© Photo by Mick O’Neil Paddy Power at Paddy Power HQ.
Ensuring that gambling is done safely and responsibly is vital for the long-term sustainability of the industry says Paddy Power.
The namesake of the Irish betting company stresses that the point of betting is to have a little fun and raise the stakes a small bit higher.
While bookmakers’ responsible gambling spiel can cause some eyes to roll, the fact is, for the industry to survive and thrive, great care must be taken.
“It’s about adding value. You’re watching this game anyway and it’s a bit of skin in the game I suppose,” says Power.
“From a responsibility point of view, this is something that the company takes very seriously, which every bookie will say to you.
“It’s not just out of the goodness of our hearts, but the reality is that for the long-term sustainability of the business and the industry, it’s something that we have to get to the bottom of.
“We have the technology these days that we didn’t have before where you can actually predict and track and use that technology for responsible reasons and make sure that you spot people early if they’re going to have an issue with it.
“Because the reality is that as we get bigger, the number of people that have a problem with gambling and get exposed to us gets bigger as well. So we have to make sure that we use our technology and our know-how and our expertise to nip it in the bud as early as possible.
“That’s the key to it. Once you get it and you can identify the people, you can then point them in the direction of help and help them as much as you can, and that’s a good step in the right direction.”
With four days of top-class racing upon us, the bookmaker is keen to ensure that customers take care when having a flutter.
Between online and in-person retail stores, an almost unimaginable number of bets will be placed in the coming days. Most of these will be small stakes on high odds for fanciful returns. But events like this can cause gambling issues to rise to the surface.
A landmark Health Research Board study in 2022 estimated that there were 12,000 problem gamblers in Ireland, while a number 10 times that amount may be at risk of developing such a problem.
Paddy Power are well aware of this issue and takes it very seriously. So much so, that ahead of this week’s festivities, all 3,000 staff have undergone responsible gambling training to be able to identify problem gambling when it occurs.
“It’s a busy time and a fun time, but it is just to make sure that our customers are betting responsibly, that is very important to us,” says Head of Retail Pat Hand.
“It is very important to us that our customers are comfortable and betting responsibly, and that our shop colleagues are educated to recognise any potential signs and have an intervention very early.
“It’s all about being exciting and fun but safe.”
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