By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

A SURE Win yesterday launched its gambling hotline as a part of its responsible gaming campaign.

CEO Leander Brice insisted that every business has a responsibility to serve and help build their local communities.

Mr Brice pledged that the hotline will run from 9am to midnight daily to assist and inform any person battling addictions.

He added that the hotline is one of many steps the local gaming enterprise will be taking to get its message of “responsible gaming” to the Bahamian public.

“From our perspective, corporate responsibility is not about blindly throwing money at a target in exchange for publicity, it is about targeting those issues and people who need help the most and ensuring that we give an effective and sustainable way,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

Mr Brice added that the anonymous hotline is being established with an experienced local partner who he did not name.

“The counsellors are well trained, well educated and very familiar with talking to persons battling addictions. For many years, they have been dealing with drug addicts, alcoholics and struggling teens, so it was just a matter of them getting acclimated to the gaming environment and understanding what constitutes addicts in gaming.”

Mr Brice ensured that A Sure Win wasn’t using the hotline as a marketing tactic or business scheme.

He said: “This isn’t a move to separate us from the other companies in the industry, it is, in fact a move to improve the service that Bahamian consumers in this industry receive. Other companies are welcome to come on board and work with us to move this initiative forward. We want everyone to understand that this hotline isn’t exclusive to A Sure Win players, it is open to any Bahamian that may have a problem, that may be battling addiction.”

Mr Brice said that while most Bahamians are able to make “responsible recreational gaming choices” the newly implemented hotline is there to assist those that need “help in making their gaming habits.”

A Sure Win has 32 locations throughout the islands of the Bahamas and approximately 170 employees.

Following a failed referendum in 2013 and months of public discussion, the government enacted legislation to regulate web shops last year.

The first web shop licenses are expected to be issued by May of this year.

Mr Brice indicated that A Sure Win had been using the transitional period to meet the government’s regulation protocol. He said that the company is still working to have everything in place to move into the new legalised industry.

“As of right now, the transition has been seamless. We are in the process of moving into a regulated environment and once there, once the process has been completed we expect a number of opportunities to open up to everyone that made the transition from the way things were to the new regulated layout.”

• To contact the hotline, call 328-4842.