RG Check is a responsible gambling accreditation program developed by the Responsible Gambling Council, Ontario, Canada. It assesses individual gambling venues on hundreds of criteria based on existing responsible gambling standards and codes of practice. Here, "responsible gambling" refers to efforts made by the gambling venue operator to prevent or reduce gambling-related harm.
RG Check Accreditation is valid for three years, after which a venue can apply to be reassessed. As part of the accreditation process, patrons voluntarily complete a survey questionnaire that assesses their awareness and understanding of responsible gambling policies, practices, and procedures within a land-based venue. Frequency of gambling at the venue is also examined. Data are collected through site visits. There is no identifying information for any survey participant.
RG Check staff typically invited patrons to complete the survey (over 95% of the time). A table with RG Check signage is normally set up in the lobby/central area. When possible, venue staff (e.g., Security Officers, Slot Attendants) also assist in asking patrons to visit the RG Check survey table, and the opportunity to participate is further communicated by PA announcements. Incentives to encourage patron participation include pens, which are given to each patron who completes the survey and entry into a draw for a gift card (one gift card per venue). Most of the patron surveys were conducted using pen/paper. There was a brief test of using ipads at a few sites (less than one percentage of the entire dataset). Most patron surveys were conducted in English. Less than 3% of the dataset was administered by pen and paper in Traditional Chinese. No surveys were administered in French. Very occasionally (less than 1%) the surveys were administered verbally in other languages on an ad hoc basis depending upon staff and patron capability (e.g., Hebrew, Urdu, Polish). For approximately 20-25% of the dataset, RG Check staff read and/or completed the survey for patrons. Occasionally (less than 10%), patrons would verbally administer the survey to fellow patrons (e.g., a spouse, parent, etc.).
These datasets align with three separate versions of the patron survey questionnaire. The original questionnaire was developed in 2011 and then updated in 2013 and 2015. There is some overlap in years for which different versions were used. The datasets represent all RG Check patron surveys from the time of the program launch in 2011 through to April 2019. The number of participants is N = 4370 for 2011-2014, N = 5147 for 2013-2015, and N = 9063 for 2016-2019. The datasets contain data from 77 different venues. Each venue is assigned a number only, and no key is available to match the number to the casino name. Venue characteristic information is coded for geographic location only: Ontario vs. non-Ontario. (2019-10-18). A list of participating venues is available on the RG Check website's Accredited Sites page.
