Effective September 1, Paf, based in the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland, will become the first international gambling company to introduce a loss limit of about $35,000 a year. The limit will result in a 5 percent decrease in annual profits but Paf executives said they are committed to responsible gaming initiatives. The company, founded in 1966, offers slot machines, table games, poker, sports wagering, bingo and lotteries; operates a land-based casino; and has a total of 1,500 slots and 55 table games at the casino and Baltic and North seas cruise ships.
Chief Executive Officer Christer Fahlstedt said, “We don’t want to see people’s lives destroyed because of gambling addiction. There has to be a way back. We hope that Paf’s new hard cap will take us in the right direction.” The company’s stated goal is to create profit to support public good, donating profits to the Red Cross, Save the Children and similar organizations.
Paf officials said the company reaches out to players with loss profiles and often suggest problem gamblers seek professional counseling. Paf Chief Communications Officer Anders Sims said, “Some years ago, we were the first international operator to develop a technical ‘radar system’ which identifies customers online who might have gambling problems. We contact these customers with the purpose to make them aware of their gaming behavior and encourage them to use the tools that help them to control their gaming, such as deposit limits. If that doesn’t help and we still are worried about the customer, we set a fixed limit for them. In some cases we also freeze their accounts. We also finance research in order to improve in this field. The last years we can see that some operators are following us and implementing their own responsible gaming programs, which is very good.”
