Key points:
- David Tsai spoke at Regulating the Game Syndey 2025 to discuss how Crown Resorts was handling responsible gambling
- He also spoke on anti-money laundering and mandatory measures
- Elizabeth Arzadon from Star Entertainment Group asked about company culture
At this year’s Regulating the Game Sydney, Crown Resorts sent its recently appointed CEO to headline a panel in front of a live audience.
David Tsai first joined the company in 2022 before being selected as the Chief Executive Officer in October 2024.
This appointment came at a time of significant change and growth for Crown Resorts; the operator was found to have failed several compliance issues as detailed in the Bergin Report in 2021, primarily major money-laundering and terrorist-financing failures. As such, Crown Resorts has spent several years trying to save its reputation – and its business.
This panel marks the first time Tsai has taken the stage at Regulating the Game Sydney as the face of the company – but, not just any Crown Resorts, but the ‘new and improved’ Crown Resorts.
Rather than shying away from those infamous failings, Tsai managed to put a positive spin on them. “We have the opportunity to be a world leader. We could implement a system that hasn’t been done anywhere in the world and then show that it works,” he explained. “Especially to prevent criminal activity and to minimise potential gambling harm.”
When asked about how Crown’s new measures could affect the wider industry, Tsai was succinct and upfront. “It is difficult when the people who may need the most prevention, whether it’s anti-money laundering or whether it’s responsible gaming, would be deterred [by our measures] and go somewhere else,” he said. But he also acknowledges that this is a struggle everyone in the industry faces.
As for the new measures taken on by Crown Resorts, it seems Tsai is proudest of the PlaySafe Counsellors. These are people whose job is specifically to walk around the casino and look for people who might be suffering from problem gambling, or to be on hand for people to approach and talk to.
Tsai said: “We want to make sure it’s fun and that if there’s an issue, you can talk about it.”
The machines at Crown Resorts also come with mandatory breaks, meaning that, after three hours of continuous play, machines will turn off to ensure players have a 15-minute break. This is a positive and direct approach to some of the issues raised from reports from gambling regulators in Australia a few years ago, which found that several casinos were not intervening even when customers were playing for 24+ hours in one go.
Another feature discussed was mandatory carded play, which monitors a player’s screen time, spend etc, to add another layer of safeguarding to the process.
When asked whether Crown Resorts would be investing in new AI systems outside of the ones currently implemented in detecting and promoting early intervention, particularly those concerned with customer experiences, he laughed. “We’ve got our hands full,” Tsai explained, “so we won’t be early adopters [of AI].”
“What about global expansion?” The host asked, to which Tsai gave a similar response. “We’ve got our hands full! It’s no secret that we’ve been focused on our Australian operations; we’ve been exiting out of some businesses; just entered into a deal to sell our casino in London to Wynn Resorts; so we’ve got a lot to focus on here.”
Tsai then made an interesting comment: “That’s why we call in PlaySafe, when people hear ‘responsible gambling,’ they just tune that out.”
It may seem reductionist, but from a marketing standpoint, he’s not wrong. When customers hear something too often, they begin to ignore it or falsely believe they already know everything about it due to overexposure. So, rebranding responsible gambling material to “PlaySafe” is certainly an interesting one.
He also explained that all of Crown’s marketing now goes through an independent assessment to make sure it’s as responsible as possible, down to even timing when a jackpot could drop.
Elizabeth Arzadon from Star Entertainment Group asked, in regards to fixing corporate culture to a more responsible one, “What should those of us who are earlier in the journey be looking forward to in terms of the challenges we’ll face later on?”
“I don’t think you should look forward to challenges,” Tsai laughed again. “Listen, if you really want a great culture, then the journey’s never done. It’s no different than trying to be the best person you can be, or the best leader or the best parent; literally, there’s never perfection. You’re on a journey where you are constantly and relentlessly finding new ways to be better. That’s what culture is.”
