American Gaming Association Deploys New Responsible Play Program
Posted on: April 4, 2025, 12:12h.
Last updated on: April 4, 2025, 01:14h.
- The American Gaming Association has published updated responsible gaming messaging
- The AGA encourages its members to include the “Play Smart from the Start” program in their communications and advertising
- Some lawmakers think more responsible play protections for sports betting are needed
The American Gaming Association (AGA) wants gamblers to “Play Smart from the Start.”
The National Council on Problem Gambling in Washington, DC, marks March as its annual Problem Gambling Awareness Month. The leading trade group that represents the interests of the commercial and tribal gaming industries in the nation’s capital and state legislatures across the country is using April to unveil its strengthened responsible gaming program.
On Friday, the AGA launched new responsible gaming messaging designed to be implemented by gaming companies across their operations. The AGA says Play Smart from the Start bolsters the industry’s approach toward responsible participation by fostering stronger connections between players and responsible gaming programs.
“This new messaging platform equips AGA members and industry stakeholders with effective messaging to incorporate into their communications, marketing, and advertising; make tips, tools, and advice available to consumers to encourage responsible play; and elevate gaming’s leadership before a range of stakeholders by highlighting its commitments and investments to responsible gaming,” the AGA said.
Casino.org is also committed to responsible gaming and has a page dedicated to keeping online gambling fun.
Responsible Gaming Program
The AGA’s updated responsible gaming messaging toolkit has three pillars. The first is having the right state of mind before playing, with a focus on keeping gambling entertaining.
Set your own boundaries and stay within them. Choose where and when you play, ensuring your gaming environment supports positive decisions,” the program suggests.
The second pillar is “knowing the game.” The component stresses the importance of gamblers understanding a game’s associated odds and rules, which the AGA believes “helps you stay in the game longer and keeps wagering fun — win or lose.”
The third factor is “acting intentionally,” or taking practical steps to ensure that gambling remains enjoyable. “That could be setting a budget, taking a break, or being aware of your environment,” the trade group explained.
The AGA claims the American public thinks the legal gaming industry “is committed to encouraging responsible gaming by a nearly 2-1 margin.”
Not everyone agrees, especially when it comes to sports betting.
Predatory Industry?
The proliferation of sports betting since 2018 has heightened awareness of the dangers of gambling addiction.
Some in Congress, and elected officials in state and local governments, allege that certain legal sportsbook operators are engaged in predatory practices by targeting bettors who bet and lose often. While bettors who win more than the average online sportsbook customer are often limited or even banned, bettors who regularly lose are thrown a bounty of incentives and promotions to keep them hooked, critics say.
The federal SAFE Bet Act seeks to place federal guardrails on sports betting like limiting online sportsbook players to making no more than five deposits a day and forcing operators to conduct “affordability checks” on customers when they make large bets or change their betting behaviors. The federal bill additionally seeks to ban all sports betting advertising on media regulated by the FCC between the hours of 8 am and 10 pm and during live sports programming.
Prosecutors in Baltimore have initiated a lawsuit against sportsbook leaders FanDuel and DraftKings on allegations that they’ve violated the city’s Consumer Protection Ordinance. The Baltimore Department of Law Department believes the sportsbooks are exploiting problem gamblers across the nation.
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Last Comment ( 1 )
Thank you for the April 4 piece—I'm fully aligned with the principles laid out in Play Smart from the Start and think it's a meaningful step forward. That said, I’d suggest that while cognitive strategies like budgeting and education are essential, they address only one layer of the issue. Because variable ratio reinforcement is so deeply embedded in the gaming experience, we also need a stronger behavioral and neurophysiological approach. Helping players understand the mechanisms of compulsion—how dopamine release, pattern recognition, and intermittent wins affect decision-making—is critical if we want these responsible gaming tools to stick. In the same way we’ve advanced harm reduction in other industries (like cannabis and alcohol) by targeting both cognition and compulsion, I think the gaming industry is now ready for that deeper integration. Looking forward to where this conversation leads next.