The American Gaming Association Code of Conduct for Responsible Gaming

The American Gaming Association (AGA) and its members pledge to our employees and patrons to make responsible gaming an integral part of our daily operations across the United States. This pledge encompasses all aspects of our business, from employee assistance and training to alcohol service, advertising and marketing. This code also covers the commitment of our members to continue support for research initiatives and public awareness surrounding responsible gaming and underage gambling. The following Code of Conduct details how we fulfill this pledge.

AGA members: Log on to the Code of Conduct for Responsible Gaming Resource Guide

Pledge to Our Employees

• AGA members will educate new employees on responsible gaming.
• AGA casino companies will train gaming floor employees on responsible gaming and provide periodic refresher training.
• AGA members will implement communications programs for employees to improve understanding of responsible gaming and related policies and procedures.
• AGA members will distribute to new employees brochures describing responsible gaming and where to find assistance. Companies will make copies of these brochures available to employees.
• AGA members will post responsible gaming awareness signage bearing a toll-free help-line number at various locations where employees congregate.

Pledge to Our Patrons

... To Promote Responsible Gaming

• AGA members will make available brochures describing responsible gaming and where to find assistance. These will be available and visible in gaming areas and at ATMs.
• AGA members will make available on their Web sites information describing responsible gaming and where to find assistance.
• AGA members will display in gaming areas and at ATMs signage that can be easily read bearing a toll-free help-line number.
• AGA members will make available to patrons and employees information generally explaining the probabilities of winning or losing at the various games offered by the casino.
• Each AGA casino company will provide opportunities for patrons to request in writing that they not be sent promotional mailings and for revocation of their privileges for specific casino services such as:
  • Casino-issued markers
  • Player club/card privileges
  • On-site check-cashing

In addition, each AGA casino company shall make reasonable efforts to honor a written request from any person that it not knowingly grant that person access to gaming activities at one or more of its facilities.

• AGA casino companies reserve the right to exclude a patron from gaming, without a request from the patron.

... To Prevent Underage Gambling and Unattended Minors in Casinos

• AGA casino companies will make diligent efforts to prevent underage individuals from loitering in the gaming area of a casino.
• AGA casino companies will communicate the legal age to gamble through appropriate signage and/or brochures.
• Employees working in relevant areas will receive training in appropriate procedures for dealing with unattended children, underage gambling, and the purchase and consumption of alcohol and tobacco by minors.
• If a child appears to be unsupervised or in violation of local curfews and other laws, security or appropriate personnel will be contacted and remain with the child while reasonable steps are taken to locate the parent or responsible adult on property or by telephone. If efforts are unsuccessful, security personnel will contact an appropriate third party, such as the police department or department of youth services, and release the unattended child to their care.

... To Serve Alcoholic Beverages Responsibly

• AGA casino companies will observe a responsible beverage service policy including the following elements:
  • Casinos will not knowingly serve alcoholic beverages to a minor.
  • Casinos will not knowingly serve alcoholic beverages to a visibly intoxicated patron.
  • Casinos will make a diligent effort not to permit gaming by a visibly intoxicated patron.
• AGA casino companies will train appropriate casino employees in the company's responsible alcoholic beverage service policy, and will provide periodic refresher training to those employees.

... To Advertise Responsibly

This code applies to the advertising and marketing of casino gaming by AGA member companies. It does not pertain to advertising and marketing that is primarily of hotels, restaurants and entertainment that are often associated with or operated or promoted by casinos. For the purposes of this code, advertising and marketing include radio and television ads broadcast off the premises, print, direct mail, billboard and Internet promotions.

• Casino advertising and marketing will:
  • Contain a responsible gaming message and/or a toll-free help-line number where practical.
  • Reflect generally accepted contemporary standards of good taste.
  • Strictly comply with all state and federal standards to make no false or misleading claims.
• Casino advertising and marketing materials will not:
  • Contain cartoon figures, symbols, celebrity/entertainer endorsements and/or language designed to appeal specifically to children and minors.
  • Feature current collegiate athletes.
  • Feature anyone who is or appears to be below the legal age to participate in gaming activity.
  • Contain claims or representations that gaming activity will guarantee an individual's social, financial or personal success.
  • Be placed in media where most of the audience is reasonably expected to be below the legal age to participate in gaming activity.
  • Imply or suggest any illegal activity of any kind.
  • Be placed in media specifically oriented to children and/or minors.
  • Appear adjacent to, or in close proximity to, comics or other youth features, to the extent controlled by the AGA member.
  • Be placed at any venue where most of the audience is normally expected to be below the legal age to participate in gaming activity.

Pledge to the PubliC

... To Continue Funding Research

• AGA members will continue to provide funding for the National Center for Responsible Gaming, which is the leading source of science-based research and information on gambling and health.
• AGA members will use this research to identify the best practices for casinos to follow to promote responsible gaming.
• AGA members will continue to develop a dialogue surrounding scientific research on gambling and health to communicate to and educate patrons, employees and policy-makers.

... To Provide Oversight and Review

• One year following the adoption of this Code of Conduct each AGA member company will implement the code and begin conducting annual reviews of its compliance with this code.

**All aspects of AGA's Code of Conduct are subject to local, state and federal laws.**

Enacted Sept. 15, 2003, by the AGA board of directors.