Evaluating responsible gambling interventions: A new framework grounded in A/B test case studies from Swiss Casinos

Session Title

Research Methodology & Open Science

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Start Date

26-5-2026 12:00 AM

Abstract

In recent years, Playtech Protect have been running and evaluating individual interventions for gambling operators. While valuable, this manual approach does not meet operator ambitions to scale and compare across multiple interventions. In this context, we have developed a new Intervention Effectiveness Evaluation Framework that provides an automated dashboard, with code-driven analysis on the success of responsible gambling interventions (at both the intervention level and the player level). The Framework analyses impact on churn, loss, risk ratings, and RG tool usage, at a range of timeframes from 1-84 days after the intervention, displaying both binary and continuous markers of impact. Where A/B test control groups are not available, the Framework automatically generates approximate comparison groups based on historical play. The Framework is grounded in a series of A/B tests to evaluate interventions that we have conducted in partnership with Swiss Casinos since 2023, based on in-play pop-up messages that are tailored based on the particular risk factors for 1386 higher risk players. Our presentation will summarise the A/B test results, including evidence of increased click rates and limit setting for recipients of more personalised messages, and explain how these manual exercises have been codified and automated in the new Framework.

Author Bios

Richard Bayliss is Director of Product Compliance and Safer Gambling at Playtech, responsible for regulatory strategy and compliance oversight, with a strong emphasis on responsible gambling and safer play initiatives. Before joining Playtech, he was at the British Gambling Commission, where he spent more than a decade developing online gambling regulation, assessing the impact of technological innovation on regulatory frameworks and collaborating with international regulators.

Share

COinS
 
May 26th, 12:00 AM

Evaluating responsible gambling interventions: A new framework grounded in A/B test case studies from Swiss Casinos

In recent years, Playtech Protect have been running and evaluating individual interventions for gambling operators. While valuable, this manual approach does not meet operator ambitions to scale and compare across multiple interventions. In this context, we have developed a new Intervention Effectiveness Evaluation Framework that provides an automated dashboard, with code-driven analysis on the success of responsible gambling interventions (at both the intervention level and the player level). The Framework analyses impact on churn, loss, risk ratings, and RG tool usage, at a range of timeframes from 1-84 days after the intervention, displaying both binary and continuous markers of impact. Where A/B test control groups are not available, the Framework automatically generates approximate comparison groups based on historical play. The Framework is grounded in a series of A/B tests to evaluate interventions that we have conducted in partnership with Swiss Casinos since 2023, based on in-play pop-up messages that are tailored based on the particular risk factors for 1386 higher risk players. Our presentation will summarise the A/B test results, including evidence of increased click rates and limit setting for recipients of more personalised messages, and explain how these manual exercises have been codified and automated in the new Framework.