On Monday, the sports betting operator Sporttrade and Birches Health, a New York-based behavioral health services provider that offers online counseling and other resources to gambling addicts, announced a responsible gambling partnership that will find Birches Health’s information and services prominently featured on Sporttrade’s betting app.

The announcement coincides with the start of Problem Gambling Awareness Month.

According to Sporttrade CEO and founder Alex Kane, the seeds of the partnership were sown when Sporttrade’s chief compliance operator, Arpita McGrath, was introduced to Birches CEO Elliott Rapaport by a mutual acquaintance.

“In the initial conversation with Birches Health, it was a no-brainer that this industry needs this and I want to make sure Sporttrade patrons have access to this valuable resource,” McGrath said in a press release. “My biggest question at the end of the initial conversation with Birches was, ‘How quickly can we implement this?’”

“Right now, our player protection center is easier to access than any other online sportsbook, but it’s still a sort of check-the-box-thing right now,” Kane told Sports Handle on Friday. “When we incorporate the Birches Health stuff, it’s in the app. You click into your account and it’ll be right there without having to scroll, depending on your device size. We are incredibly player forward. Every bet you place has a cost, and we want that cost to be as low as possible.

“We want players to be better bettors, and the best players are responsible players.”

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Learn more at bircheshealth.com/sporttrade