Published: February 16, 2020

Norway launches new responsible gambling campaign

The Norwegian Lotteri-og stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet) has launched a new responsible gambling campaign. The campaign is designed to warn of the risks of pathological gaming behavior and to encourage players to gamble with gaming operators licensed in Norway.

Action plan for 2019 to 2021 set

 As the gambling authority said in a press release published on Radio Nordkapp, the campaign was part of the government's action plan against gambling addiction, which was set for 2019-2021.

According to the regulator Lotteri-og stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet), there are currently 34,000 people with pathological gambling behavior in Norway, a country with a restrictive gambling monopoly. 88,000 people are said to be risk gamers. According to Lotteritilsynet, hundreds of thousands of relatives are at risk of being confronted with the effects of gambling.

According to the gambling authorities, the campaign aims to educate people about the serious psychological and financial consequences that affect not only gamers with pathological gambling behavior, but also their spouses, children or friends.

 The head of Lotteritilsynet, Gunn Merete Paulsen, raised concerns:

“If you add everyone around the player who is affected by gambling addiction, that's a lot of people. We want to show how brutal and painful gambling addiction is, but also how people can get the best help. ”

New website at the center of the campaign 

The central part of the campaign is the website hjelpelinjen.no [page in Norwegian], which presents fictional reviews . However, these should be based on real experiences of pathological players. Those affected can also find the telephone number of an advice center on the website.

 According to the regulatory authority, players who play in online casinos that are not licensed in Norway are particularly risky. However, the head of the regulator also confirmed the results of studies showing that six out of ten Norwegians did not know which providers actually had a license in Norway.

 The campaign is now intended to raise public awareness of legal providers. Last year, Norway banned payments to international gaming providers. In view of the current campaign, nothing will change for them this year in the rigorous restrictions of the gaming market in Norway.

https://www.casinoonline.de/nachrichten/norwegen-startet-kampagne-fuer-verantwortungsvolles-gluecksspiel-34470/