About 1,000 people have chosen to include their own names in a list of people banned from entering a casino or gambling parlour.
The owners of gambling outlets notoriously police the doors to their establishments through blacklists meant to make sure that known cheats and frauds stay out. However, the 1,000 or so people who volunteered their names on the list of people barred from entering such places make up another category: gambling victims.
The figure emerged yesterday when Finance Minister Tonio Fenech unveiled a proposal to set up a fund promoting responsible gaming.
The Responsible Gaming Fund will enable the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) to run a campaign on responsible gaming and also help people addicted to gaming.
Mr Fenech said the fund still had to be discussed in Cabinet but it was hoped that it would be set up next year. The fund would be partly supported through contributions by the gaming companies as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
He was speaking during a visit to the LGA offices where he underlined the importance of the gaming industry for Malta’s economy.
Revenue from gaming tax rose by 40 per cent since 2007, reaching €47.5 million last year, an increase of nearly €1 million over 2010.
The number of licence holders rose threefold in three years as the gaming sector grew by 29 per cent. There are 282 gaming operators in Malta and 60 pending applications for gaming licences.
Mr Fenech said the sector now employed 7,000 people, of whom 4,000 worked directly with gaming companies and the rest offered support services.
He said international giant Betsons would continue to invest in Malta and would generate another 350 jobs over the next 12 months.
Referring to gaming parlours mushrooming all over Malta, Mr Fenech recalled how the government had closed them all down two years ago because they were unregulated.
Now that regulations are in place, 25 had opened so far.
These establishments were tightly regulated and monitored, with restrictions on where they opened.
CEO Reuben Portanier explained that the LGA was the first such authority in Europe to have a player charter, listing players’ rights and obligations. It also received international awards for excellence in the gaming sector.
The LGA had introduced the concept of responsible gaming with gamers in on-land facilities being given the option to be able to bar themselves from entering gaming institutions. The barring can last for a year or six months.