Unicorns Aren’t Real, but the House Advantage Is – UNLV Distinguished Fellow Alan Feldman
Release Date: 08/16/2019
NO LINE
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Responsible Gambling at a Turning Point: Insights from the Gambling and Risk-Taking Conference The recent Gambling and Risk-Taking Conference, hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), brought together industry experts to discuss the state of responsible gambling. In an interview with Alan Feldman, a distinguished fellow at UNLV, conducted by Philip Beere, Head of Marketing of Gaming Analytics and Host of the No Line Podcast, attendees were given valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding responsible gambling. With the conference taking place after a...
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During this interview with , CEO of , he shares the inspiration behind donating $150,000 to for responsible gaming research. Along with the monetary donation, AXES will donate anonymized data to support research and to predict problem gambling better. Page body/content Key moments: 00:52 Earle discusses the donation 01:38 The inspiration behind the donation 02:00 The benefit to students studying responsible gaming 02:28 anonymous data donation 02:50 increasing profit when implementing problem gambling prevention 03:20 The difference in AXES data compared to Sightline Payments data 04:41 The...
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Kasra Ghaharian is a research assistant at UNLV International Gaming Institute (IGI) and Ph.D. student in UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. READ MORE AT Kasra received his master’s in Hotel Administration from UNLV in 2010. During this time, he published “A Mathematical Approach for Optimizing the Casino Slot Floor: A Linear Programming Application,” the first study to apply mathematical methods to the age-old task of optimizing the casino floor. After his master’s, Kasra worked in the industry for several years, applying his data-driven techniques to the online...
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In this episode of The Stories Behind the Bet, Philip James and Cameron Conn discuss GameSecure, the newest addition to the world of responsible gaming. It’s a way to protect self-excluded individuals before they can even get on the casino floor – both in brick and mortar places and online spaces. Before starting GameSecure, Conn worked for fifteen years in the industry; his impressive career includes casino design, gaming operations, customer development, revenue generation, and iGaming. In the Vancouver market, Conn organized responsible gaming programs and educated industry...
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Cait DeBaun is vice president, strategic communications and responsibility at the American Gaming Association (AGA). DeBaun leads the AGA’s responsibility efforts and integrated communications strategies to promote the social and economic value of the $261 billion gaming industry. DeBaun currently oversees the AGA’s Have A Game Plan® PSA campaign, working with sports leagues and teams and sportsbook operators to educate consumers on responsible sports betting. DeBaun also plays a key role in the association’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, executing advocacy and industry...
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Rasmus Kjaergaard has been CEO of Mindway AI for approx. two years. Mindway AI is 100 % focused on providing scientific-based Responsible Gambling Solutions and knowledge, combining neuroscience and AI. In this period Mindway AI has grown rapidly to become a significant provider RG solutions globally, and lately being a double award-winner at the Vixio – Global Regulatory Awards in the categories "Responsible Gambling Service or Solution Provider of the Year" and "RegTech Provider of the Year". Rasmus has 20+ years of experience in selling complex B-to-B it-solutions. He has also...
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is the Associate Director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at UNLV. In this episode of the NO LINE Podcast, she and Philip James discuss how technology influences responsible gambling practices and why the conversation about responsibility in the industry needs to continue. Alongside her role at the ICGR, Roberts also teaches gaming law at UNLV’s and at the at the University of Utah. As a lawyer, Roberts has represented major hotels, restaurants, bars and other entities in large cases regarding federal, state, and local alcohol licensing and compliance. Roberts has been in...
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In this episode of The Stories Behind the Bet, Philip James and discuss the importance of responsible gaming as sports betting becomes more streamlined in the industry, and what the American Gaming Association is doing to ensure its Code of Conduct fits the bill. The current President and CEO of the AGA, Bill Miller has spent more than three decades representing business interests in Washington, D.C. He was the Senior Vice President of the Business Roundtable, a Partner at international corporate communications firm Brunswick, and a lobbyist, leading the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Political...
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In this episode of The Stories Behind the Bet, Las Vegas attorney Dayvid Figler discusses the history behind Nevada’s problem gambling diversion court. Whereas prison serves to punish convicted individuals, the diversion court rehabilitates them and works to treat their addiction. Since passing the bar exam in 1991 at the age of 23, attorney Dayvid Figler has contributed to a number of high-profile cases in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. The award-winning storyteller has now been practicing law for 28 years, and was instrumental in the creation of Nevada’s problem gambling diversion...
info_outlineAlan Feldman discusses the relevance of GameSense and the International Gaming Institute with Distinguished Fellow in Responsible Gaming Alan Feldman. GameSense is a way for casinos to prove they care about the gambling habits of their clientele, and it’s already making a difference for big names like MGM Resorts.
Alan Feldman is an expert in this field. He has spent almost 30 years as a senior executive with MGM and Mirage, most recently spearheading the launch of GameSense programming throughout MGM properties. By doing so, the casino is able to both inadvertently and directly advertise responsible behavior to its players, encouraging them to adopt a less competitive attitude about gambling and reminding them that they’re there to have fun; as Feldman explains in the podcast, the house advantage is a real thing, and it’s not something that players can surmount with enough practice or a professional attitude.
Feldman also serves as the chair of both the Nevada Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling and the National Center for Responsible Gaming. His expertise is immensely valuable to the industry, and he’s been honored with myriad rewards; he was named Gaming Professional of the Year by the Casino Management Association in 2002, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Gaming Communications in 2009 from the American Gaming Association.
At the International Gaming Institute at UNLV, Feldman is able to advocate for best practices in responsible gaming, helping to provide research-based solutions to the global gaming industry.
SUMMARY
In this episode, the following topics are discussed:
– Alan Feldman introduction
– What is GameSense?
– Who uses GameSense and how does it work?
– Casino values and customer expectations
– Early feedback from MGM
– GameSense as a responsible gaming program, not a problem gambling identifier
– The difference between GameSense and self-limiting gambling
– How operators can get involved
– The International Gaming Institute at UNLV: what’s there and what’s new
– Compliance versus corporate social responsibility
– The significance of embedding responsible gaming in corporate culture
– Final thoughts
NOTES
- UNLV’s International Gaming Institute
- Self-limiting/self-exclusion gambling
- Self-exclusion by GameSense
- British Columbia Lottery Corporation
- GameSense Massachusetts
- GameSense Canada
- GameSense at MGM Resorts
Learn more about episode guest Alan Feldman on his UNLV page or follow him on Twitter.
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→ Philip Beere
Philip is the Head of Creative and Partnerships at PJ Media. He is Head of Marketing for Gaming Analytics. Previously he was Head of Marketing for Sightline Payments and Play+. He is the Founder of the subscription-based marketing platform for doctors, www.rfamd.com
As the Host of the No Line Podcast, Philip enjoys sharing stories about those leading the industry forward toward responsible gaming.
He also hosts the podcasts Corporate Sustainability and Doctor Thyroid.
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