On Wednesday, gambling regulators in Colorado marked Problem Gambling Awareness Month with an event at the State Capitol. Representatives from the Colorado Division of Gaming and the Colorado Lottery attended the event, explaining how they encourage responsible gaming and the various resources they offer to individuals struggling with problem gambling.
At the event, Tom Seaver, Director of the Colorado Lottery, announced the agency in January hired a full-time player health manager, Amanda Quintana. Quintana is guiding the growth of the responsible gaming program and promoting safe play.
“I think the most exciting thing for us was we hired a full-time player health manager. It’s always been a part of our organization throughout the different disciplines to focus on responsibility, but now we have a full-time staff person who comes to us from the National Council on Problem Gambling.
“We are trying to be part of the solution, we recognize we are part of the gambling environment in Colorado, so we want to do our part in making sure people are aware of the resources.”
Seaver continued, “We aren’t sponsoring a bill, we don’t have any specific legislation. It’s more about just when problem gambling is discussed, whether it’s something that we bring up or our partners bring up, that they know what we are talking about.
“Around the nation, the incidence of problem gambling is one or two percent. But if you start thinking of that in the six degrees of separation way, I think people watching this story have a very good chance of thinking, ‘Boy, I should talk to Uncle Bob about that.’”
