By Mike Borukhov
I’m a gambler because my parents are gamblers. From a very young age, I was exposed to the casino gambling industry. I remember taking trips with my mother to Las Vegas where I was “escorted” around by security so she could play blackjack and baccarat. My father enjoyed playing online poker in the pre-UIGEA days and on occasion, I would sneak on and play a few hands. While much of their behavior seemed normal, there were plenty of times where I was concerned about their behavior and whether they had a problem with their gambling.
As I grew up, it was natural that I too would engage with the gambling industry. My game of choice was sports betting. Hell, my 21st birthday was in Las Vegas. But as I got further and further into sports betting, I had this worry that at times my play wasn’t responsible. That came to a head in 2019 after a large parlay wager missed being hit by one leg. I was devastated—and only then did I realize how gambling had taken over my life. I took the next year off betting but then something extraordinary happened in 2018—PASPA was overturned allowing states to legalize sports betting.
Instead of having to go to Vegas to place wagers, I could now do it from the comfort of my couch. Living in Colorado, mobile sports betting launched during the height of the pandemic. I found myself wagering on late-night tennis matches with players I had never heard of. Again, it dawned on me that I might have a problem with my gambling behavior. So, I asked myself the next logical question—how would I know?
We use big data and technology to better understand all kinds of parts of our daily lives—from our number of steps in a day, to our banking activity, to the optimal temperature to keep our home. Yet there was no solution to leverage my data to tell me if my gambling was responsible.
Back in 2020, my friend Bryan Price and I were in the process of building a daily fantasy sports (DFS) company called Pick Perfect. The idea was that the company would offer small dollar buy-ins with the potential for big payouts. We quickly realized that the DFS space was too crowded and we wouldn’t be able to compete with the big boys in that space. Using the technology we developed for Pick Perfect, we shifted the solution to take advantage of the gap that we saw in the use of data to identify responsible and problem gambling behavior.
Thus, iProtekt was born.
iProtekt is a provider of data-focused responsible and problem gambling solutions. We have studied dozens of data points that go into a gambler’s behavior—from deposits and withdrawals, to bet size and total number of bets to when those bets are placed. Using that information, iProtekt has developed a proprietary algorithm that calculates an individual “risk score,” which ranges from responsible play to “full tilt” risk, which indicates their behavior highlights a potential problem.
Since the PASPA decision in 2018, sports betting has spread like wildfire with 35 states and the District of Columbia now offering some type of legal sports betting. As these markets have opened, regulators have taken a relatively consistent approach with regards to responsible gaming tools—mandating things like time limits, deposit limits and self-exclusion.
As we begin to see some of the harmful elements of legalizing sports betting take hold, regulators in some states have taken a more aggressive approach. Massachusetts has adopted limited advertising restrictions. Iowa is taking steps around underage gambling after a spate of scandals at Iowa universities. Ohio has banned the use of non-gaming related promotions after a misstep by an operator.
While all of these are well intentioned efforts by regulators, they are missing the big opportunity. How do you help people who might have a problem with their gambling?
Enter New Jersey and Colorado.
Regulators in those two states have moved to implement responsible gaming data mandates, forcing operators to use the vast amounts of data they have on customers to identify if they are wagering responsibly or if they show signs of having a problem with their gambling. We know the data exists to better inform our customers of their activity, but until now, we have yet to use it.
In legal gambling markets worldwide, the industry has seen regulatory overreach around advertising and affordability checks. Many industry veterans believe the U.S. could be headed down a similar path to regulatory restrictions in the next five years unless proactive measures are taken to, you guessed it, help people.
That is why the industry should be proactively adopting third-party data solutions to identify problematic player behavior and work to build interventions for those players who might be struggling with their gambling. These technologies can help people. We know that big data can be used to spot anomalies in betting patterns—and real-time information can be used to help people the moment they show signs of having a problem.
When we developed iProtekt’s iPulse player tracking product, I was the guinea pig. We analyzed my betting behavior over several years to see when I gambled responsibly, and when I showed signs of problematic behavior. And we found plenty of situations where I exhibited that “full tilt” level of risk. I know these solutions work because I have seen it help me personally.
As we conclude Responsible Gaming Education Month, I’ll continue to advocate for operators and regulators alike to adopt big data-driven responsible gambling solutions to help people who may struggle with their gambling activity. Building a sustainable gambling industry is the buzzword of the day—solutions like iProtekt are a great step in building that sustainable market for the future.
Mike Borukhov is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of iProtekt.
