In June, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill that designates money for the Lottery to spend on its responsible gaming efforts to raise awareness regarding problem gaming and the resources available for their players.
Two hundred thousand dollars have been designated for the Colorado Lottery to support its ongoing responsible gaming efforts. The bill also removed a requirement that all Lottery sales be “cash-only,” which will allow the organization to better track and control spending on Lottery products and thereby help address problem gambling. By allowing purchases with debit and credit cards, this will also help meet the demand of players’ preferred shopping habits. Currently 24 of 46 U.S. lotteries accept credit and debit cards, a trend that has been steadily increasing in recent years.
“The Lottery is laser-focused on operating at the highest level when it comes to responsible gaming,” said Tom Seaver, director of the Colorado Lottery. “This new funding will go a long way to help us to continue and expand our efforts. We are going for the highest level WLA Level 4 certification for responsible gaming and are already implementing all of the best practices to operate responsibly for our players and for all of Colorado residents who benefit from our loyal players in supporting the outdoors and schools.”
The Lottery has increased its responsible gaming efforts and funding by 75% in the past two years, spending $160,000 in fiscal year 2022 on responsible gaming out of its marketing budget. Making these additional funds available will help the Lottery continue with and enhance the responsible gaming marketing and awareness initiatives that are already in place, which include public outreach efforts such as a “Know Your Limits” year-round messaging campaign on social and digital media, support of the Problem Gambling Coalition of Colorado (PGCC), Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM), and the “Gift Responsibly” campaign over the holidays.
For retailers and employees, the additional funding will support year-round ESMM (vending machine) messages and Play Smart brochures at retail locations, employee and retailer staff training, and the 24-hour problem gambling hotline number that is printed on the back of every ticket sold.