Simon Westbury on why 1xCare is just the start of an RG journey 

On 30 June, Simon Westbury, strategic adviser at 1xBET, took to LinkedIn to announce the launch of 1xCare, an initiative dedicated to advancing player protection and responsible gambling. The initiative will adhere to a structured four-pillar network: research, education, technology and support and wellbeing, and is the culmination of years of work “aimed at implementing regional initiatives through a unified global structure while fully preserving local specificity”. EGR met with Westbury at iGB Live to find out more… 
 

EGR: What was the inspiration for the 1xCare venture?  

Simon Westbury (SW): The inspiration really came from the industry. The industry has historically always been in the here and now, but for a long-term sustainable business in gaming, we really need to lay the foundations and pay attention to safer gambling, so, 1xCare was formed to basically give a clear and transparent framework for 1xBet’s initiative around player protection.

1xBet has historically been based on product marketing partnerships and sports partnership, but we wanted to add a player protection element, and we’ve done that by setting up a separate NGO [non-government organisation]. Obviously, we’re funded by 1xBet, but it’s a separate body, separate company, and I’ve become a director and I’m the chairperson of the advisory board.  

EGR: Can you share any more details about the advisory committee?  

SW: The initial advisory board comprises myself, Quirino Mancini, Sissel Weitzhandler and Christopher Bird. Quirino and Sissel are very knowledgeable in compliance and legal and dealing with regulators, and Chris has a great knowledge around sports as he was previously COO at Manchester City.   

The four pillars of 1xCare are going to be education, research, use of technology and also support and wellbeing for those that need it. I think research is interesting – we’re going to be working with a number of universities – because I find research into safer gambling and player protection quite paradoxical. People are very stringent in their beliefs; they’re either very proud or very against it. We believe there’s an opportunity to find a middle ground and, as you do some research, it will benefit the industry. This isn’t about 1xBet, it’s about 1xCare trying to lead the industry in this space. 

EGR: You mentioned one of the pillars is education. Is there a particular age demographic the education element of the initiative will look to target?   

SW: It will be all-encompassing. I joined a year ago today and this process has taken a year to get to this point. One thing I’ve learned is not to have any preconditions. We’re going to engage with research institutes, be it universities or bodies involved in inclusion, but I don’t want to pre-conscribe and say ‘this is it’ because the core of what we’re trying to do is ensure gambling is a safe, enjoyable experience for people, from anyone aged 18 or 21 depending on the jurisdiction and upwards. I don’t want to precondition and say it is certain age groups being targeted. Let’s see what the industry wants and where we go. 

EGR: Another core pillar is research. Where do you see the gaps in the industry’s current responsible gaming research efforts and how will 1xCare look to address this?  

SW: We did four player protection calls over the last year. The first three were geographical and what we saw, particularly for the Western Europe report, was what I call ‘the three Cs’ – communication, clarity and consistency. If you don’t have those, you end up with confusion.  

The research really showed that in some jurisdictions operators are wanting to engage with the regulator, and can’t. In Africa and Latin America, we saw a real need to educate players, not preach to them. Education empowers people to make better-informed decisions Gambling is not an income generation exercise; it’s an entertainment downtime exercise you’re going to get enjoyment from.  

In Africa, we saw a lot of players not understanding self-exclusion, thinking they can self-exclude and then come back. There’s a lot of work to be done in research and education, and that goes for the industry as well. We’re an operator, we have a lot of suppliers.

When someone’s designing a slot game, do they build it with customer protection and responsible gambling elements? I know the regulation allows bet limits and speed limits on the spin time, but actually I think as an industry we can do a lot more in terms of ingraining player protection policies from conception to delivery. What I’ve found over last year is there’s a lot of performative compliance, but the industry now needs to make a genuine commitment around safe gambling. 

EGR: You mentioned the advisory board you’ve already put together and also expressed the desire to work alongside existing experts and organisations. Can you shed more light on who some of these may be?   

SW: Those conversations are ongoing. I can’t say anything until the contracts are agreed but, for example, we have a lot of relationships with sports clubs like FC Barcelona and PSG that are linked to sporting integrity. I’m not saying we’re open to everyone, but we are open to engaging with everyone. We’ll have our advisory board meetings and people will pitch and we’ll see where we go. Part of this journey is not predefined. What is predefined is the commitment to creating a sustainable, engaging environment as the foundation. We’ve started the process, let’s really start pushing the engagement, and there’s some really exciting things coming. 

EGR: 1xBet has been very engaged with charity work in Africa and in Europe. What drives the desire to get involved with charitable endeavours?  

SW: We’re a global brand. We’ve got almost 20 years of experience and more than 35 local licences. But although we’re global, we’re very local at the same time. Globalisation is what we do, but we didn’t realise we couldn’t do everything under one operator. It’s a lot of work. It’s a formalisation of all the good stuff we’ve done before, putting everything together in a sensible package to hopefully deliver real difference.

With 1xCare, there’s a clear affiliation to 1xBet, but we’re independent. The best things grow organically. They grow from the bottom up, from small acorns to big oak trees, and that oak tree is starting to grow, and we just realised that actually we’ve done a lot of good work. This isn’t about us praising ourselves. The industry doesn’t always say what we do well. If we separate it, it gives 1xBet and 1xCare the ability to really showcase the efforts we’re making,  

EGR: From your past responsible gambling work, what would you say are the main highlights, and do you have confidence these can be replicated in the future?  

SW: My main highlight has been the energy and the commitment over the last year. When I joined, we didn’t think 1xCare would happen. It was something that grew organically. So, I think the highlight is that it’s been a great year. We’ve got initiatives like 1xBalance, a gamified player protection hub that helps players understand their betting habits and make more informed decisions.  

I’ve said this often, but you don’t want this to be clinical. No one likes going to see the doctor, so we’re trying to do it in a soft, engaging way rather than a prescriptive dictated way. 1xCare is not here to dictate, we’re here to engage. So, too many highlights to mention one specifically, but I think the fruition of one year’s work and the launch of 1xCare bringing everything together is something to be proud of.  

EGR: How important is it for igaming companies to engage in such responsible gambling initiatives?   

SW: I think it’s incredibly important because if you don’t do it, you don’t create a sustainable future for the industry. We need to create a sustainable environment, and we also need to engage with society. When I started in this industry 18 or 19 years ago, it was viewed as a fun sector to be in. You go outside of our bubble now and gambling is very easy to be viewed negatively. We have to leave our egos at the door as operators and suppliers and work better together to ensure the environment is sustainable. Ultimately, regulation increases, so we need to engage with regulators so they understand we’re creating and engaging with sustainable regulation.  

I stick up for regulators here. A lot of governments make the laws and then the regulator has to apply the rules. It’s not easy. Some people from the industry need to go on to the other side of the fence. No one’s done it yet, but I think, when we speak as an industry these days, we’re not listening.  

If you look at what’s happened in the Netherlands, that could happen here in the UK. Whenever we try and give warnings and advice, we’re not listened to, and that’s because the industry has lost the social argument until we engage properly with regulators, government and society. 

EGR: Lastly, why is it important to you personally to represent a company that takes ESG seriously and commits to these initiatives? 

SW: Making this personal is a bit tricky for me, but what I will say is I’m incredibly proud to have worked over the last year to build some key relationships to make 1xCare happen. But, as I always say, I may be the guy wheeled out to speak to the media, but there are thousands of colleagues who work daily to make this happen. I’m immensely proud to be part of the process to launch an initiative that should make a real difference to the industry. 

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in my career, and I think player protection, safer gambling and ESG are becoming more and more important in this industry. So, to be associated with one of the biggest companies in this space, and to actually make an absolute difference is something I’ll be proud of, but I’ll be even prouder when I’m making that difference. We’ve just started the journey.