Opening the panel, Mike de Graaff explains: “The black market is a black hole,” clarifying that it is very difficult to know exactly how much activity goes on in the space. As BetComply Co-Founder and Chief Compliance Officer, De Graaff states that the regulated market has created the black market - in many ways - for itself, as regulated operators are treating the legal space bullishly as a ‘cash grab’ rather than an opportunity.
This brief analysis comes in response to Peter Rampertaap, Coordinator of Operational Supervision at the Dutch Gambling Authority, revealing that nearly half of the Netherlands’ market is unregulated.
Marian Mihaila, Global Responsible Gaming Manager at Superbet, states that he likes to focus on the player’s lifestyles - reiterating the importance of self-regulation as an industry, whilst walking the fine line of over-regulation.
De Graaf moves on to player awareness, stating that fighting Google is the first thing operator’s have to contest with - as it is often unhelpful in displaying player awareness-related sites and campaigns. It also becomes difficult to convince operators - especially those with smaller budgets - who are unwilling to spend on player awareness campaigns in comparison to recruitment or marketing campaigns. He reiterates that less stringent markets that allow operators to flourish will help to tackle the problem - with Rampertaap concurring that: “A legal market should be an attractive market.”
Further, he reminds us that not all players know the difference between a legal and illegal operator - which shows that it’s very hard for consumers to recognise where they are best protected.
Romero then states that many regulated operators that complain about the black market, have often been recently operating in grey and black spaces. De Graaff responds that many players who search for licensed operators also find it incredibly difficult to find them due to search engine discrepancies - with illegal sites often showing up first. This, as clarified by De Graaff, is a Google issue not worth focusing on for too long: “We’re not going to win that fight.” He continues by stating that licensed operators are now trying to hijack black market ideas to try and help steer players that are looking for illegal sites towards regulated spaces by implementing ‘black market’ SEO, stating: “I like this kind of innovation, but it shouldn’t be necessary.”
Rampertaap comes back around by saying that he hopes that with time and some new regulations, he hopes that the illegal space can be tackled with additional cooperation from major corporations such as Google.
Inevitably, AI works its way into the conversation, with De Graaff stating that, in the long-term, it is not going anywhere and he hopes it will become as present in the RG space as it is in the advertising or personalisation spaces. Mihaila goes one further, stating that AI is now becoming a must for any operator sand organisations serious about responsible practices: “Having AI is not just keeping operators compliant, it actually allows you as an operator to improve your business. If you have unhealthy players, long-term, they play too much, they lose their money, they cannot play anymore. Having an AI for RG is a business advantage.”
Romero retorts with a hypothetical that AI could keep players in a ‘sweet-spot’ of losses that, although lower, are more continuous than if they lose their money quickly and then self-exclude. Mihaila replies that this depends on company strategy. De Graaff also agrees that you could, in theory, use AI to exploit players: “You can use weapons for both defence and attack.” Human control, he believes, is key.
Conclusively, De Graaff also explains that New Zealand represents the perfect testing ground for 15 new operators going in, hopefully not bulldozing the market and destroying the landscape by pushing regulatory compliance and competitiveness to its limits. Rampertaap agrees, saying that operators often push into new markets by moving too fast in order to secure their position - which can make life very difficult for regulators, and this is a trend that has to be dealt with as it - ultimately - affects lives.
