By Kory Travers | August 6, 2008

Almost 100 casinos and gaming concerns across North America are joining efforts in the 11th annual Responsible Gaming Education Week (RGEW), which will take place on August 4-8. This initiative is coordinated by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) and the American Gaming Association (AGA).

This year’s RGEW is centered around communication, with the theme “Let’s Talk About Responsible Gaming” and the aim to encourage discussion and conversation at home and at work, engaging casino staff, customers and the community at large. Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, explained the reason for this approach:

Responsible gaming is not just an issue for casinos, it’s an issue for the whole community. Encouraging industry employees to share their knowledge about this topic and the importance of making educated decisions about gambling is crucial, not just during Responsible Gaming Education Week, but throughout the year.

The AGA has developed a series of promotional and educational materials in English and Spanish, which are available for download at http://www.americangaming.org/ They have also designed, produced and distributed buttons, wristbands, posters and an assortment of motivational and promotional materials to raise awareness of Responsible Gambling Education Week.

Some of the casinos and companies joining in the RGEW are:

• Ameristar Casinos, Inc. – casinos across the US will include responsible gaming messages in their “on-hold” phone recordings and seek city proclamations supporting the week in all operating jurisdictions.
• The New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas will encourage employees to wear the AGA’s orange “Keep It Fun” awareness wristbands, which will give employees a chance to win a prize.
• Harrah’s Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino in Arizona will encourage all team members to wear “Responsible Gaming” buttons throughout the week and hold a special prize drawing for participating employees.
• Aristocrat Technologies – a leading gaming equipment manufacturer – will be sponsoring a contest to design responsible gaming posters.

Responsible Gambling Education is not supposed to remain limited to casinos and adult gamblers - the AGA has produced a series of educational pamphlets for parents to broach the subject with their children on a bid to prevent underage gambling.

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