is self-excluded. When players have self-excluded, betting operators can try to help them and send them dedicated responsible gaming messages, such as responding to the Problem Gambling Severity Index form (https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DMHAS/PGS/SeverityIndexPrintablepdf.pdf).
The retail network staff and people working at the racetracks are responsible for reporting daily on preventive measures related to responsible gaming. The aim is, to prevent minors from playing. In addition, staff should address excessive and problematic gaming.
Especially at the racetracks, customers follow only one racing event at a time. There usually are only two to three races per hour, so the rhythm of betting is slow compared to many other gambling offerings. This helps curb customers with overly active gaming habits and thus prevents gambling problems. However, the rhythm of the supply is sufficient enough to keep customers interested.
Digital channels
In recent years, gambling sales have increased in digital channels. TV or internet broadcasting is a most effective way to reach customers who are interested in horse racing. Globally, most players bet online, including horse betting. While most lotteries have a monopoly in their respective jurisdictions, they should strive to continually improve their products. Players always compare legal gaming platforms to the systems of unlicensed gambling operators. A growing number of private gambling companies have started to offer horse races as a part of sports betting. Thus, players have more choice and complain if they think products lack features. In order to maintain player loyalty, their feedback must be taken seriously.
When complying with responsible gaming practices, some lotteries may not implement certain features of the betting offer that are common to private gambling operators. Gaming operators need to find the balance between the product’s marketability and addressing gambling problems, especially in fixed-odds betting.
It is critical to develop a business model that balances the marketability of a product against its potential risk of increasing gaming addiction. This will help combine the financial aspects of product development and the potential risks of responsible gaming so that legal betting operators can make informed decisions about their horse betting offers.
Age restriction (“age gate”) is easy to implement when player registration is mandatory on legal online lottery platforms. The player’s age and potential problem gambling tendencies are easy to check from the company’s database.
Online betting platforms offer many tools that can be used to help players who are active in gambling keep their gambling habits under control. The ability for players to set their betting limits is one of the features of online betting platforms that has proven to be effective. With such tools, players can set daily, weekly, and monthly betting limits based on their financial capacities.
Lotteries and betting operators have access to responsible gaming analysis tools. These tools help detect risky gaming behavior and identify signs of gambling addiction. As players approach their set limits, the system warns them and encourages them to slow down. The operators’ responsibility is also to set dedicated marketing journeys regarding the players’ risk. For instance, if the algorithm detects a high-risk player, no marketing communication or promotion should be sent to the client. Nonetheless, it is good to send dedicated communication (SMS, email) to help them slow down and contact national health programs and local social support.
Many WLA members also have a system where players are required to set limits on how to play. It is mandatory for customers to set those self-restrictions when opening an account. It is easy for gaming operators to provide information on responsible gaming and the risks of gambling problems on digital channels, especially the Internet. Betting operators should build particular responsible gaming measures into their websites. In addition, it is essential to use the “PLAY RESPONSIBLY” and “-18 +” logos on digital channels.
Some operators offer betting objects simultaneously from several races and countries, especially on digital channels. However, large pool-based games should not be provided at the same time, to help curb overly active betting customers. Nevertheless, operators need to recognize the effects of the fast rhythm of the game offering on digital channels on responsible gaming.
