February 8, 2007 – Halifax: Today in Halifax, the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC) announced it is proceeding with a Request for Proposal (RFP) asking technology suppliers in the gaming sector to create an Informed Player Choice System for Video Lottery Terminals (VLT) in the Province.

 

This announcement comes after two years of research on the impact of adding interactive responsible gaming features to VLTs. The pilot testing of these features was a key commitment in the Government’s first Gaming Strategy, A Better Balance (April 2005). Today NSGC is following the recommendations of the researchers to try to find a way to roll out the features across the Province.

 

“NSGC is committed to making evidence-based decisions about the future of the gambling industry in Nova Scotia. That’s why this policy research is so important,” said Marie Mullally, President and CEO of NSGC. “The findings are promising, so now we are trying to find a viable way to make these features available to more players.”

 

The RFP process is being led by NSGC’s video lottery operator, Atlantic Lottery Corporation, and is expected to take approximately six months. If the process finds an effective and viable solution, the next step would be to add the technology to every VLT in Nova Scotia. How long that might take would depend on the selected technology solution and the effort required to integrate it into the existing video lottery central system.

 

At a technical briefing today, three independent research reports were released. All of them looked at data collected from a groundbreaking live field test in Windsor and Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia between October 2005 and March 2006. During the field test, a Responsible Gaming Device (RGD) was attached to every VLT in the two communities and anyone who wanted to play a VLT in these areas had to use a player card. This gave the player access to personalized, interactive features that provided real-time information about their gambling behaviors.

 

The RGD system used in the field test was developed by Techlink Entertainment. The research did not assess the technology, but rather examined the impact of the responsible gaming features it provided access to. The features allowed players to see exactly how much they spent, how long they played and also gave them the power to exclude themselves from playing during certain time periods.

 

 

 

Omnifacts Bristol was retained to conduct the field test and primarily qualitative research. Focal Research Consultants Ltd. was commissioned to lead an in-depth quantitative analysis of the field test data. In addition to these two reports funded by NSGC, Techlink Entertainment also commissioned a qualitative and quantitative report by Dr. Bo Bernhard at the International Gaming Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

 

All three reports concluded that players liked the responsible gaming features and used them to    make more informed decisions.

 

Key research findings from the comprehensive Focal report included:

·         71% of all regular players tried the features (Account Summary, Live Action, Money Limits, Play Limits, 48-Hour Cool Down).

·         Half of all regular VLT players continued using the features on a regular basis–which is considered to be a high adoption rate.

·         Players who used the features played longer but spent less because they made better decisions about when to stop.

·         The most positive impacts were on players at the lower end of the risk scale, which researchers believe is the right target audience for effective prevention.

 

“I truly believe that NSGC is genuinely committed to offering the safest VLT gaming environment possible and in this quest, Nova Scotia is clearly leading all other jurisdictions world-wide,” said Dr. Harold J. Wynne, President of Wynne Resources and leading expert in responsible gambling research.

 

The cost of two-years and four-stages of research was approximately $430,000.

 

The Focal Research, Dr. Bernhard and Omnifacts reports are available at www.nsgc.ca.

Media kits available at http://nsgc.ca/mediaKits.php

 

 

Margaret McGee

Vice-President, Prevention Programming & Public Affairs

Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation

Tel: (902) 424-3420

Cell: (902) 489-2203

 

 

 

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