In rough days, the gambling industry donates to charity.

The gambling industry  often gets a bad rap as the focus shifts to problem gambling issues instead of the entertainment value offered by casino games.

One of the ways the gambling industry works towards highlighting their social responsibility is by making charitable donations to organisations that need it most.

Here are just a few of the top donations made by companies within the gambling industry in 2020.

Gambling Commission donates £9 million to GambleAware

When the novel coronavirus struck earlier this year, the world went into an understandable panic. Countries shut their borders, businesses shut their doors, and even casinos had to turn customers away in the hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

As more time was spent inside, authorities had to keep a close eye on the possible spike in player activity at online casinos.

In order to support the possibility of extra care needed by organisations such as GambleAware, the Gambling Commission donated a massive £9 million to GambleAware in April 2020.

The donation of funds was taken from the Commission's settlement packages received after investigating gambling companies that didn't comply with regulations.

Betway SA donates R2 million to local organisations

Betway, one of the largest sports betting companies in South Africa, did their own work on spreading good deeds in the time of Covid-19 to local companies.

Understanding just how impactful a total lockdown can be, as was experienced in South Africa during the first few months of the pandemic, Betway donated R2 million to 17 various charities and organisations across the country.

These organisations will reach all across South Africa including children's homes, homeless shelters, and animal shelters.

"We would also like to take this time to mention that with restrictions on work and travel, many of us are spending more time at home. However, extra time shouldn’t mean extra spend. Please  gamble responsibly  and get in touch with our support centre if you have any concern" - stated Betway.

Playtech donates £3.5 million to gambling charities

After the tragic suicide of a customer at a PT Entertainment Services casino, the UKGC drew attention to just how necessary social responsibility and anti-money laundering processes are for companies to uphold.

PTES was a subsidiary of Playtech but was shut down prior to the investigation by the UKGC. Had Playtech not surrendered the license, the UKGC stated that they would have likely been fined a sum of £3.5 million.

In response to this statement, Playtech donated £3.5 million to gambling charities after taking full responsibility for the shortcomings the UKGC revealed in PTES.

"We take full responsibility for these regulatory breaches. As a technology specialist, Playtech focuses on harnessing its capabilities in data-driven intelligence to place consumer protection at the centre of every stage of the player experience from game design to real-time engagement and messaging" - said Mor Weizer, chief executive of Playtech.

While this donation was the result of a tragedy, one can only hope that the money will do good in preventing further tragedies in the future.