GamCare announces accreditation of online poker room
Monday 6th August 2007
The British responsible gambling organisation GamCare has announced that it has accredited Gibraltar-based online poker site PokerStars.com.
GamCare is a registered charity in Britain and a leading authority on information, advice and practical help in addressing the social impact of gambling. It acknowledged that PokerStars had ‘achieved high standards in player protection and social responsibility and recognises the need to assist their customers to play responsibly’.
PokerStars said that, in order to achieve GamCare certification, it had to make changes to its site in order to better implement GamCare’s Code of Practice For Remote Gambling in relation to its online poker service. One of these changes involved implementing an age verification system to ensure that UK players were of legal age to place bets on the site.
The poker site put into practice a self-exclusion option for players who felt that they may have a problem and wished to suspend play for as little as 24 hours or as long as 180 days or more.
PokerStars also introduced a new deposit limits policy. While there already existed limits for new players, now players may set their own, smaller limits.
Other elements that were introduced on the PokerStars site included the inclusion of information about responsible gambling and sources of advice and support and training for customer service representatives in problem gambling and social responsibility. The site will also consult with GamCare when developing new technologies and products while supporting the charity’s work in addressing the social impact of gambling.
The British responsible gambling organisation GamCare has announced that it has accredited Gibraltar-based online poker site PokerStars.com.