Anika Howard has a bone to pick with how the gambling industry talks about player protection. The Wondr Nation CEO reckons the sector’s got its priorities backwards when it comes to responsible gaming, treating what should be a core business function like an afterthought nobody wants to deal with.

“I feel like with responsible gaming, it’s like, you’re putting baby in a corner,” Howard told CasinoBeats in a recent interview. It’s a fair shout from someone who’s spent over two decades watching the industry transform from floor staff and fruit machines to pocket-sized sportsbooks and always-on casino apps.

Howard’s CV reads like a tour through modern gaming’s evolution. Vice President of Brand Marketing and Digital at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Head of Product Marketing at IGT, and now running the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s digital gaming venture. She’s seen the shift happen in real time, from punters walking through casino doors to players logging in at three in the morning from their sofas.

The Business Case for Player Protection

Here’s where Howard challenges conventional wisdom. The industry often frames responsible gaming as friction, something that gets in the way of deposits and drives down revenue. Set a limit, lose a customer. Ask someone to take a break, watch them head to a competitor.

Howard’s not having it.

“I feel responsibility is the growth strategy,” she said. “If you have a player who trusts the platform, understands the product, stays in control, that’s a player that comes back.”

The maths is straightforward enough. When you look at why players stop using a platform, it’s rarely because they were winning too much. “Churn, in many cases, is driven by harm, confusion, distress,” Howard explained. Players who feel out of control or misled don’t stick around. The ones who understand what they’re doing and feel supported do.

That shifts the entire conversation. If long-term retention is the goal, and it should be for any sustainable business, then player protection can’t be bolted on as an afterthought or buried in terms and conditions. It needs to be woven into the product from day one.

Digital Gambling Changes What’s Possible

Online platforms generate data with every session, bet, and deposit. That digital footprint creates opportunities land-based casinos never had. “When you have a digital footprint of that experience online, you have that information a little bit more readily available,” Howard said. “You also can integrate some of those things into the experience.”

She drew a comparison to the old party pits in brick-and-mortar casinos, where new players could learn games in a low-pressure environment with patient dealers walking them through the basics. That educational moment needs a digital equivalent, built directly into the user journey from first contact.

“Are there onboarding flows that can be used to educate players?” Howard asked. “Can you embed how-to-play content, odds explanations, budgeting tools, and account setup so it’s not just an optional part of the journey?”

The point isn’t to lecture players or slow them down with barriers. It’s about making sure they understand the product, know what tools are available, and can stay in control from the outset. Reduce confusion early, build confidence, and you’ve got a better chance at keeping that player engaged long-term.

Using Data Operators Already Collect

Howard pointed out something most operators already know but might not connect to player protection: they’re already using predictive models to identify high-value players. “I remember very early on predicting if someone was going to be a VIP player or not,” she said.

The same tech, the same logic, can work the other way. Instead of just spotting potential whales, operators can identify players showing signs of stress or confusion before things go sideways. The data’s already there. The question is whether operators choose to use it proactively.

That’s the core of Howard’s argument. Responsible gaming shouldn’t be passive. It can’t just be signs on websites and links buried in footers. In a digital environment where operators can see patterns in real time, player protection needs to be active, integrated, and treated like the competitive advantage it actually is.

As the industry continues its digital transformation, Howard’s pushing for a fundamental rethink. Not responsible gaming as compliance checkbox or marketing fine print, but as the foundation for sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive market. Players who trust their platform, understand what they’re playing, and feel supported tend to stick around. That’s not just good ethics.

It’s good business.

What the team thinks

Sheena McAllister: The framing here matters because we’ve watched regulators increasingly demand that operators demonstrate how safer gambling feeds into business design, not just sits alongside it. When the UKGC talks about customer interaction requirements, they’re essentially mandating what Howard’s describing as good practice.

Philippa Ashworth: And the market’s starting to reward it. Look at the operators who’ve built retention models around player value rather than pure extraction, they’re seeing lower churn and better unit economics. The sustainability angle isn’t just regulatory window dressing anymore, it’s becoming a genuine competitive differentiator.

Sheena McAllister: Exactly right. The compliance burden actually lightens when you’ve got these systems baked into product development from the start, rather than bolting on interventions after you’ve already designed for maximum intensity. It’s cheaper to build it right than retrofit it.