There are no shortcuts. You must work your way through everything that needs to be done. After successfully leading my university’s hockey team for almost two years, I thought I was ready to jump right to executive positions. But that was not the case, at all. So, I started from scratch, and I am thankful for it now.
As a part of my series about “Big Ideas That Might Change The World In The Next Few Years” I had the pleasure of interviewing Simon Vincze — Responsible Gambling Projects Manager.
Simon leads and manages Casino Guru’s long-term projects related predominantly to responsible gambling, with the goal of making the entire online gambling industry safer for everyone. He currently focuses on the Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, which aims to create a tool that will help vulnerable players restrict their access to gambling on a global level, and the Casino Guru Academy that hopes to better educate online casino customer support representatives and allow them to assist players more effectively and responsibly.
These projects are at the forefront of Casino Guru’s efforts to bettering the online gambling industry by increasing its standards and pushing online casinos to be fairer and safer for players.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you please tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have always loved talking to people and listening to their stories, trying to understand the situation they are dealing with and possibly do something about it. Things like communication, learning, and finding solutions to all kinds of issues have been an important part of my entire life, including my professional career.
Ending up in the iGaming sector was more or less a coincidence, though. I knew very little about the industry, but I quickly understood how things work, thanks to the help of my knowledgeable colleagues. When I fully grasped what Casino Guru is trying to achieve and what kinds of issues it is facing, I knew that I could be of help. So, I joined the team and started taking care of Casino Guru’s two ambitious projects that aim to aid the entire industry — the Casino Guru Academy (educational courses for casino employees) and the Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, which we’ll talk about more in this interview.
Can you please share with us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I have learnt a lot since I started working on this project. For example, I genuinely thought that slot machines are using some elaborate algorithms designed specifically to manipulate players, for example to grant them some winnings only to make them spend as much money as possible down the line. Now I know that slot results are random, and, even though they give the casino an advantage, it does not work as I thought it does.
For me, the takeaway from this is that there can be so much more to see when looking at the entire picture. I was looking at gambling through my personal experience — an app with slots that I used a while back and lost all my credits. Afterwards, I deleted it and thought that there must be something fishy going on. I judged the entire industry based on my very brief experience and emotions. Now that I see things from the wider perspective, I know how things really work.
Additionally, it also shows the amount of misinformation going on in anything related to gambling. Many people take part in it, but only a small fraction of them know how it actually works, which leads to a huge number of myths believed by a large number of players. This is why we at Casino Guru put such an emphasis on spreading correct information and educating people about how gambling really works.
Which principles or philosophies have guided your life? Your career?
That’s a nice question. I’ve always tried to be righteous — to act and make decisions the right way. Of course, we cannot make sure everything happens the right way, as some things are out of our reach, but my moral compass tells me that I should do everything I can to do the right thing.
This approach has not always been beneficial for me and welcomed by people around me, especially in work-related situations where ‘the right thing’ did not necessarily align with achieving business targets and maximizing profit. I understood why it must be like that, but it just did not feel right. Trying to do the right thing can be perceived as a weakness, but I try to take a look at this principle as an opportunity to prove that moral values can work in business as well. Luckily, Casino Guru sees it the same way, and it’s one of the reasons why I joined the team.
Ok thank you for that. Let’s now move to the main focus of our interview. Can you tell us about your “Big Idea That Might Change The World”?
Self-exclusion is a tool that allows players to block their own access to gambling online, one of the commonly available self-limiting options offered by online casinos and bookmakers. Players can exclude themselves from playing at a single casino, but some gambling regulators have also implemented multi-operator schemes that allow players to exclude from all gambling sites that hold a specific license.
Self-exclusion is currently the most potent responsible gambling tool available to players in terms of minimizing gambling-related harm, but we believe it can still be greatly improved by creating a global self-exclusion system. We imagine a system that would allow players to self-exclude from playing on all online gambling sites at once, regardless of the player’s country of residence or the casinos’ licenses.
The issue with current options is that they can be circumvented. Players can easily find other casinos to play in, and that is an issue for players that resort to self-exclusion because they are battling gambling addiction and want to minimize its negative impact on their lives. Other casinos have no idea that the player is addicted, so they have no reason to deny them access to gambling. That’s something that we hope to change by creating a global self-exclusion scheme — our idea that might change the world, at least for people addicted to gambling who wish to stop playing.
How do you think this will change the world?
It is a very ambitious project, but I believe it could really make a difference in terms of reducing gambling-related harm and saving addicted people’s lives.
The thing is, gambling addiction is a really widespread issue. It is not given as much attention as other common addictions, like those to drugs and alcohol, but there are millions of problem gamblers around the world. This behavioral addiction can easily destroy the lives of its sufferers, as its negative effects can range from less serious social or financial issues all the way to suicide. If a unified, global self-exclusion system could help only a small fraction of these people get on the right track, it will be all worth it.
Now, I must add that simply blocking one’s access to gambling does not solve the entire issue. It only helps addicted players resist their urges to start playing again by limiting their access to gambling possibilities. That is why we would also like to focus on providing excluded players with resources and professional help that can help them overcome their addiction.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this idea that people should think more deeply about?
Of course, there are many potential drawbacks and complications that will need to be taken care of and considered in the process. There will have to be a data- and experience-driven discussion about the specific technical details of the system. Also, current self-exclusion practices differ in terms of the enlisting process, self-exclusion duration, its revocability, as well as other types of help for problem gamblers. It will be difficult to find a generally applicable solution, but I am convinced that with the years of problem gambling research being done by professionals, we will be able to find the right approach.
Now, for the more serious and dangerous drawbacks, I am certain that we will have to put a lot of emphasis on privacy and security. We have seen casinos specifically targeting problematic gamblers in the past and inviting them to play. Yes, it is an absolutely horrible and immoral approach to business in the gambling sector, but it does happen. We will have to make sure to build a truly secure system, so that it cannot be misused by rogue casinos like this, for example.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this idea? Can you tell us that story?
It is hard to pin-point the moment that has had the biggest influence, but I would say it all started when we rolled out our Complaint Resolution Center, in which we directly help players with their issues related to online casinos. We have been working with casino complaints in one way or another long before that, but the Complaint Resolution Center has opened us to them in much larger quantities and in a more detail-oriented way.
That is when we noticed the number of players complaining about self-exclusion and other responsible gambling tools and principles. More specifically, we have seen a number of cases in which players used their national self-exclusion system to exclude from all casinos with a local license, only to find themselves playing in a foreign casino that offers objectively worse services. That is when we realised that, in the open and accessible online world, focusing on just one country is a bit short-sighted, and had an idea to build something with a larger scope. And the idea of a global self-exclusion system was born.
What do you need to lead this idea to widespread adoption?
As we outlined in our plan of action, we first need to discuss the idea with other stakeholders and raise awareness of the issue. We need to find out if other members of the gambling industry agree with our idea and see it as a suitable solution to the issue we are trying to address.
Most official organizations focus exclusively on their jurisdiction and players within it. Of course, that is understandable and completely normal, but we need to spread the idea that these things can be approached globally, and that the entire world would benefit from it. We need to help others see the bigger picture and venture outside of their current focus area.
Related to that, after spreading awareness and collecting feedback from others, we will look to partner with other gambling stakeholders interested to join the initiative.
Once we find the correct partners, there will be a long, long way to go, including fine-tuning the exact specifications of the global self-exclusion system’s technical solution, building a working system, and then getting other entities — those that have not joined the initiative by then — to get on board.
All of this will have to work out for us to be able to reach widespread adoption. We have a long journey ahead of us, but one that is worth taking, in my opinion.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Sure, let’s give it a try. I can hopefully think of 5 things that would be great to know beforehand, but I doubt my past self would have considered them as important as I do now, after I have experienced them first-hand. Nevertheless, here we go:
- There are no shortcuts. You must work your way through everything that needs to be done. After successfully leading my university’s hockey team for almost two years, I thought I was ready to jump right to executive positions. But that was not the case, at all. So, I started from scratch, and I am thankful for it now.
- You can only truly rely on one person — yourself. I was definitely told this by my mother and countless other people when I was a kid… But who would listen to well-intentioned advice, right?
- Online gambling is one hell of a complicated environment. I think I actually was told this as well, but I did not expect it to be this complex. On the other hand, I am learning new things every day, and I am thankful for that.
OK, we have 3 things. Maybe 5 is a bit too many. It is difficult for me to think about more of these things, especially because I think I would not have listened. It is one thing to get great advice, but only experiencing these lessons yourself gives you the perspective you need to truly learn from them.
Also, you can never prepare for everything and be fully prepared to deal with any obstacle that may arise along the way. And to be honest, I think it may actually be better for it to be that way. For sure, you need a realistic plan and vision, but there will always be things that come up along the way. The important thing is how you react to them. You can let them stop you, try to just ignore them, or do everything you can to overcome them. As long as you choose wisely, you’ll be alright. ☺
Can you share with our readers what you think are the most important “success habits” or “success mindsets”?
It might sound like a cliché, but I think that you really need to be persistent to be able to succeed.
However, being persistent is not a guarantee of success by itself. First and foremost, you need a good plan. Then, persistence will simply allow you to follow through with it, despite holdbacks that are almost certain to appear along the way. Even if you have a great plan, things will not always go according to it, and you need to adapt and remain persistent. Someone once told me that plans are nothing, but planning is everything. I like to remind myself of that every now and then.
Also, teamwork is very important. Everyone on the team should be working towards the same goal, with an aligned strategy. You need to communicate with other members of the team and be able to agree on how to move forward. This will also be important in our case, not only within our current team, but also when communicating with other members of the initiative in the future.
Lastly, you must be true to yourself about the work you are doing. If you are giving it your best, you cannot really fail. Well, you can, and you most likely will. But, if you stick to the other things I mentioned, at the end of the day you can always say that you have given it your best and learned from it. Then, just rinse and repeat (hence the persistence) and keep going.
Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them ?
Well, I cannot imagine that VCs would be interested in a non-profit project that aims to improve the entire industry without profiting on it. But if they have connections that would help us reach our goal, I will certainly be happy to hear from them.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
I will share regular updates on my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/šimon-vincze-43008b147/
Also, more information about the initiative can be found on https://casino.guru/initiative. On this website, you can learn about our plans and ambitions, as well as about the current best-practices and regulation landscape regarding self-exclusion and responsible gambling in general. I will also be publishing regular blog posts there, documenting the journey for anyone that wishes to follow along.
I would also like to encourage your readers to share our goals and ambitions with anyone involved in the gambling industry that might be interested to learn more or join the initiative. We need to find as much support as possible, and any seemingly random connection can be the difference be the tipping point that leads to success.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Casino Guru: Simon Vincze’s Big Idea That Might Change The World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
