FEB 1 — When Singapore’s first two casinos open, this is how the chips will fall for the Singapore gambler — as the National Council of Problem Gambling envisions:
Besides paying the S$100 entry fee, a Singaporean or permanent resident will have to go through a specific entry lane.
When he enters the casino, he can opt into a scheme in which he sets a gaming limit for himself.
Only cash is accepted at the casino. There will be no ATMs, and the customer has to exit if he needs to withdraw more money.
His visual experiences in the casino will also include posters about problem gambling, odds of winning and helpline services.
The reason for this set-up? These will form the next line of social safety measures for problem gamblers, after the exclusion measures already in place.
The NCPG, which is working with the integrated resorts to get these going, made the announcement on Friday.
And chairman Lim Hock San believes the council has made the measures “as stringent as possible, so as to protect the interests of all Singaporeans and permanent residents here”.
“We encourage those who want to set spending limits on their casino gambling to make use of the pre-commitment system by informing the casino staff before they start playing in the casino. This will help empower them to exercise discretion for their own gambling habits,” he said.
Only premium players — casino customers who pay a S$100,000 deposit before play — will be allowed to game on credit.
How effective these measures will be, appear to depend on the staff at the casinos.
When MediaCorp checked with Resorts World Sentosa, it said its voluntary loss-limit scheme — which will have no minimum amount — works this way: When customers walk in, they can deposit part of their money in a locker. After they finish gambling, they can retrieve the money from the locker and will be escorted out of the casino by a staff member.
If the customer wants to continue gambling, casino staff will assess if he is a problem gambler and provide him with assistance.
For customers who do not want to use the locker service, but still want to opt for a loss-limit scheme, the casino will assess how they can help.
RWS spokeswoman Krist Boo said casino staff are given training on responsible gaming, to be aware of gambling addiction signs and how to approach such customers and refer them to an on-site counsellor.
The training sessions range from an hour to three days, depending on the roles of the staff. Refresher courses will be conducted annually.
“We have also conducted tests, where we have found our staff understanding of this very complex issue of gambling addiction goes up by 200 per cent after the training,” said Ms Boo.
Brochures on responsible gaming and helpline call cards will be placed in its toilets and membership counters.
Similar responsible gaming posters on will also be displayed at ATMs outside the casino, said Ms Boo.
When contacted, a Marina Bay Sands (MBS) spokeswoman said the casino is “developing a robust responsible gaming programme that is built on the strengths of our parent company’s industry-leading model”, which has trained 30,000 staff in responsible gaming.
All MBS employees will receive regular training about responsible gaming, said the spokeswoman.
In a parliamentary debate on the integrated resorts in 2005, former Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen had called for stronger measures to address social problems of compulsive gambling, including mandating a loss limit for casino patrons and requring casinos to provide responsible gambling counseling services.
On Friday, MP Halimah Yacob told MediaCorp that while NCPG’s proposed social safey measures “look good”, she is “doubtful” of their effectiveness.
“I don’t think the measures will be terribly useful to deter people. If a person is so disciplined, he will not need the loss-limit system anyway,” said Mdm Halimah.
“But the whole idea is to put in place a whole range of strategies to weed out problem gamblers. We’ll have to access how effective they are when the casinos open. At least something is being done, rather than nothing at all.”
Mrs Mildred Tan, chair of the public communications sub-committee in NCPG, said: “We have put in safeguards, and we encourage Singaporeans and Permanent Residents to use those safeguards, but at the end of the day, it’s up to the individuals.”
To date, about 29,000 people have been banned from the casinos. — Today