Martin Lycka’s Safe Bet Show with Grainne Hurst - “One problem gambler in the industry is far too many”
Episode 4 of Martin Lycka’s Safe Bet Show features one of Martin’s esteemed Entain colleagues, none other than Grainne Hurst! Grainne is Entain’s Director of Corporate Affairs, and works closely with Martin on Entain’s responsible gaming and player protection arm.
Martin and Grainne discuss life as each other’s ‘corporate other half’ (emphasis on the corporate), bond over name-mispronunciation woes, and even give some thoughts and predictions on England (and the Czech Republic’s) chances at Euro 2020!
Of course the two also get into the hot topics of responsible gambling, Entain’s ‘Changing for the Better’ program, and the revolutionary ARC program (Advance Responsibilty & Care), both of which Grainne has played a huge part in.
Grainne gives some insight and information on ARC’s personalised responsible gaming system, and how it can change the customer experience using algorithms and behaviour analytics.
Grainne also discusses the differences in culture, and the importance of understanding that not all players are problem gamblers, and those that play for leisure and entertainment must have a say in the future of the industry.
As always, Martin puts his guest on the spot and asks Grainne to define responsible gambling, define the end-game, and then finally sum up her thoughts in 60 seconds.
00:17 - Intro into Grainne and her role
01:42 - Grainne's name, her favourite mispronunciations
03:25- Grainne and Martin's work relationship, what Grainne does at Entain and where it crosses over to Martin's role, further discussion of Grainne's role, being Martin’s corporate other half
05:00 - Grainne founding Entain's 'Changing For The Better' Program, what the program is, what its goals are, tackling as many problem gambling issues as possible, looking at causes, consequences and education, working with YGAM, GamCare and EPIC Risk Management
08:12 - How to measure success of the 'Changing for the Better' program, importance of raising awareness and bringing the industry together to tackle the issue of problem gamblers
10:33 - Grainne’s thoughts on the review of the 2005 UK Gambling Act by the UKGC, what the outcome may be and what the future may hold, importance of updating the regulations to the digital age, taking into account the updated technology and praise for the UK Governments evidence-led approach, and a discussion of the potential incoming gambling ombudsman
12:44 - What else needs to be done, the importance of noticing that many players don't have problems and play for leisure, players wanting to be part of the discussion in the future of regulation, players wanting to be in control of what and where they spend
16:16 - Use of technology in responsible gambling and player protection, Entain's Advance Responsibility and Care program (ARC), using technology to provide personalised player protection, tracking behaviour, using behaviour analytics and algorithms, changing customer experience for problem players
20:10 - When will we see ARC in action, timeline on this revolutionary player protection product, hopefully live in the UK in this year, taking expertise from gambling addiction experts in medical, and also with EPIC to build the tool
21:50 - Grainne's definition of responsible gambling, and what the end game is, what they're trying to do, importance of providing personalised and innovative player protection systems in place, the challenges of rolling out in multiple jurisdictions, cultural differences that affect markers of problem gambling, analysing the issue on a market-by-market basis
25:15 - Euro 2020, discussion of England at Euro 2020, will football be home by the time the podcast is released?
27:50 - Grainne's final thoughts, and final messages in 60 seconds
