Responsible Gambling Education Month: Why Financial Literacy Is the Next Chapter
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
8:30 - 9:30 AM PT
Join via Zoom
Free
This webinar has ended. Watch the recording and read the key insights here.
About the Webinar
Responsible gambling education has long encouraged people to understand the odds, set limits, and recognize when gambling may be becoming harmful. Financial literacy can build on that foundation by helping people see how gambling fits into their broader financial lives.
In recognition of Responsible Gambling Education Month, this webinar will bring together leaders from the gambling industry and clinical research to explore why financial literacy is an important next step in responsible gambling education. The panel will feature Richard Bayliss, Director of Product Compliance and Safer Gambling at Playtech; Felicia Gassen, Senior Director of Responsible Gaming & Community Impact at FanDuel; and Dr. Timothy Fong, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Co-Director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. Kary Carbone, Project Lead for Kindbridge Research Institute’s Financial Stability and Responsible Gambling Initiative, will moderate the discussion.
Panelists will examine how budgeting and spending awareness can support better decisions before financial strain escalates. They will also discuss why gambling should be understood as spending, not a way to generate income, and how operators, financial institutions, and healthcare providers can strengthen existing efforts through clearer education and more coordinated support. This approach helps people understand how gambling can affect financial stability, and take action before financial stress develops into a more serious financial or mental health crisis.
Discussion themes:
Why financial literacy is a natural expansion of responsible gambling education
How budgeting, credit, and debt shape financial risk
What warning signs may appear before harm escalates
How practical tools and cross-sector collaboration can support earlier prevention
Key speakers
About the Panelists
Felicia Gassen
Senior Director of Responsible Gaming and Community Impact at FanDuel
Felicia Gassen is senior director of responsible gaming and community impact at FanDuel, where she focuses on consumer protection and responsible gambling. Felicia has over two decades of experience in strategic planning, organizational development, and leadership within the fintech and gaming industries. She was previously the senior director of business development at Fanduel, and came to the company after serving as the chief administrative officer and chief of staff at Sightline Payments and the executive director of Global Gaming Women. She graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Richard Bayliss
Director of Product Compliance and Safer Gambling at Playtech
Richard is Director of Product Compliance and Safer Gambling at Playtech, responsible for regulatory strategy and compliance oversight, with a strong emphasis on safer gambling and research initiatives. Before joining Playtech, he was at the British Gambling Commission, where he spent more than a decade developing online gambling regulation, assessing the impact of technological innovation on regulatory frameworks and collaborating with international regulators.
Dr. Timothy Fong
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and Co-Director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program
Dr. Fong is a Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. He completed his undergraduate and medical training at Northwestern University and his psychiatry residency at UCLA, followed by an addiction psychiatry fellowship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. He co-directs the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, which focuses on understanding and treating gambling disorder. He also directs the UCLA Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship and is a founding member of the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative.
