But Crown’s chief marketing officer Nicolas Emery could not say whether the program encouraged people to gamble more than they should because Crown had not conducted any research into that link.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Geoffrey Kozminsky put to Mr Emery that Crown would have already done exactly that if it was to “proactively prioritise the welfare of customers”.
“I agree that certain research can and should have been done sooner than this,” Mr Emery responded.
Crown decided last month to conduct research into whether the loyalty scheme encouraged dangerous levels of gambling,as part of a suite of changes to its responsible gambling practices submitted to the inquiry ahead of its public grilling on the topic. Crown has long refused to give data to academics who wanted to conduct research into gambling harm at the casino,the inquiry was told on Thursday.
‘It’s all calculated - it’s pretty smart,they know how to play you and they play you quite well.’
Crown patron
An independent NSW inquiry found in February thatCrown was unfit to run a casino in the state because of money laundering and other probity issues at the group. Victoria’s royal commission is now examining its Melbourne casino licence,with its approach to responsible gambling a key issue.
Mr Kozminsky said the inquiry had received evidence from one patron who had lost $30,000 after visiting Crown Melbourne to collect Phil Collins concert tickets given away through the loyalty scheme.