Responsible gaming advocates have renewed their calls for legislative intervention to address problem gambling in casinos.

These calls were made at the 3rd Asia Pacific Responsible Gaming Forum, held on the sidelines of the G2E Asia trade show, Macau Business reported.

Zhonglu Zeng, chairman of the Asia Pacific Association for Gambling Studies, emphasized the need for government action to prevent problem gamblers from spending extended periods at casino tables without breaks.

“I suggest that those who are considered pathological and problem gamblers should be subject to legal intervention. We will then move on to the next stage of exploring what the legal standards for problem gambling should be,” the academic was quoted as saying in the report.

Guojing Su of the Asian Responsible Gaming Alliance urged the Macau government to adopt best practices from other jurisdictions to combat problem gambling.

“Not all approaches are applicable in Macau, but we could evaluate their effectiveness with the help of experts. The approach taken by Singapore is only to protect locals who already have a certain understanding of problem gambling,” Su said, as per the report.

Both experts highlighted the necessity of legislative updates to protect not only local gamblers but also those from outside the city, particularly from across the border, as new forms of gambling emerge.

“Protections for residents and casino workers are already relatively in place, but those for guests are nowhere to be seen. The Macau government should take the initiative in pushing for this legislation. The casino operators will be less proactive when it comes to legislation like this. There needs to be pressure from stakeholders to motivate companies”, Zeng said.