BCLC announces two GameSense Advisors (GSAs) at River Rock and Starlight Casinos to support Cantonese and Mandarin-speaking players in making informed choices about gambling and to promote positive play.
GSAs work to encourage healthy play by having conversations with players about how the games work, the importance of setting limits or just taking a break.
GSA Jonathan Qiao at River Rock Casino offers player supports in Mandarin and English, dispelling common myths about gambling and demonstrating how slot machines operate.
Wilson Tsang at Starlight Casino provides information to players in Cantonese, Mandarin and English, building rapport by listening without judgement and ensuring players know how to seek additional support, if they feel they need it.
“Offering players the opportunity to interact with GameSense Advisors in their preferred language can help provide more meaningful exchanges between advisors and players about how the games work, the odds of winning and losing, and better connect those, who feel they need it, to additional support resources,” said Dr. Jamie Wiebe, BCLC Director of Player Health. “I am proud of our efforts to invest in and enhance player health supports by offering in-language services that reflect the diversity of our players.”
In addition to Mandarin and Cantonese, BCLC has GSAs at various B.C. casinos and community gaming centres who have conversations with players in Punjabi, Tagalog, Hindi, French, Serbian, Spanish, Russian, Latvian and English. BCLC also provides printed resources at GameSense Information Centres in Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Punjabi, French, Tagalog, and English.
GSAs are one component of the expanded GameSense program to support player health, a strategic focus at BCLC. GSAs have approximately 67,000 interactions with customers at B.C. casinos each year and BCLC recently announced the expansion of GSAs into every single B.C. casino and community gaming centre; previously advisors were at casinos only.
Research suggests that 80 per cent of patrons who interacted with a GSA reported feeling more informed about player health information, such as when to take breaks.
GameSense is the cornerstone program for engaging and informing players, while removing stigma that may be associated with accessing responsible and problem gambling resources. For more information visit GameSense.com.
