The Hand Of Midas

What is The Hand Of Midas?

While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.

Harris Tsangarides, executive director of the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission, said his department had noticed spikes in gambling activity coinciding with GMI payment dates, prompting the regulator to consider “technical solution” to cross-reference GMI beneficiary lists with casino membership records.

An issue raised by Giannis Vasiliadis, director of WBAS, was the limited access to recipients’ banking information. This limited data can hint at suspicious activity but cannot conclusively verify gambling transactions.

What is The Hand Of Midas?

As someone with a naturally curious mind, I found this frustrating. However, in a short period of time, I have seen positive changes. Recent regulatory shifts and an increasingly competitive landscape are pushing companies to innovate, and those unwilling to adapt are being left behind.

Not only has this made the industry a hotbed of innovation, but it’s also created an ideal environment for growth for those with cross-industry experience. Ideas from outside are now being welcomed, with companies finally embracing proven concepts from other sectors.

I may have started life in the industry as an outsider, but that is far from the case now. Those initial conferences were frightening, but they pushed me to meet people, and what I discovered was an industry built on community.

About The Hand Of Midas

Responsible gambling and treatment services were recurring themes in the parliamentary discussion.

Minister of Environment and Tourism Dr Wynter Mmolotsi called for Botswana to establish a dedicated rehabilitation facility for people experiencing gambling harm. He also suggested that the country consider systems capable of identifying extended gambling sessions, betting patterns and other potential indicators of harmful play.

“In other countries, such systems detect the time taken, every bet placed, how is the game played and thus help to curb addiction,” Mmolotsi said.