MGM Resorts International is using a voluntary GameSense Advisor course to train staff across its casino and resort operations to recognise when a guest may be gambling beyond their means and to direct them towards support.
The 90-minute class, observed by the Las Vegas Sun at Mandalay Bay during Responsible Gaming Education Month, is intended to give employees a foundation for opening potentially difficult conversations. Garrett Farnes, MGM’s executive director of responsible gaming, told participants that gambling “shouldn’t be a way to make money” but “a form of entertainment.”
The training now reaches more than 45 gaming and non-gaming departments, and more than 3,000 employees have completed it. Participants include staff from casino pits and high-limit slot rooms, as well as security, food and beverage teams and executives. MGM chief executive Bill Hornbuckle has also taken the course.
Farnes told staff that player well-being was a priority and urged them to make “the right decision for the player” by applying a “see something, say something” approach. The programme teaches staff to identify possible warning signs including repeated ATM visits during play, emotional reactions to losses and regular customers spending markedly more time at a property than usual.
Responses from guests can vary. Some may welcome a conversation, while others may say they had planned a larger wager, particularly during football season. Farnes said MGM may in some cases disable a customer’s access to its betting app or decline to accept an in-person wager. He also noted that gambling has no equivalent of the legal alcohol-service standard for a patron who has consumed too much.
Susan Savage, vice president of customer development at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, told the Sun that the training helped make intervention work in practice. She recounted a customer who was initially reluctant to accept help but eventually did so and no longer gambles.
The course is part of GameSense, a responsible-gambling scheme developed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and licensed to MGM in 2017. A study of MGM loyalty-program members described GameSense as an effort to educate gamblers about positive gambling beliefs and reduce the potential for gambling-related harm.
Earlier this month, as covered in our report on MGM Resorts and BetMGM’s Responsible Gaming Education Month campaign, the companies pledged a combined $320,000 to responsible-gaming initiatives. That outreach also includes GameSense resources intended to explain games and odds, help guests set time and spending limits, and connect people concerned about gambling to support tools.
Farnes has delivered the course at MGM properties around the world. MGM has 13 properties in Las Vegas and 31 worldwide, according to the Sun.
