Sands China Ltd is participating in Responsible Gaming 2017 with several initiatives supporting the annual event organised by the MSAR Social Welfare Bureau, the MSAR Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) and the University of Macau.
Taking place from October through December, Sands China’s Responsible Gaming 2017 activities aim to further increase team members’ awareness of problem gambling and to foster responsible gaming behaviour.
In the back-of-house areas of Sands Macao, The Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central and The Parisian Macao, the company has set up notice boards promoting the Responsible Gaming 2017 initiatives of the MSAR government and local community organisations. Video screens in the properties’ back-of-house areas are also showing Sands China’s “Let’s Support Responsible Gaming” promo clip. The company-produced short video was the second runner-up in the 2017 Responsible Gaming Video Competition, co-organized by DICJ, the MSAR Social Welfare Bureau and the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming of University of Macau.
The Gaming Employees’ Home and the Sheng Kung Hui Social Services Coordination Office held roadshows from October 9 to 27 at several properties’ back-of-house areas, helping team members learn more about their responsible gaming related services, including Sheng Kung Hui’s 24-hour hotline and online gambling counselling services.
Sands China also offered a responsible gaming quiz for team members. Questions spanned topics like probability, self-exclusion and responsible gambling behaviour. A total of nearly 6,000 team members took the quiz, which was available on site at Sands China properties, and in a more interactive and accessible bilingual format on WeChat.
The company will also be setting up several Responsible Gaming Ambassador Walls, acknowledging the company’s Responsible Gaming Ambassadors, who complete an eight-hour training course to increase their responsible gaming knowledge and skill sets. The training is led by Professor Bo J. Bernhard, executive director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) International Gaming Institute. A total of 80 additional team members will become new ambassadors in November 2017, bringing the total number of ambassadors to 430. Ambassadors completing the programme receive certificates issued by UNLV.
As in years past, Sands China is continuing its long-standing annual practice of donating to three local responsible gaming centres. On 20 October, cheque presentations totalling MOP$450,000 were made to the Young Men’s Christian Association of Macau, the Sheng Kung Hui Macau Social Services Coordination Office, and the Macau Industrial Evangelistic Fellowship to aid their responsible gaming efforts.