• In the latest episode of Safer Gambling Talks, ?imon Vincze sits down with gambling harm veteran and BetBlocker Founder and Trustee Duncan Garvie
• The episode discusses the early days of the gambling industry and the advancement of independent resolution services, as well as the financial, emotional, and legal toll on the people behind those platforms
• Garvie is adamant that harm prevention organizations and the gambling industry ought to continue collaborating because players will always first come into contact with operators

Safer Gambling Talks returns with Casino Guru's Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling, ?imon Vincze, who is joined by BetBlocker Founder and Trustee Duncan Garvie. In the latest episode, the host and his guest spoke about Garvie’s origin story and how he has launched some of the most impactful online resources, with a particular focus on player protection.

Apart from Garvie being a prolific poster on the business social media platform LinkedIn, where he has broached important topics vis-à-vis player protection, Garvie himself has come a long way in understanding the gambling industry.

Although originally, he saw the gambling industry as "predatory," today, he understands the nuanced complexities of ensuring that players are indeed protected. While not giving the industry a free pass for certain past behavior, he reflected on how regulation has evolved over the years to safeguard consumers and protect their interests.

In his work helping to build an ecosystem that is focused on the player, and player protection, Garvie has shared his experience with receiving threats – from players and operators both, and not just legal threats, which he called par for the course, but also threats of physical repercussions.

The conversation shifts towards the ADR system, or the Alternative Dispute Resolution ecosystem, which is designed to help consumers get access to justice, which is particularly important in the gambling industry, but the issue is nuanced.

Garvie sees both the positives and drawbacks of using ADR but concludes that it has made things more accessible for consumers and has focused on dispute resolution in his own early work in the industry through THEPOGG.

Garvie also spoke about the current dialogue around gambling harm. He criticizes the current ecosystem, which sees stakeholders compete with each other and undermine each other, instead of finding a collaborative voice that can help the industry and everyone involved to achieve higher standards around consumer protection.

"I think that’s limiting for what we can do to mitigate gambling harms," Garvie said. Garvie also cautions about the increasing dialogue that is trying to segment gambling harm charities from the industry – a trend he strongly disagrees with.

"When we put a divide between the charity supporting those who are harmed and the industry, we discourage the dialogue that needs to occur. The learnings that can be shared between these organizations," he continues, and adds a sobering comment.

"The people who need our help most, the organization they will come in contact with first is the gambling operator," he wraps up.

The latest episode of Safer Gambling Talks is worth watching in its entirety, so make sure that you do.

Image credit: Casino Guru News