Bookmakers, jockey clubs, poker rooms and lotteries can be forced to warn players
Photo: Agência Senado

Lottery agencies, jockey clubs, bookmakers, poker rooms and video poker are some of the sectors that may be forced to warn players about the dangers of betting. This is what a bill foresees that awaits the appointment of a rapporteur in the Federal Senate.

The intention is to demand that in these games the message is presented to the players, in a clear and direct way: “Playing the game can be addictive and cause emotional or financial problems”.

Bookmakers as well as those carrying out online gambling or betting activities would also be included in this project. The obligation to warn of the risks of the practice that depend on luck to define results is proposed by Senator Eduardo Girão (Podes-CE).

In the justification of the proposal, the senator warns about the health risks that the games can cause in the players. Addiction to games became part of the World Health Organization’s International Code of Diseases (ICD) list in 1992.

The Pathological Gambling Outpatient Program of the Institute of Psychiatry, Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP) points out that 73% of gambling addicts are also dependent on alcohol. In addition to these, approximately 60% have nicotine dependence, and almost 40% have a drug-related disorder.

Brazilians moved US$ 2.7 billion in games from January to July 2022

Today, Brazil has about 101 million players, which makes the country the 5th largest number of gamers in the world, points out NewZoo, a specialist in game data. As for the movement of money, the survey indicated that Brazilians occupy the 10th place in the market, with US$ 2.7 billion from January to July 2022.

In Brazil, 43% of this audience spend money on games. The main motivation to spend is having exclusive content or unlocking extra content (39%).