EPIC Global Solutions and Bally’s have announced a groundbreaking three-year partnership aimed at promoting responsible gaming and making a positive impact on communities. This collaboration positions both organisations as leaders in responsible gaming within the gaming industry.

The partnership between EPIC Global Solutions and Bally’s is driven by a shared commitment to creating safer and more enjoyable gaming environments. By leveraging EPIC’s innovative lived experience approach, the two companies aim to educate multiple partners in the gaming ecosystem, both in the UK and the US.

“Bally’s and EPIC Global Solutions are committed to setting new standards for responsible gaming with a three-year commitment. Together, we are creating safer and more enjoyable gaming environments through educating multiple partners in the gaming ecosystem, harnessing the power of EPIC’s lived experience approach in both the UK and US,” said Robeson Reeves, CEO of Bally’s Corporation.

The partnership will focus on promoting responsible gaming practices and raising awareness about the potential effects of gaming. By emphasising the importance of responsible gaming, EPIC Global Solutions and Bally’s aim to minimise the negative impact of gaming and ensure a more responsible approach within the industry.

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EPIC Global Solutions’ lived experience approach will play a crucial role in this partnership.

Bally’s employees in the US will benefit from bespoke training from EPIC’s lived experience perspective that will be of particular significance to teams on the casino floor or in customer service roles, empowering them to make informed decisions and helping them to better engage with customers with their wellbeing and enjoyment in mind. The two organisations will also engage to create social media and digital campaigns that help to provide clear advice on responsible gaming best practice and the potential consequences of gaming.

“We are excited to partner with Bally’s to drive positive change in the gaming industry. By leveraging EPIC’s lived experience approach, we can make a significant impact on responsible gaming practices globally,” said Paul Buck, EPIC Global Solutions founder and CEO.

The partnership between EPIC Global Solutions and Bally’s represents a significant step forward in promoting responsible gaming and community impact.

Stevin ‘Hedake’ Smith was at the center of one of the most high-profile examples of gambling-related harm in basketball history, which makes him the perfect latest addition to EPIC Global Solutions’ team as they continue to educate the current generation of professional and collegiate athletes on how to avoid the repeat of a similar scenario.

The former point guard made his name as a star player at Arizona State University in the early 1990s, setting college records for three-point attempts and being a two-time All-Pac-10 selection. However, his involvement in point-shaving – which was the subject of a 2021 Netflix documentary – led to a one-year prison sentence and impacted an NBA career with hometown team, Dallas Mavericks.

The source of his gambling harm – being approached by a gambler to change the final score of a game without changing who wins – is an issue that remains very pertinent to student-athletes 30 years on, in spite of the significant changes to sports wagering legislation.

This ensures that his planned involvement in EPIC’s range of education sessions to teams connected to partners such as the NCAA, MLB, and MLSPA will be an important lesson for the athletes, coaches, and staff in attendance when he travels to address them in his new role as US sports advisor for the company.

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“I’m passionate about wanting to tell my story and get out there to prevent this from happening again,” he explained.

“I’ve been able to tell my story to players previously and I’m able to have a relationship with all of them in the audience because of the way I deliver my message and coming from one big fraternity in sport. Knowing that EPIC has a global reach is something that really stood out to me about this opportunity and I’m passionate about getting out there and speaking about my experience.”

Though already a renowned name in sporting circles, Smith’s profile is set to rise again in the months ahead with the release of eponymous autobiography, ‘Hedake’, which will coincide with his work with EPIC.

“We’re proud to welcome Hedake to our team and can’t wait to see the impact he’ll have on audiences,” added Teresa Fiore, EPIC’s VP of partnerships.

“In being approached to shave points on game, Hedake has experienced a type of gambling-related harm which is different to many of our other team members. His story represents an area of increasing concern within sports, which adds to the range of our education designed to benefit our valued partners and the key people in their organisations.”

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EPIC Global Solutions have completed a hat-trick of wins at the prestigious SBC Awards North America, having been named as the event’s ‘Player Protection Service Provider of the Year’ for a third year in a row.

The globally-leading specialists in mitigating gambling-related harm were recognised once again at the New York ceremony, at an event that acknowledges excellence across all aspects of the gambling industry across North America.

EPIC provides a range of consultancy, education and training services around recognising signs of problem gambling to a range of sectors across the continent, with a particular focus on working with sports organisations, gambling operators and gambling industry regulators.

The company’s work in conjunction with the NCAA and Entain Foundation US – which has seen over 55,000 student-athletes and staff at more than 200 US college campuses educated on gambling-related harm in the past three years – was highlighted within the nomination for the award, and drew praise from EPIC’s CEO and founder Paul Buck, who explained:

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“There are now 38 states where sports gambling is legalised. Gambling is growing, so the level of harm that will come will also grow.

“Recognising player protection at events like this wasn’t happening five or ten years ago, but it’s becoming an increasingly bigger issue and we’re glad to be at the front of that and hope to remain that way for the next five years and beyond.

“We wouldn’t be able to do this without the lived experience facilitators who go out there and tell their stories day in, day out, all around the country in each of the 52 states that we work in.

“I’d also like to make some special mentions to the NCAA, who work with us massively on the front foot on a topic which is becoming bigger and bigger within the student-athlete population, and the Entain Foundation US, who have been there helping to fund programmes like ours for the past few years.”

Lived experience is at the heart of everything that EPIC does, with the lessons taken from the harm experienced earlier in life by around half of its current workforce being the driving force behind the company’s mission and the knowledge that informs the programmes it delivers.

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Therefore, Buck is incredibly proud of the team contribution that has once again been recognised via the award at SBC’s showpiece event in the US. He added:

“It’s always nice just to be here and spread our message and meet friends, clients and stakeholders, but to come away and win this award three times on the trot is fantastic.

“It just shows that the level of work we do and the impact that we’re having is growing and growing, year by year, which makes us even more proud to win it. I’m so incredibly proud, not just of the work we do, but of the people who work within EPIC.”