MGM Releases Responsible Gambling Program, GameSense

MGM Resorts’ newest endeavor seems to have taken everyone by surprise – it is often assumed that all casinos exist to gobble everything down to the last penny from the bank accounts of avid gamblers. However, this is what MGM Resorts advocates, “The longer you play, the more money you’re likely to lose. Chasing losses almost always leads to bigger losses.”

To this effect, MGM Resorts has launched a new program dubbed ‘GameSense’ that is intended to help gamblers play responsibly and keep them from chasing losses. The GameSense program, which is barely a month old is based on cautionary messages delivered at MGM Resorts’ M Life Rewards center, on MGM’s slots machines as well as the casino’s video advertising screens. In a month, GameSense’s outreach is to be extended to every part of the country to all other MGM properties.

The GameSense program borrows quite a bit from other like-minded programs that have been successfully implemented in British Columbia and Massachusetts – all of them are geared towards dispelling myths and misconceptions associated with gambling.

Massachusetts’ Play My Way program which is considered to be a gambling addiction prevention or management tool has been quite successful in achieving its goals according to preliminary analysis.

Researchers from Cambridge Health Alliance have ascertained that players who use the Play My Way Program are gambling less often and hence losing less money when compared to other regular gamblers.

Like MGM’s GameSense program, Play My Way gives gamblers the opportunity to draw up a spending budget themselves using casino rewards cards.

Released earlier this year, the program is the brainchild of Massachusetts gambling regulators who wanted to help gamblers cut down on the betting expenditures. Initially, it was expected to be implemented in some of the largest casinos including MGM but since MGM already has its own, GameSense, the plan has been implemented in other new casinos within Massachusetts.

GameSense includes guides and tips on how to best make the most out of your time and money while gambling. The slots guide, for instance, explains how the outcomes are randomly generated by the slots machines and includes a tip that reads, “Persistence does not pay off.” The program, according to MGM Resorts vice president Alan Feldman is based on the premise that gambling should be an affordable and fun activity rather than being a source of financial and mental distress. Feldman further pointed out that, “We are all very sensitive to the fact that for us to be a sustainable business long-term, we need to have sustainable customers. To do that over time, we need to be certain that our customers are doing just fine.”

GameSense includes some great tips that will come in handy for every gambler and just to mention a few, they include;

• Taking frequent breaks from the games to re-strategize and get yourself in order
• Setting limits that will define when you should say goodbye to a game for a while and how much money you are okay with spending (or losing) on gambling
• Moderating gambling and creating room for other important activities