BCLC invests in PlayPlanner to promote healthy casino gaming in Canada.
Gaming regulators across Canada have spent the last few years seeking ways to quell public outcry. Since the dawn of internet gambling in particular, its been feared that problem gambling will swell out of control. Prior to multi-provincial regulation of iGaming, evidence surfaced to support those concerns. Researchers were commissioned to study the situation and recommend solutions. What they’ve come up with is a fundamental need to raise awareness and promote greater responsibility.
All this time, regulators have been pumping revenue into the promotion of gaming. Every other commercial encourages adults to go out and buy a lottery ticket. Billboards depict the broad-grinning excitement of slots players and table games enthusiast. Such advertisements aren’t going to go away – the government does need to sustain its most abundant source of entertainment-driven revenue. However, they will be promoting greater responsibility alongside those campaigns.
BCLC Launches PlayPlanner for Healthier Casino Gaming
Back in February of this year, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) published its Service Plan for the current 2019/2020 and upcoming 2020/2021 fiscal years. Within that document, regulators revealed PlayPlanner, a new project they had just completed technical testing on.
It was billed as an “optional budgeting tool that allows players to set and manage daily maximums for how much time or money they want to spend playing on electronic gaming machines.” At that time, BCLC was intent on launching the new PlayPlanner campaign in Spring 2019.
The timeline was obviously delayed, but as of Thursday, the project is finally back on track. BCLC published a press release yesterday announcing the implementation of PlayPlanner, accessible by Encore Rewards members plays slot machine and electronic gaming tables in all BC community gaming centers.
“We’ve created PlayPlanner to make it easier for players to stay within personal limits by making decisions about time and money before gambling,” said Dr. Jamie Wiebe, Director of Player Health for BCLC. “We are committed to ensuring that this tool meets the needs of our players now and into the future as part of our focus on supporting healthy play.”
Capabilities of PlayPlanner
As a standard of responsibility, most players already have a budget in mind when they visit a casino, and a timeline for how long they can play. PlayPlanner is the perfect tool for these players, giving them a program to input their intentions into, and in return, receiving friendly reminders to stick to those budgets and timelines.
According to the Crown corporation, PlayPlanner gives casino gamers the following options:
· Voluntarily enroll at slots and eTables or at Guest Services/Player Clubs;
· Set their own limits (time and/or spend);
· Receive regular on-screen notifications as they progress toward their voluntary limits; and
· Change their settings on the slot machine or eTable by accessing the PlayPlanner icon.
PlayPlanner for BC Online Casino Games?
BCLC has no intention of installing the PlayPlanner program on its internet gaming website, PlayNow.com, because the online edition already offers a comparable responsibility program, and has since it was first launched in 2004. New members of the BC online casino are required to input a max weekly deposit limit between $1 and $9,999, and can access their lifetime iGaming history at any time by tapping the always-visible ‘Play History‘ button.
