The Weekender: Responsible Gaming Industry Accused Of Pay-To-Play
I have voiced many issues with the current state of the responsible gaming industry, and it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better.
The Bulletin Board
THE LEDE: What does a get-out-of-(RG)-jail-free-card cost?
ON the HORIZON: Upcoming features and podcast guests.
READS of the WEEK: A look at the articles Straight to the Point is reading.
NEWSLETTER ROUNDUP: The best of the best in gambling newsletters.
Sponsor’s Message: Play’n GO is launching into land-based casinos.
After more than 20 years at the forefront of iGaming, Play’n GO is bringing its world-famous games to land-based spaces, too.
Play’n GO’s unrivalled portfolio of some of the world’s most played online casino games is now available for physical casinos, giving operators the opportunity to harness the power and growth of online casino to bring a new demographic of players into their brick and mortar spaces for the very first time.
With cabinets already placed with one of the biggest casino chains in the world, Play’n GO’s CEO Johan Tornqvist said “We are bringing the best of online casino content and features to casino floors worldwide.”
For more info, visit www.playngo.com
In honor of the return of The Weekender edition of the newsletter, here is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite summers:
The Lede: Is Responsible Gaming Pay For Play?
When Kalshi joined the National Council on Problem Gambling (committing $2 million annually to the organization) I wrote: “The overarching issue is that the prevailing mentality is that more money will solve the problem, when in fact, the more money that enters the space, the more issues it creates.”
Before I get into my complaints with the responsible gaming/problem gambling community, I want to give credit to Kalshi, as the company is self-imposing responsible gaming trading and integrity guardrails far faster than the regulated sports betting industry adopted these measures. Yes, it’s good PR, but the company is taking a proactive approach to RG/PG, even though it is fighting for its life in courts, where any links to gambling will be detrimental.
My gripe isn’t with Kalshi joining, it’s the way the NCPG let it join.
The NCPG was long viewed as the most credible voice in responsible gaming. In recent years, however, it has increasingly appeared to prioritize funding. That has led to accusations that it has created pathways for well-funded organizations to reduce scrutiny.
The NCPG created a special category for Kalshi, and said nothing about the company’s letter to Congress where Kalshi highlighted its NCPG membership (the proverbial ‘get-out-of-jail-free-card’ I warned about) all the while, referring to it as “responsible trading.”
And more recently, we have the NCPG releasing survey results on prediction markets (curious timing), where the group seemed hesitant to call prediction markets gambling in the press release:
“These findings show that the public recognizes prediction markets as platforms that can carry many of the same risks associated with gambling. Regardless of how these products are classified legally, Americans clearly believe that if financial risk and repeated participation are involved, meaningful consumer protections should follow.”
“As retail participation in financial markets continues to evolve, NCPG is committed to ensuring consumer education and harm prevention efforts evolve alongside them. That commitment includes new efforts to better understand emerging risks and strengthen consumer education through NCPG’s Financial Trader Health and Safety Initiative, and engage organizations operating within the financial sector through our Financial Services & Trading membership subcategory.”
As Christian Slater says in Pump Up the Volume, after reading a letter from a school administrator that says, ‘I find Cheryl unremorseful about her unfortunate condition’: “Bastard can’t even say she’s knocked up.”
However, we are starting to see the chickens coming home to roost, with more and more people making the same points I’ve been voicing about the current state of responsible gaming/problem gambling (that the RG community has become the worst parts of high school, ostracizing and bullying anyone that doesn’t fall in line):
I warned that the membership would make life difficult for the NCPG, but I guess a multi-year, multi-million-dollar commitment is worth the trouble of justifying the inclusion of a company that says it’s not gambling but believes it needs to put “responsible trading” policies in place.
Some previous Straight to the Point thoughts on this topic:
On the Horizon: A Peek Into the Future at STTP
🚨Barring some major breaking news, Straight to the Point will be taking its summer break beginning on June 29. Newsletters will resume on Monday, July 6.
Here are a few of the topics I plan on taking deep dives into over the coming weeks:
Prediction market parlays
How prediction markets and sportsbooks can coexist
Why everyone (including professional bettors) hates online casinos
Perception vs. fairness and logic
Upcoming Podcast Schedule:
Saturday, 6/12/2026: The American Gaming Association’s Vice President of Research, David Forman, discusses the organization’s claim that prediction markets have cost states $1 billion in tax revenue. We also discuss advertising, the land-based casino industry, and the shifting (for the better) efforts around responsible gaming, and more.
Reads of the Week: Suggested Reading from STTP
Susquehanna Takes Biggest Sports Loss, Kalshi Volume Hits Record High, On Knicks’ Game 4 Comeback [Daniel O’Boyle, InGame] When retail bettors win!
Kalshi Sets $17.9B Record May as World Cup Lifts Polymarket US to Weekly High [Valerie Cross, DeFi Rate]
Study: Sports Betting Causes Divorce, But I’m Not So Sure [Jeff Edelstein, InGame]
DraftKings Exec: Prediction Markets, Sportsbooks Can Coexist [Ryan Butler, Covers]
Why prediction markets matter [a16z, X]
When Too Much Is Too Much: Sports Betting In The Data Age [Jeff Edelstein, InGame]
