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a source for latest news, developments and reputable documentation and research on gambling. You'll find many helpful resources and links for anti-gambling advocates.

12/17/2009: OLG Profit comes from citizen losses

Wow! Wednesday December 2nd, 2009 there is a full half page colour advertisement OLG again.

“We’re not required to conduct 90,000 tests on our slot machines.

But we do it anyway“.

Well, when the slots reach the customer, we find out if they work.

A Toronto newspaper under “FOI” (Freedom on Information Act) published the results of the top 10 slots at Woodbine Racetracks in Toronto.

The slots really work. I mean, really.

The top slot pulled in $ 701,117, but it took 294 visits in a 12 month period. This means a loss of $ 2400 per visit.

The # 2 player only visited 92 times but his loss was $ 635,921 for an average loss of 6913 dollars per visit. (top loss/visit)

The # 3 on the list fed in 620,884 dollars or 149 sessions, for an average loss of 4167 dollars per visit.

The top 10 “players“, lost a total of 4,665,000 dollars over the 12 month period August 1, 2008 to July 31 2009. or, an total of 1608 visits.

So, the average visits to Woodbine were 161 times in the year.

The total losses don‘t work out because there are perks, and comps, and other incentives, and we are not told how much these convert to increase the player loss.

If we relate to the Hamilton player who gambled over $ 600,000, of his mothers money, and OLG acknowledged 130,000 dollars in comps over a 10 year period. Prorated to nearly the 5 million dollars for the top 10 slot players losses at Woodbine, this might add up to another one million dollars paid to keep their addiction alive and well.

If we call these visits “sessions or $E$$ION$“, with the help of  ’attends’, (Depends) the adult type diapers, some sessions go to 5 hours, some go to 30 hours. Some play one single slot at a time, some play 2 slots, and I have seen many players managing 3 slots all at once, with no let up in speed or feed time.

Regardless, 160 plus visits , and a loss rate per visit close to 4000 dollars prompts handsome rewards. Well, how does one afford this high loss level ? He nips out at noon, and robs a handy bank. Maybe 23 of them. This exchange robber got 6 years in prison for his addiction. Who pays for this?

Not the OLG. The public pays.

By the way. One test missing was the addictive test.

The last line of the OLG half page ad states:

“Its not just a game to us.”

City of Toronto memo: Revenue sharing fairness of Woodbine Slots December 19, 2009 (.pdf)
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation - wiki

11/27/2009: Johannes DeViet 1924-2009

Gambling Watch Global contributor Johannes DeViet died peacefully in London Ontario, November 25th after a short illness.

Johannes was the husband of the late Erica DeViet, father of  Tonny, John, Leona (Piet), Paul (Aina), Jane, Benita (Ken), and Marcella, 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be at First Christian Reformed Church, 531 Talbot St., London, on Friday November 27 from 5-7 PM, funeral service to follow.

Our condolences go out to his family, with our gratitude for his dedicated service and friendship.

Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

9/30/2009: Johannes Deviet

For 12 years Gambling Watch Global Ontario and Gambling Watch Canada has been run by a couple of faithful volunteers who picked up a challenge from the social arm of a Canadian denomination to educate and inform the public about the various issues surrounding gambling.

One of the few people to step up was Johannes Deviet.

Johannes is a holocaust survivor orphaned at the age of five  Dutch, lived in Holland, and was pressed into service by the Germans around age 16.  After WWII, he joined Dutch army, and was sent to Indonesia. After his service he came to Canada and made a life for himself. (thank you for the correction on Johannes early life - Admin)
He raised a family and spent his retirement giving freely to others.
 With deep passion and keen intellect he has worked to inform thousands of  people around the world about the harm of gambling to government and citizens.
Having raised his family, and being active in his local community, he took up the challenge and responsibility of educating, watching and warning of the dangers of  gambling,  as only a dedicated volunteer can.

Johannes has touched the lives of countless people.
Johannes spoke three languages, English is not his first and he worked hard at writing well.
He knew he could be obsessive about his calling, and was careful to be quick with kindness and gracious toward his fellow volunteers, and was ruefully apologetic when he believed he could do more. 
Johannes was always respectful to those who contacted him, humbly and innocently unaware of how copious and valuable his knowledge was. 

He taught himself to use a computer, and along with other volunteers who have received no financial support and little encouragement, threw himself into developing a gambling watch newsletter which went to politicians, gambling research experts, churches and concerned citizens.
It was unique, ahead of it’s time and timely. 
When Gambling Watch Global was set up, it was our privilege and honour to carry his newsletter and his commentary. 

The past several months Johannes health has been deteriorating.

A  few months ago he stopped what had been an urgent call and passionate  joy in his life.
The arduous work of his newsletter was too much for him, and at age 84, ill and weary, he knew it was time to lay it down. He ended his newsletter as he began it. With dignity.

Johannes is now in hospital.  
As fellow volunteers and friends we want to honour and applaud his dedication and faithfulness.
It has been a privilege to work with him, in his most stressed and overwhelmed moments, he was never too busy to reach out to anyone needing his expertise. 

He has taught us a great deal about staying the course and our hearts go out to his family.

As his voice stills, we want to say thank you Johannes.
We call out well done, you have been a tenacious advocate, a steady and loyal friend, and example of a compassionate and engaged citizen. We have been honoured and proud to have walked with you.

Go in peace Johannes, thank you for giving all of us your all.

3/16/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 029 CWE March 16 2009

A notice to all readers of this weekly Newsletter:

This will be the last Newsletter written by Johannes Deviet.

For the last years his work for Canada’s Gambling Watch Network has kept him so busy (he’s almost 84 years old now) that he could not keep up with it. As a consequence it was impossible for him to keep up with the needs of the Address Book - it should be totally renewed at this point; the filing away of all articles could not be done properly either, while our editor in his own life had no time to read books that interested him or even take the time to read editorials he saw in the newspapers he checked for gambling news. As a consequence we are now looking for a volunteer who will start to write our newsletters, and at least one other one who is interested in and able to rebuild our address-books!
For the time being Johannes plans to keep working at the gathering of gambling news although he also could get assistance with that every day work; even doing this is more work now than it used to be, but he will do his best to make a good job of it. If any other than the small circle who now share all the news with him want to get the daily items, please let us know and tell us that you understand the obligations required by copyrights of the items.

Crime

A piece in the Canwest papers says that the purchasing agent at a Calgary manufacturing firm persuaded company shippers and receivers to turn over their computer account passwords so she could process incoming goods while they unloaded trucks. This item is used as an example of the fact that business frauds are becoming more common. It should not surprise people that all the gambling and lottery actions that are being run by our governments tend to promote crime. In today’s world money has become the thing that is more important than anything else. As a practicing and active Christian I wrote an article about that.

Horseracing

The 3/8/09 Belleville Intelligencer has an article saying that Russ Moulton, the executive director for the National Capital Region Harness Horse Association (NCRHHA), told the Intelligencer that a meeting scheduled to take place at the Napanee Legion Wednesday will allow horsemen to vote on the agreement between the association and Baymount. Some local horsemen have difficulty with this because the announcement says that the 7 p. m. meeting is for NCRHHA members only while many of them are members of the Ontario Harness Horse Association (OHHA).

The 3/9/09 Windsor Star writes that striking workers of the local racetrack walked out after their employer demanded additional extreme concessions. (pr -Market Wire - admin)

Now management would like to eliminate benefits and is requiring workers to give up full-time work to become part-time employees despite the fact that Windsor Raceway continues to be profitable (over $51 million in the last ten years)

The 3/10/09 Montreal Gazette says,

Racetrack operator Attractions Hippiques’ request for a fourth extension of creditor protection has been delayed a week, to March 16, in the expectation that lawyers for the provincial horsemen’s and breeders’ association will file a request for Superior Court Judge Chantal Corriveau to step down. They indicated in court yesterday they intend to do so because of Corriveau’s disclosure in a February conference call that her husband is an associate of a law firm representing the racetrack company’s lenders, whose legal bills are being paid by Attractions Hippiques.

Standardbred Canada announced Wednesday a four-day festival at Hiawatha Horse Park and Entertainment Centre that organizers hope will attract 30,000 to 40,000 visitors

reports The 3/11/09 Sarnia Observer in an article about efforts to revive interest in horseracing.

The 3/12/09 Toronto Star says,

Following prolonged negotiations between track owner Nordic Gaming and a group consisting of Fort Erie Township, Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation and the Ontario Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, a deal has been struck to ensure racing this year.

In other words, Fort Erie’s racing is safe for only this year.

The 3/13/09 PEI Guardian reveals that Robert Shepherd, now recovering in a hospital from horserace injuries, was in a horrific accident at Woodbine Raceway on March 2.

Shepherd was involved in an eight-horse accident while driving a 45-1 long-shot in the final of the Ontario Boys Series, a chain-reaction collision which saw him hurtled off the sulky to land hard on the track, breaking his left leg in two places.

Why we were not informed of this accident earlier?

Harness Racers: 58-2 in favour of agreement is a line in the 3/13/09 Belleville Intelligencer reporting that Baymount Inc. has cleared another hurdle for its new racetrack and casino after securing a racing agreement with local horsemen.

Canada

An article that appeared in practically all Canwest papers reports that folks that are poor and/or have no jobs turn to lottery tickets to win money in all parts of our country. As an example the piece tells of a 40-year-old laid-off auto industry worker who scrapes together the money for a lottery ticket three times a week, like clockwork, in hopes it will act as ‘a magic wand, a cure for everything’.

Alberta

The 3/8/09 Edmonton Sun writes that the bingo it runs and promotes has over $100,000 up for grabs. To suck in more gamblers it adds that until April 12 there will be daily prizes of $1,000 and weekly jackpots of $10,000 and its 3/15/09 issue reports that three winners split $10,000 of the Sun’s weekly jackpot. That’s how the Edmonton Sun plays a part in the promotion of gambling!

British Columbia

The 3/9/09 Globe and Mail reports that the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games are supposed to be a jackpot for BC’s economy, but 200 casino workers caught in the “red zone” of security will be collecting pink slips instead of payouts.

The CEO of Pacific Coastal Airlines said on Monday he has given up trying to negotiate with the RCMP for a way to keep running direct flights to Vancouver from seven B.C. towns such as Powell River, Trail and Bella Bella during the Olympics.

We read practically the same things in the 3/10/09 Province.

The 3/10/09 Victoria Times Colonist reports that casino operator Great Canadian Gaming Corp. has had a fourth-quarter loss of $1.7M, compared with a $13M profit a year ago. The company blamed weak consumer spending, heavy snowfalls and more competition for the loss that dragged 2008 profits to $13.5 million — a 62 per cent drop from its 2007 profits.

A letter to the editor printed in The 3/10/09 Province accuses the BCLC of a lottery gimmick when it advertised that you can double your money by buying more lotto tickets, then run to the casino with your losing tickets to cash in for casino money so they can get you in the door to lose more money.

In that paper’s same issue we read that B.C. lawyers have been warned about a lottery scam that has targeted three law firms. U.S. residents had received a letter written on fake letterhead of B.C. law firms telling them they had won a B.C. lottery jackpot. The name of the firm on the letterhead was real but the contact information was not.

The 3/11/09 Vancouver Sun says,

B.C.’s lottery corporation has caught at least eight lottery retailers ripping off their customers over the past two years, including one employee who pre-scratched more than 100 scratch-and-win tickets before putting them up for sale.

Ontario

A Thunder Bay woman who stole more than $100,000 from the bank where she worked has a gambling addiction and should be spared jail time, her lawyer says’

reports the 3/10/09 Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal. We really agree with this sentence: “The government could give the bank back their money, that Ms. O‘Neill took from them … I certainly think that is fair and equitable.” Our mobster-minded governments that run, advertise and promote gambling should be held responsible.

‘The Ontario Provincial Police have charged an employee at an Ontario Lottery and Gaming retail location in Midland with fraud. Police said the worker had been pricking holes in scratch tickets in an attempt to determine which was a winning ticket before playing’ reports The 3/10/09 Ottawa Citizen.

The 3/11/09 Toronto Star is very critical of the fact that the OLGC bought luxury cars made in Germany and Mexico as prizes for lottery winners.

The minister in charge of Ontario’s scandal-ridden lottery commission has blown a gasket over a ‘crappy decision’ to give away foreign-made Mercedes-Benz cars as casino prizes.

The same day The Windsor Star writes that the cars upset the CAW and the MPPs.

A  3/11/09 Niagara Falls Review article took aim at the growing group of gambling Boomers who are reaching their retirement and might be or become addicted.

Gambling Campaign aims at problem gambling baby boomers is a line from the same type of article that appeared in The 3/11/09 Peterborough Examiner.

One Sunday evening in the fall of 1996, Leo Teahen took to the stage at the Pelican bar (now Vegas Lounge) on Dalhousie Street and delivered a brief, passionate address that left frustrated pro-casino listeners convinced that construction of a casino in Brantford was just a matter of time

reports an obituary in The 3/13/09 Expositor. Mr. Teahen passed away last Saturday and the Brantford casino will remember him in two celebrations this month.

‘The thunderous sound of galloping horses will once again echo through the grandstands at the Fort Erie Race Track’ gushes The 3/13/09 Niagara Falls Review in an article stating that the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation and race track owner Nordic Gaming Corp. will allow the 112th season of live, thoroughbred racing to get underway in early May of this year.

The 3/11/09 Regina Leader-Post says: “The grand prize winner will be awarded a $1.2 million Fiorante show home in Regina’s east end and $25,000 cash.”

Beyond our border

The 3/11/09 Michigan Online LLC reports:

Michigan residents bought fewer Michigan lottery tickets, cigarettes, clothes, restaurant meals and household goods, as they saw the stock market plummet and the economic outlook darken.

3/10/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 028 CWE March 9 2009
Youth

‘Children rated as impulsive by their kindergarten teachers appear more likely to begin gambling behaviors like playing cards or placing bets before they hit middle school, Canadian researchers said’ is a sentence in 3/2/09 study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. It is the first to show gambling among children this young, said Linda Pagani, who led the study at Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center and the Universite de Montreal. (canada.com - admin)

Horse racing

Magna Entertainment shares to be delisted from TSX on April 1 is a headline in The 3/3/09 Toronto Star. The reason given is ‘failing to meet the Toronto Stock Exchange’s listing requirements’

On 2/3/09 Bill Clark sent a letter to the Belleville Intelligencer to set the record straight of what that paper has written lately concerning Belleville’s Racetrack’s plan.
Raceway security guards OK strike for Thursday reports the a 2/3/09 Windsor Star reports:

Security guards at Windsor Raceway are set to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Thursday unless a labour contract impasse can be resolved, union officials said Sunday.

Horseracing pensions cut in half, says The 3/3/09 Montreal Gazette. The umbrella association representing Quebec racehorse trainers and drivers is in such grim shape it’s had to make the painful decision to slash by 50 per cent the annual pension payouts to 213 retirees, who now receive a maximum of $750 a month.

Bad Accident Last Night At Woodbine Harness reports the 3/3/09 Canadian Gambling. It wasn’t as bad as it looked. No horses were put down. The piece ends with a question: why didn’t a third horse get a chance at the $55,400 purse?

Province reconsiders whopping veterinary fee increase, reports The 3/3/09 Telegraph-Journal. New Brunswick horse owners have kicked up a stink over a fee increase that would add almost 200 per cent to clinical veterinary care for horses and livestock.

Cindy McCloskey, owner and operator of Sterling Creek Stables in Noonan, said the fee increase would have a devastating impact on horse owners, breeders and the racing industry, which already is in serious financial difficulty.

Pickets march at track is the heading of an item in The 3/6/09 Windsor Star reporting that 16 security guards, who voted unanimously to strike, will walk the line from 8 a.m. to about midnight at the racetrack’s two entrances.

Magna racing unit pulls up lame, reports the 3/6 Toronto Star.

Stronach’s race spin-off carries nearly $1B (U.S.) in debt and files for bankruptcy protection in U.S. court. After a 10-year ride that was about as smooth as a trip on the back of a bucking bronco, Frank Stronach’s dreams of rekindling North America’s pre-World War II fascination with horse racing have fallen off the track.

Weekend big one for P E I horse owners, says The 3/6/09 Guardian. A Saturday night awards banquet in Cornwall will honour the top performers of the 2008 harness racing season of the Standardbred Horse Owners Association

$lots City will be a winner if/when they arrive reports The 3/7/09 Belleville Intelligencer.

The city of Belleville, without ever placing a bet, could be a big winner when — and if — the new Quinte Exhibition and Raceway is developed by Baymount.

Sports

Bets are off in Windsor for Final Four, says The 2/23/09 Detroit Free Press.

The NCAA has persuaded the Ontario government to suspend basketball betting at Caesars Windsor while Detroit hosts the NCAA’s marquee event, the 2009 Final Four, in early April.

Lottery

Final Super 7 draw on Sept 18, says The 3/4/09 Toronto Star. After 15 years the Interprovincial Lottery Corp. will replace the national Friday night draw with a new game The corp. administers the Super 7, details of the new lottery will be announced in the coming months, the company said.

Crime

Fraud could increase, warns the 3/3/09 Regina Leader-Post at the launch of Fraud Awareness Month, History shows there tends to be growth in fraudulent activity when there’s a downturn in the economy.

Alberta

Casinos lay off staff as revenues fall off says The 3/3/09 Edmonton Journal. The Alberta government predicts millions in gaming revenues will vanish from its budget as recession-weary gamblers stay home, but the Journal’s Al Wilson is betting business will pick up sooner than later and he calls the job cuts over the past three weeks at the Palace and Baccarat casinos ‘temporary layoffs’ instead of ‘permanent losses’.

Battling addictive behaviour, a 3 page feature in The 3/5/09 Calgary Herald, tells stories of the Calgary Dream Centre where addicts get help from others. We’re told that sponsorship and group meetings are the most effective ways to thwart setbacks in addict treatments.

More than $100,000 up for grabs as Sun Bingo returns reports the gambling loving and practicing Edmonton Sun.

Saskatoon

Couple to set up recovery homes for addicts says The 3/7/09 Regina Leader-Post. The homes only deal with a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Ontario

Courier finds bag of lottery tickets, reports The 1/3/09 Toronto Star. A courier was driving his usual Rexdale route last Wednesday at 10 a.m. when he came upon a ripped plastic bag on the side of Humber College Blvd., near Highway 27, full of brand new lottery tickets worth $3,400. The driver says that gaming officials showed a surprising lack of concern. A day later the courier gets an OLG apology.

Look at risks gamblers advised, says The 3/2/09 Chronicle Journal. Members of the Responsible Gaming Council checked people aged 55 and older at the Thunder Bay Charity Casino over the weekend.

Addiction services are available announces The 3/4/09 Sarnia Observer. The coordinator of the Westover Treatment Centre in Thamesville said he knows it could be helping more Sarnia-Lambton residents.

The centre’s 1-800-721-3232 addiction assistance service line can connect people to qualified addiction counselors, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Those counselors can refer callers to self-help groups in their area, as well as community services.

The 3/4/09 Niagara Falls Review:

The wage freeze Niagara Casinos imposed last year has thawed now that the company has announced a 35 cent an hour raise for all employees at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. Full-time employees will received a $1,400 bonus to be paid out in May, spokesman Greg Medulun said.

Casino to get 375M facelift, reports The 3/4/09 Brantford Expositor. The city casino is expected to create about 200 construction jobs and turn the gaming site into one of the most environmentally friendly casinos in Canada. The work is to start this week. (archived - admin)

Antigambling group targeting boomers at Gan casino today is the heading of an item in The 3/5/09 Gananoque Recorder and Times that warns Canada’s biggest demographic group, the boomers, that their gambling puts their retirement futures in jeopardy. (archived - admin)

Nova Scotia

After all last week’s items on the approved new Keno system a letter to the Editor printed in The 2/27/09 Cape Breton Post was titled: Keno a gimmick to keep bars open

With Keno being allowed in bars, we have yet another indication that there are too many bars or patrons are becoming fewer. It seems this trend has been around for decades, and through the years one gimmick after another (such as go-go dancers, topless waitresses who were not so topless, wet T-shirt contests) was used to lure customers back to empty bars.
The logical course for MLAs would be to allow bar owners to serve booze and have bands for music and dancing but nothing else. Any bar unable to remain would be allowed to go out of business, enabling the remaining ones to make a reasonable income.
The introduction of Keno will only add to the problems of people who are looking for another avenue to pursue something for nothing. Unfortunately, any time one gets something for nothing it turns out to be nothing for something, which cannot in any way contribute to a strong and healthy society.
Vic Foster
Sydney

Groups join to oppose keno is an encouraging piece in The 3/7 Halifax Herald.

Thursday afternoon the Safe Bet Society announced they have joined forces with Game Over VLTS to fight the game. The high-speed electronic gambling game was just introduced in Nova Scotia establishments this week. In total, 180 bars and restaurants have agreements in place with the province to get the game. Players can make $10 wagers on numbered tickets every five minutes with a 10-minute break every hour’ “Keno is a horribly addictive game,” said Ken Hanna, chairman of Safe Bet Society.

“Shame on the Nova Scotia Government for putting a cash grab ahead of the safety and well-being of Nova Scotians.” We gladly put our ‘Amen’ behind these words.

USA

Unemployed place their bets on casino jobs says CNN - 3/6/09.

Colorado will allow higher bets, expanded hours at state’s casinos’. Here is one example: ‘Jerry Goldsmith was one of hundreds of people who turned out this week to apply for a casino job. The Colorado man lost his engineering job of 29 years — and the six-figure salary that went with it — and is now applying for a casino job dealing craps, blackjack, roulette and poker.

Don’t you find that hard to believe?

International

France Prepares to Welcome Online Casino Gambling, reports the 3/5/09 Online Casino Advisory.

The new online gambling law would bring France into compliance with European Union agreements on trade in services and allow Internet casinos to apply for licensing.

UK Gambling bigger threat to sport than doping says The 3/5/09 Independent.

Professional sportsmen and women face having to register every bet they make under stringent reforms intended to root out corrupt gambling. In the past 17 months, the industry watchdog the Gambling Commission has investigated 47 cases of alleged match-fixing and illegal betting on British sporting events.

The governing bodies of all sports have plans for tough new regulations which they hope will stamp out what they consider to be ‘as great a risk to the integrity of sport as doping.

3/4/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 027 CWE March 2 2009

Addiction

Time to intervene when game play is an addiction’, says The 2/25/09 Vancouver Sun. It warns that youngsters easily get addicted to video games.

Parkinsons offers clue to addiction, reports The 2/26/09 Gazette.

Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute have found insight into the brain chemistry behind addiction by studying those with Parkinson’s disease.

A piece published in the 2/26/09 Featured, Health and Money writes:

Work published this month in the journal Neuron shows that almost winning actually increases the odds - that we’ll keep playing.

Please note that it doesn’t say ‘KEEP WINNING’!

Boomers warned of gambling dangers, appeared in practically all Canadacom papers, warning that baby boomers, who engage in “problem gambling,” could jeopardize their financial futures as they head into retirement, according to an addictions group.

Gambling addictions can ‘explode like a bomb, reports The 2/28/09 Ottawa Citizen. The Responsible Gaming Council warns that ‘gamers’ should take ‘a reality check’.

Gambling

The 2/22/09 SlotsGeek.com, announces The Biggest Online Slots Tournament in History. ‘The March Madness $250,000 Slots Tournament will be the largest slots tournament ever held online. The tournament will run for one month, from Sunday, March 1st, 2009 through Tuesday, April 1st, 2009.

Gambling with seniors’ welfare, a letter printed in The 2/25/09 Toronto Star, writes:

On some rare late night visits to a casino, we sometimes see very elderly or disabled people in wheelchairs either asleep or looking extremely uncomfortable. Beside them, playing the slots, are their “caregivers” who – to all outward appearances – are not family.

The writer asks: “Don’t casinos have some sort of social responsibility to approach the caregiver and…”

the writer of this Newsletter doesn’t believe that folks with high morals would take any job in a casino.  

Youth

The Video Game Dilemma, an article in The 2/4/09 Niagara Falls Review, reports that Canadian parents are becoming more conservative in their approach to the multi billion-dollar video gaming industry. A quote:

A recent survey by the Canadian Council on Learning shows parents are allowing young children significantly less time to play video/computer games than to watch television, videos and DVDs.

Finance

Investors fear Stronachracetrack rescue planssays 2/25/09 Financial Post. Magna International Inc.’s executives moved to calm investor worries that Frank Stronach’s historically profitable car-parts company will fund a rescue of Magna Entertainment Corp, his limping horse-race business.

Canadians cashing in on Las Vegasis another article reporting that real estate prices in Las Vegas havegone down and that Canadians looking for a vacation home are being advised to shop in metro Las Vegas, Henderson, Green Valley and other residential communities. 

Horse racing

No races, not slots - Tory leaders says is the heading of a piece in The 2/22/09 Niagara Falls Review that deals with the Fort Erie racetrack. A day later an almost similar
states:

Keeping the slots open while allowing live racing to stop, Tory said, would be a “money grab” on the part of the Liberal government.

Truro Raceway awaits decision, reports The 2/24/09 Guardian. Some races were cancelled because of the suspected spread of equine strangles, an infectious disease.

New twist puts track future in doubt, warns the 2/24/09 Niagara Falls Review. In a surprising development Nordic Gaming/El-Ad Canada Inc., owner and operator of the track, issued a statement that the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corp. had withdrawn an offer to purchase the 111-year-old border oval by and that “there will be no agreement to purchase.”

Racetrack still alive says Baymountsays The 2/24/09 Belleville Intelligencer. Officials are hinting there may be good news on the horizon for a new racetrack and slots parlour in Belleville. Two major announcements regarding the future of the new Quinte Exhibition and Raceway will be delivered within the next few weeks, says a private consultant hired by Baymount. Wrong track, Tory, warns the 2/25/09 paper. Opening slots before racing has begun is unacceptable.

No slots for state horse tracks, says The 2/25/09 Detroit Free Press. The position of Michigan’s slots at racetracks is still in legal doubt.

Fewer owners willing to commit to Fort Erie Race Track reports The 2/26/09 Niagara Falls Review.

As the clock keeps ticking on the Fort Erie Race Track’s future, the number of horsemen willing to work there is shrinking, says the president of the Ontario Horsemen’sBenevolent and Protective Association …The fate of the Fort Erie Race Track is mired in limbo.

Setting the record straight on racetrack and slotsis the heading of a letter to the editor in The 2/27/09 Belleville Intelligencerpointing out that The Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) grants a licence to racetracks for live horse racing. See GWG response here - admin

Under the provincial Slots at Racetrack program implemented in 1998, OLG is responsible for adding a slot facility to the 18 racetracks designated at the time, including Quinte.

Lottery

Lottery kiosk workers left in lurch, a 2/23/09 item in The Chatham Daily News, writes that the employees of the defunct lottery kiosk company still haven’t received their record of employment, which is holding up their Employment Insurance benefits.

Alberta

Gaming fundraisers to continueis a shameful 2/22/09 Edmonton Journal article reporting that Edmonton’s Catholic schools will not scrap fundraising through bingos and casinos, despite moves by St. Albert’s school district to phase out the practice.

Until we find alternative sources of funding, we don’t have immediate plans to look at this,” board spokeswoman Lori Nagy says.

Should not Hospital betting on generosity of Calgarians, a piece in The 2/26/09 Calgary Sun covering a ‘Charity’ Lottery, replace the word ‘generosity’ with the word ‘greed’?

British Columbia

Some lucky Province readers will win Millionaire Life tickets, a 2/27/09 The Province item adds:

We’ve been given 25 tickets to the draw to give away to those of you who faithfully subscribe to The Province.

And: so, keep reading this space and we’ll let you know who the lucky 25 readers are. If you win the jackpot, don’t forget to renew that subscription.

Ontario

Under the B bingo, a piece in The 2/23/09 Brantford Expositor, writes:

The cavernous new $8.9-million Six Nations Bingo hall, with room for 1,600 players, opened for business on Saturday afternoon to enthusiastic players from across southwestern Ontario. …Myra Spittal and Dave Axford, of Six Nations, were among about 400 bingo fans who arrived for the afternoon games and enjoyed receiving free bingo dabbers, as well as coffee and cake handed out to first-day players.

New Brunswick

Woman steals $8,000 from employers, an item in The 2/27/09 Telegraph Journal writes that a once-trusted cleaning lady who stole in excess of $8,000 from two employers last year to support her $300 per day VLT gambling addiction failed to impress provincial court Judge William McCarroll. She promised, with the help of her family, to make restitution to the victims of $100 per month.

NB has no plans to cash in with keno, a 2/27/09 CBC item, says that the NB minister of Finance may introduce electronic keno to NB in the future but the province has stopped any plans to do so now.

Nova Scotia

Gaming Foundation concerned about electronic Keno is the heading of a 2/23/09 News Release from that foundation. It writes that it is concerned about the impending launch of a potentially addictive new form of gambling in Nova Scotia.

Similar to a VLT machine, an electronic form of the popular ticket lottery game, Keno, will be rolled out in bars across the province in the coming weeks’. At the end of this article we read: ‘The Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation is an arms-length, government, not-for-profit organization that provides funding and support for community and research projects aimed at problem gambling. The Foundation is committed to ensuring there is balanced dialogue on the issue of problem gambling in this Province … For more information contact: Barbara L. Madic, Barbara.Madic(at)gov(dot)ns(dot)ca , nsgamingfoundation.org.’

If this is true, we wonder why this organization is still using the deceptive word GAMING!

Critics slam introduction of keno lottery machines is an item in the next day’s Herald.

The stakes may be too high for Nova Scotia to introduce a new electronic lottery game, the Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation says.

We ask: why do it then?

Bernie Walsh, the Executive Director of the Video Online Lottery Terminators Society (VOLTS), who has been working against VLT gambling for 11 years, is glad that people are now talking against the electronic Keno plans.

…call your MLAS and tell them you decided Keno is not wanted and VLTS can all be recycled into something more useful to the public. Call today call them often.

Gambling critics say no to keno is an article in The 2/24/09 Cape Breton Post that writes:

Members of the non-profit Nova Scotia Gaming Foundation say the public does not know enough about the game’s electronic version and its potential effects on problem gambling.

Game on for keno, an item in The 2/26/09 Halifax Herald that writes:

Acting finance minister Chris d’Entremont, responsible for the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp., said Wednesday that bars and restaurants have put equipment in place and have the province’s commitment that the games will start next week.

Isn’t that ‘Never mind the dangers’?

Researcher questions keno’s moderate risk is another warning for this province.

2/24/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 026 CWE February 23 2009

Horse racing

Lyle Lovett, a four times Grammy Award winner with 13 guitar albums is using an article in the 2/19/09 Standardbred Canada to support getting slot machines at horse racing tracks.

City playing the ponies? asks The 2/19/09 Belleville Intelligencer on the possibility that the city could take the reins to see harness racing return to Quinte should the current developer fail to proceed with a proposed slots parlour and racetrack.

Maritime triple-crown champion going to the United States says The 2/20/09 Guardian. O’Brien Award winning horseman Phil Pinkney admits that he has sold Deep Finesse, the Maritime two-year-old champion, to owners at Dover Downs. The colt was scheduled to leave today.
In the same issue of this paper an item is headed Former Harness Racing P.E.I. accountant up for fraud. Gordon Crozier of Cornwall appeared on Thursday before Chief Provincial Court Judge John Douglas. He faces charges of theft over $5,000, fraud exceeding $5,000 and uttering forged documents and is expected to elect his mode of trial when the case returns to court next month. The offences are alleged to have occurred between July 1, 2005, and September 30, 2008.

Lotteries

Big dreams lure buyers to mammoth 6 49 draw is one of the many 2/20/09 newspaper items - this one in The Victoria Times Colonist – that announce the $48M 6/49 Jackpot.

Gambling

Casinos get iPhone software alert, warns an AP piece in The 2/17/09 Toronto Star. Card counting by players is not illegal in Nevada but that using a device to count cards is considered a felony.

Million dollar slot machine winner loses in court, at WLOX 2/18/09 Biloxi, MS. A Mississippi woman who totally believed she’d won $1M on a slot machine had her case settle by court for $8,000 after three years. The casino claimed the machine was programmed by mistake as a progressive slot, meaning the actual top jackpot was just the $8,000 she finally received.

Gambling Becoming Major Income for Charities, reports the 2/20/09 Online Casino Sphere. Casino gambling continues to expand across the US as governments eye gaming revenue as an alternative to higher taxes.

Crime

Debt finally topples a Las Vegas high roller, says The 2/15/09 Los Angeles Times. Casinos vied with each other to lure a high-stakes Bay Area gambler to their tables. They flew him to Las Vegas on private jets, put him up for free in opulent suites, extended him millions of dollars in credit on his signature alone, etc. He was good for business. Siddiqui, who made $225,000 a year as a top Fry’s Electronics executive, once lost $8 million in a day! It was not Siddiqui’s only debt or even his largest. Court records indicate that the 43-year-old businessman gambled away as much as $167 million over the last decade. Yet even as he amassed huge IOUs, casinos around the country continued to lend him millions more.
Two Year Gambling Investigation Leads To Sixty-Six Arrests In Ohio says CasinoGamblingWeb on 2/16/09. It reveals that US authorities are spending increasingly large amounts to investigate illegal gambling operations. The Ohio investigation lasted 2 years and cost thousands of taxpayer dollars. The defendants now face felony charges of grand theft, money laundering, and gambling.

There has been an outrage in certain communities where crime is high and murderers are walking the streets, yet the authorities are choosing to spend their resources taking down illegal gambling operations,’ said observer Barry Greenberg.

Finance
Trump Entertainment, Affiliates File for Bankruptcy’, says the 2/17/09 Bloomberg.

The casino company founded by Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy after annual gambling revenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, plunged the most on record.

Three Trump casinos seek 3rd bankruptcy 2/18/09 Toronto Star.

The three Atlantic City casinos once run by Donald Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday – for the third time.

Hard-hit Texas port city eyes casinos to stay afloat says The 2/19/09 Calgary Herald. Galveston, ravaged by hurricane Ike and the tidal wave caused by the U.S.A.’s economic collapse, will legalize gambling and open casinos to lure tourists.

Saskatchewan

This Saturday the Regina Leader Post has four items dealing with the province’s newest The Living Sky Casino. The one headed Benefits of new casino are economic, emotional says;

The Living Sky Casino will provide substantial benefits for the First Nations of the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council (FHQTC). (While the financial boom provided by employment opportunities and direct payments is obvious,) there are also less tangible benefits. FHQTC Tribal Chair Edmund Bellegarde said that one of the primary benefits is the self-respect that has been realized by First Nations people through this outstanding facility.

The article headed Collaboration key in Living Sky Casino project states:

In many ways, Swift Current was the perfect location for a new casino. It represented a large, untapped trading area with over a million cars passing through the city each year. The main factors in getting the necessary support for this new attraction were the obvious tourism benefits, in addition to providing a new convention and banquet space, a performing arts theatre and a casino.

Number three is headed: Saskatchewan’s newest entertainment destination

The much-anticipated grand opening of the Living Sky Casino became a reality on December 28, 2008. This first-class venue, located in Swift Current, is southwest Saskatchewan’s newest entertainment attraction. Swift Current Mayor Sandy Larson is pleased that the much anticipated $35 million entertainment facility has finally become a reality.

And Living Sky Casino From the ground up writes:

The thematic design features American native motifs, colours, and textures. Sculptural art is introduced in the interior and exterior. Exterior theming elements include firebowls with sculpted flames, pilasters and glass fibre reinforced concrete art panels. A 600-seat theater with retractable seating, stage, and fly tower is part of the design and converts to a multi-purpose banquet room and separate meeting rooms.

Ontario

Police raid cockfighting ring, writes The 2/19/09 Windsor Star.

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received an anonymous tip and contacted police Saturday. Officers arrived at a brown metal barn on a hill, surrounded by farm fields on Highway 48, near Newmarket, north of Toronto. When they opened the doors, they saw people crowded around two roosters fighting in a pit’. The result: 70 people were charged with causing unnecessary suffering and being found in a common betting house.

500 seat bingo hall to open Saturday, reports the 2/20/09 Brantford Expositor. Games will begin at Six Nations’ new $9.5M bingo hall on Saturday.

The new building is about triple the size of the old hall, which was in serious disrepair. The project is funded by Six Nations band council, which expects to recoup its investment, said economic development officer Darryl Hill.

Quebec

The 2/18/09 CNW Telbec reports that a new slot machine developed by Ingenio has arrived in Québec casinos. We quote:

This is the Québec launch of the first in a series of slot machines to be developed within the framework of a strategic alliance forged by Ingenio and Bally Technologies in June 2006, to the benefit of the Société des casinos,” said Ingenio’s Director General, Nathalie Rajotte. Other games are currently in or soon to be entering the certification phase, which is overseen by the province’s alcohol and gaming board, the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux du Québec.

In other words: we can expect more of these satanic highly addictive machines.

Beyond our border

Sources Say Dice Game May Have Sparked Shooting, says the 2/20/09 ClickOnDetroit.com, Four investigators have learned that gambling may have led to a shooting Tuesday inside Detroit Central High School.

2/17/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 025 CWE February 16 2009

Crime

Casinos ripped off,  2/14/09 AP item in the Edmonton Journal. ‘A man involved in a sophisticated card-cheating ring has pleaded guilty to defrauding casinos in California and Canada of some $1 million by bribing card dealers and using card-counting devices’.

Legal Gambling

‘Trent University sociology professor Dr. Jim Cosgrave recently published a new book exploring the social impacts of gambling entitled Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada’ is in an item in The 2/11/09 Northumberlandtoday. The article is so interesting that we want to read the book. We’re looking for it!

Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada available at Chapters Indigo

Addiction

Gamblers respond to near misses, says a 2/12/09 Press Association article. ‘Just missing the winning line on a slot machine causes the brain to respond as if it has hit the jackpot, research has shown’.

The dilemma of the casino state reports The 2/14/09 Toronto Star in the sad story of an addict who says:

I feel very fortunate that I was able to step away from gambling when I did because there is monumentally more temptation out there today. It’s probably a lot more difficult today for people to give it up.
…A new book (Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada) explores how government got hooked on gambling revenues, and the ethics of using them’.

Sports

Sports betting is no long shot, The 2/9/09 Toronto Star offers an appeal to greed.

Legal sports betting is coming to the eastern U.S. and possibly quickly. It’s time for Canada and specifically Ontario to decide whether it wishes to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, or simply watch other jurisdictions make the money. This topic tends to peak at the Super Bowl, when billions of dollars are bet, legally or not, on the championship of U.S. pro football.

Horse Racing

Track needs more than horses, reports The 2/7/09 Niagara Falls Review.

There’s still hope the Fort Erie Race Track can survive, but it has to be more than just a means of subsidizing horses running around a track, says Ontario’s minister of energy and infrastructure. It’s an entertainment product that has to have people interested in it to make it successful,” George Smitherman said Friday, while attending an Ontario Liberal party conference this weekend in Niagara Falls.

Summerside Equine Centre an attractive idea reports The 2/7/09 PEI Guardian.

The city of Summerside and Prince County Horsemen’s Club have begun a major undertaking to bring the Maritime horse industry to unprecedented levels. The city, with input from horsemen, has developed the concept of the Summerside Equine Centre, a facility designed to enhance and grow the horse industry on P.E.I. and, particularly, Prince County.

At Woodbine The Monkeys Run The Zoo, warns the 2/8/09 Canadian Gambling News and Issues. It argues takeout levels are perhaps too high and reports that at a recent gaming conference held in Reno, Nevada, Bill Eadington, a prominent gaming authority, stated that racing is in trouble, and that current models are not the way to go. Nick Eaves said ‘I’m not sure there is a problem. I think we’re overstating the problem’. The discussions should be about solutions and realities.

…between 1990 and 1998, pari-mutuel wagering at Woodbine went from $930 million to $770. In 2008, it is at $870 million.

4-3 votes continue as council approves more slot machines reports The 2/12/09 Wellington Advertiser. After a sparsely attended November public meeting, the Centre Wellington Township council remained firmly split, 4-3, on Monday night when it came to an application to expand the number of slot machines at the Grand River Raceway from 200 to 450.

Racing rivals work to keep home life on track, says a 2/14/09 Victoria Times Colonist. This is the first item I’ve seen about a married couple who ride competing racing horses. (The Jockeys docu-drama is running on Animal Planet - Admin)

Finance

Bankrupt kiosk company owes Edmonton 300 000 says The 2/11/09 Edmonton Journal. (subscription wall - admin)

The company’s largest unsecured creditor is the City of Ottawa, owed $1.9M.
This writer wonders if London is another victim. He always thought that the now closed lottery kiosk, whose manager tried several times to get him banned from the mall, was owned by the OLG.

Lottery prize home gutted in $2M blaze reports The 2/11/09 Calgary Sun.

Dreams were reduced to rubble yesterday as fire destroyed two homes in the southeast community of Cranston, one of which was awarded as the grand prize in the Foothills Hospital Home Lottery.

Why Vegas works, in the 2/12/09 Financial Post. If I understand the item correctly – banks do well if they reward profit-improving employees with trips to Las Vegas!

‘Donald Trump resigned from the board of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the debt-laden casino company he founded, ahead of a possible involuntary bankruptcy filing next week’ reports a 2/14/09 Bloomberg article.

More… Reuters:

Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, the casino operator named for Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday as recession and declining gambling revenues battered the company and its rivals.

The Chapter 11 filing marks the third plunge into bankruptcy for the company, which was created out of a restructuring in 2005. It also underscores the struggles facing the casino business as recession squeezes casino gambling.

Trump Entertainment owns and operates three casino hotels in Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina.

British Columbia

Council debate over slot machines resurfaces, says The 2/13/09 Vernon Morning Star. A local politician has reopened the contentious issue of gambling.

Coun. Jack Gilroy has put his colleagues on notice that on Feb. 23, he wants them to debate an existing bylaw, which only allows 300 machines to exist in the community. He would like that increased to 400’.

What this article says about the BCLC makes me sick.

Saskatoon

Casino to reopen in March, reports The 2/10/09 Regina Leader-Post.

The Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) will officially open its newly redesigned Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton to the public on March 11. The new 43,000-square-foot facility came with a price tag of $30 million. The redesigned casino will feature 217 slot machines, seven live table games, a restaurant offering complete food and beverage services, and a state-of-the-art multi-purpose room designed to accommodate a variety of entertainment events.

Ontario

Black tie bingo to aid five charities, says The 2/9/09 Windsor Star.

Have some gaming fun while supporting five different charities at once on Friday, Feb. 20, when the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland presents its seventh annual Black Tie Bingo event.

It costs $75, includes dinner, a night of ‘gaming’, bingo, couples bingo, a prize board worth more than $13,000; it will also feature a silent auction, raffles and a DJ. Corporate tables are available for $700.

Liquor police slap casino, reports The 2/14/09 Windsor Star. Caesars Windsor has lost the right to serve alcohol for a week in its two main bars after inspectors watched its staff serve nine shots of liquor each to two customers in 31 minutes.

Man jailed for wild scene at LCBO in Elgin - Accused was depressed over gambling losses, says The 2/14/09 Recorder and Times. The driver, who appeared to be “crazed,” smashed the car into the brick wall of the liquor store.

Ontario Lottery

Last week we published the titles of articles dealing with OLG’s inside winners of prizes.

On 2/10/09 The Windsor Star reported Retailer hits 100 000 lotto prize.

A downtown retailer’s lottery win over the weekend is raising regulatory eyebrows — but Sam (Soubhi) Assi is taking any suspicions about his sudden great fortune in stride’. He says: ‘I’m not worried about that. I’ve been playing the same numbers for years.

Legalized pot a new tax source says The 2/10/09 Toronto Star.

In past severe economic downturns, governments embraced vice to help stimulate the economy and provide more tax revenue. The U.S. eliminated prohibition in 1933 in the middle of the Great Depression and many Canadian provinces turned to gambling in the early 1990s by adding lotteries and building casinos to create jobs and reduce deficits.

All of us totally agree with the use of the word ‘vice’ for gambling. Our governments ought to be ashamed of using it to bring in money, and many of our fellow-Canadians ought to be ashamed of falling for it! This writer grew up during the Great Depression and very well remembers how careful my parents and older siblings were with whatever money they earned and I never bought a lottery ticket or visited a casino.

That lottery wins can put an end to long friendships becomes clear in the 2/10 Niagara Falls Review headline: Former friends in court over lottery win.

Quebec

Proposed bailout for Quebec horse racing sparks anti-gambling backlash, says a CP item in The 2/8/09 Montreal Gazette. Even before the provincial government transferred control of the racehorse industry to Attractions Hippiques - owned by Liberal-appointed Senator Paul Massicote - in 2006, the municipality had plans to develop mixed-income housing on the 550,000 square metres of this prime Montreal real estate.

‘Put horseracing out of its misery’ proposes a letter to the editor in the 2/9 Gazette. Written by a non-gambler taxpayer who says Re:

“The big gambling complex at hippodrome is a bad idea,” (Opinion, Feb. 5).
I suggest that the horse racing industry be put out of its misery once and for all.
The industry has been bailed out over and over again. As a taxpayer and non-gambler, I say enough is enough./blockquote>

Opponents of casino plan mobilize, reports The 2/9/09 Gazette

A coalition of community groups and local politicians are to hold a news conference this morning to denounce the plan, saying it will create more social problems in the neighbourhood and prevent affordable housing from being built on the site of the former Blue Bonnets track.

‘What’s the big deal about gambling?’ asks another letter in Th 2/9/09zette It mentions the fact that there will be in total 1,000 fewer VLTs than had been planned if the Blue Bonnet track isn’t equipped with them.

Beyond our border

Greektown Hoping More Rooms Means More Gambling In Detroit - 2/07/09 Casino Gambling Web.

Revenue at Detroit’s casinos down 5.8 percent in January, says the 2/10/09 Detroit News. The story ends with;

Gaming markets around the world have suffered as consumers pull back on spending during the ongoing recession, though declines here in Detroit haven’t been as severe as larger gambling destination resorts such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, N.J., and Macau.

On 2/12/09 MSN reports that a 400-room, resort-style hotel is offering a $99-a-night introductory rate as an incentive for new customers.

USA

We like to see articles that talk of more anti-gambling folks. In The
2/9/09 Boston Herald we found an item headed: An anti-casino group is asking legislators to reject gambling’. It compares “slot machines to heroin. Casino Free Mass

2/10/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 024 CWE February 9 2009

Addiction

‘Problem Gambling May Rise as Economy Falls’ warns an MSNBC article.

2.3 million in U.S. are compulsive gamblers In any given year, about 1 percent of American adults — or some 2.3 million people — are pathological gamblers addicted to the risk and excitement of the wager.

The warning comes from The National Council on Problem Gambling

Lottery

‘Big lottery prizes seem to fall in centre’ heads a letter to the Editor in The 2/2/09 Cape Breton Post complaining that the big prizes go to our country’s centre. We wonder: why is that writer stupid enough to keep wasting his money on buying lottery tickets? 

Gambling Propaganda

Recently several newspapers have published negative articles on gambling. On Saturday morning we were disappointed to find a Canwest News Service article written by Monica Zurowski in the Ottawa Citizen that can be seen as propaganda for Las Vegas.     
Sports

NFL Should Change Its Opposition to Betting, a 2/6/09 Bloomberg Commentary by Joe Saumarez-Smith, suggest that sports betting should become legal and make profits.

Horseracing

Horse racing loses a home in Vernon, says The 1/2/09 Vernon Morning Star. The North Okanagan Regional District told the Okanagan Equestrian Society (it was formerly the Vernon Agricultural Society) it can no longer use Kin Race Track as of Oct. 31, 2010 and all equipment must be gone by Dec. 31, 2010. If we understand the situation properly, there are many possibilities that this decision will change before that date.

Province to bet 28 million on Hippiques and Something smells at the racetrack, items in The 2/3/09 Montreal Gazette, write that the Quebec government is ready to spend stacks of money to save the four racetracks now managed by Attractions Hippiques and even add a fifth one. Sol Boxenbaum told us this is a totally illegal attempt to keep the province’s horseracing alive.

This entire attempt at opening a new casino on the racetrack site is illegal according to the Criminal Code of Canada Sect. 207. According to that section of the Criminal Code provincial governments may only operate lottery schemes. Gaming in Canada must be conducted and managed by government. Furthermore all profits derived from these activities must be diverted to public good, charities or religious organizations. Attraction Hippiques does not fall into any of those categories. Also there’s a conflict of interest in that Paul Massicotte is a member of the Canadian Senate. Previously there was a Bill introduced by his colleague Senator Jean Lapointe to move VLT machines from bars into racetracks. Now his motivation to pass the Bill becomes questionable.

Hippiques bailout plan fading at the post, an item in The 2/4/09 Gazette, writes that the involved horsemen and breeders do not support the plan of the province.

Magna says slots license fee is in escrow.  Magna Entertainment, the Canadian racing company that owns Laurel Park, is in jeopardy of being disqualified from bidding on a license to operate slot machines at the track. Expect to hear more news.

In the Starting Gate Harness Racers Await Fate of Aylmer Hippodrome heads an article in The 2/5/09 Ottawa Citizen.

You can’t survive the way we are. There’s no purse money,’ says Robert O’Dwyer, 68, of the Aylmer Hippodrome, a horse track he’s been coming to all his life. The fate of the track, which has been in bankruptcy protection and may get a provincial bailout, will be determined in days.

The big gambling complex at Hippodrome is a bad idea, is an item in The 2/5/09 Montreal Gazette saying that aside from the financial question, it raises social issues as well. This is one of the articles with a healthy negative outlook at horseracing and gambling.

Smitherman has hopes for Fort Erie track, an item in The 2/6/09 Niagara Falls Review, has this line:

There’s still hope the Fort Erie Race Track can be kept open – but there needs to be more to it than just keeping it in operation as a means of subsidizing horses running around a track, says Smitherman, Ontario’s minister of energy and infrastructure.

      
British Columbia
Addiction rooms opening at hotel, an article in The Province of 2/5/09, deals mainly with women addicted to substances rather than gambling. 

Alberta

Smoking ban cited in reduced VLT cash, is an item in The 2/4/09 Calgary Sun that should have condemned the use of highly addictive VLTs to raise gambling proceeds.

Gambling business has two faces, an article in The 2/5/09 Edmonton Journal, writes of the money gambling provides to the province since it was legalized in ‘69, and of the pain, misery and crime it causes to individuals and families, ending with:

Its consequences on crime, suicide, public health and families in Edmonton may be magnified by an economic downturn, and the public’s understanding of this seems less mature. Unless, of course, we understand this equation of harm and benefit and allow it to continue — feeling that particularly Albertan form of guilt indefinitely.

Saskatchewan

Community loses lotto is an item in The 2/5/09 Leader-Post reporting that the Elfros villagers will soon have to travel at least 24 kms. to fulfill their lottery needs. The Elfros Co-op received a letter from Sask. Lotteries notifying them that their lottery ticket terminal, signs and fixtures would be removed by March 4. Sask. Lotteries requires the minimum ticket sales to reach $36,000 annually while Elfros’ sales only reach $21,188.

Ontario

CAW begin jostling over numbers, vote times, reports The 2/2/09 Niagara Falls Review. There are questions about the outcome of the vote. We’ll wait for the decisions that shall be made and report them. CAW backs off vote at casino is an article in the Review that appeared a day later.

It was “reckless” for the Canadian Auto Workers to rally staff at Niagara’s two casinos to unionize, only to back down at the last minute, says Art Frank, president of the company that manages Niagara Falls Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.

Dion machine invades Caesars, The 2/7/09 Windsor Star, reports the casino’s extra efforts to get ready for Celine Dion’s concert at the Caesars Windsor casino. 

Ontario Lotteries

We have often wondered if people with high morals will want to work at gambling jobs. Is it normal to expect that honest sailors will work on ships that are run by pirates? We think of that when we see employees (for instance of drug stores) selling their highly addictive scratch tickets to customers. Do they really know what they do? This week we again found items about what is happening at the Ontario Lottery Corporation.
For now we’ll just quote their dates and titles: 2/4/09: Number of insider lottery wins in Ontario higher than previously thought : 2/5/09: ‘Insider’ jackpots hit $198 million; 2/5/09: OLG to announce changes; 2/6/09: Lottery bosses banned from playing after probe; 2/6/09 Lottery’s dirty laundry. 2/6/09: Ontario may need to ban lotto retailers from playing 2/6/09 The Canadian Press, The Cape Breton Post; 2/7/09: The OLG and the odds, Windsor Star.

Quebec

Vanier College has banned card playing after serious gambling issues emerged, says the 3/2/09 CTV Montreal.

Authorities at Vanier College have banned card playing by students on campus. According to the academic dean, some students were thousands of dollars in debt and there were tales of loan sharks coming to the school.

Casino hurts poor - How soon we forget! heads an article in The 2/5/09 Montreal Gazette.

Less than three years ago, expensive impact studies were produced by the departments of public security and of public health showing that the likelihood of high risks to public health and security would result from the move of the Montreal Casino to the community of Point St. Charles. A more recent study shows that one in four VLT users develops a serious gambling addiction.

New Brunswick

Clubs upset by VLT loss, reports the 1/31/09 Times & Transcript. The number of VLT sites are being slashed by more than half province-wide. We consider it a shame that this province still uses VLTs to make money from gamblers while VLTs are even more addictive than slots. It’s a shame that a club uses them to finance its work.

Gambling addict must repay nearly $6K says The 2/4/09 Telegraph-Journal. A 26-year-old single mother, who defrauded the Department of Social Development of $5,971 in order to support her gambling habit, has been ordered to make full restitution by the end of 2010. 

Beyond our border

The 2/1/09 Buffalo News reports;

The organization that is seeking to shut down the Seneca Nation’s Buffalo casino says it plans to continue its efforts, despite recent setbacks in Washington and in federal court. …The Senecas said they hope Skretny’s latest ruling will allow them to move forward with building a larger casino that will employ 1,200 people. They currently operate a small, temporary facility off Michigan Avenue, which opened in 2007.

Poker used to lure gamblers to racetrack says The 2/4/09 Detroit News. Northville Downs found a loophole in state laws and will offer charity no-limit Texas hold ‘em every week from Thursdays through Sundays. Michigan allows charities to obtain state licenses to run casino games four days at a time. 

United States

OUR VIEW - Don’t bet on gambling to spur economy, warns The 1/31/09 Holland Sentinel, a Michigan Newspaper. It states the opposite of an item we mentioned in last week’s Newsletter which said:

State lawmakers bet gambling can help with budgets’ An 1/25/09 Associated Press article says ‘Proposals to allow or expand slots or casinos are percolating in at least 14 states, tempting legislators and governors at a time when many must decide between cutting services and raising taxes.

2/3/2009: Canada’s Gambling Watch Network’s Newsletter

Volume 10 Issue 023 CWE February 2 2009

Youth

Education is a sure bet to show gambling risks, is an article in The 1/27/09 Ottawa Citizen is saying that research shows that youth gambling is a serious problem needing to be addressed by the OLGC and by educators. Bruno Schlumberger, an aspiring elementary school teacher, says:

I believe that society can do more to reduce youth gambling addiction. Research that I have studied indicates that about 55 per cent of youth ages 10 to 17 years are recreational or casual gamblers. These are the children I plan to teach who are so susceptible to gambling’. We quote: ‘Internet gambling is a widely advertised and accessible form of gambling to youths. Many anti-gambling advertisements and addiction treatments are directed towards helping the adult population, as it is for this group that the gaming industry was designed. However, we need to open our eyes to the risks posed to the mental health of our youth population.

We totally agree.

Lotteries

On the first days of this week we found at least seven articles on this subject. They dealt with an Ontario lottery that had a $43 million jackpot and caused huge line-ups at lottery counters. We see this as proof that greed, promoted by our provinces’ press, TV and radio advertising, causes many Canadians to waste their money on lottery tickets.

Another news story is the bankruptcy of a company that had some 180 kiosks all over Canada where lottery tickets could be bought. On January 30 Johannes noticed that the main lottery counter in the nearby mall is closed. The 3 other lotto outlets are busy!

Hortons gals chasing winner is one of the items in a number of papers about the 6/49 multi-million winner who promised and really gave $30,000 to the girls he worked with. 

Finance
V stands for Value in Las Vegas is an article in The 1/31/09 Calgary Herald reporting that Vegas never looked so good as now.

Each month, Las Vegas becomes home to an array of new shows, hotels, attractions, restaurants and shops.

Addiction

How gambling addiction works in the brain, is a New York Daily News item posted by the Casino News of January 30. It points to so many other articles on gambling addiction that none of our volunteers has the training (or time!) to do justice to it. We hope that at least some of Canada’s addiction experts will look into this matter.

Poker

Dickson makes poker history, an article in The 1/27/09 Regina Leader-Post, writes that Sam Dickson, 43, of Oxbow, is the first Canadian player to win the North Dakota Texas Hold’em Championship Tournament, securing for himself $35,000 in American cash - the largest chunk of the $103,500 prize payout. The North Dakota Texas Hold’em Championship Tournament ran from Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. It’s ranked as the third or fourth largest tournament outside Las Vegas. Players from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, and 10 U.S. states participated in the competition.

Horse Racing

Horse Cash infusion gives new life to SRW, an article in The 1/24/09 PEI Guardian:

More than $3.5 million has been tagged to transform Summerside Raceway into one of the top entertainment facilities in Atlantic Canada.
…The federal government through Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Service Canada is investing more than $1.5 million in Summerside Raceway. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation announced its capital investment, which is in excess of $2 million, towards a new racing facility and entertainment centre.

The item shows that for PEIers horseracing is very important.

Race City’s future low on gas, says The 1/27/09 Edmonton Sun.

Proponents of the popular speedway on Calgary’s eastern border had been attempting to extend the facility’s lease beyond 2010, when the city plans to take it over and expand operations at the nearby Shepard landfill site. But a move by Ald. Ric McIver to give the raceway some breathing room until 2020 was shot down with a 7-7 vote at council yesterday, leaving Race City without a track in less than a year.

The track has been operating at the same location for 40 years.

Horse Talks continue as deadline extended at Fort Erie, reports the 1/27/09 Buffalo News.

Track owner Nordic Gaming Corp., which had set a noon deadline for word on a $35 million Ontario government loan to finance the sale of the track to a new owner, extended that deadline after the Ontario Racing Commission earlier granted a two-month extension of the track’s racing license, which was due to expire on Saturday.

Horse racing visionary dies says The 1/28/09 Calgary Herald. Andy Bryant, 45, died of cancer. He was president of Horse Racing Alberta since its inception in 2002.
More pink slips issued at Fort Erie Race Track, reports The 1/30/09 Niagara Falls Review.  Item. Close to 50 slips were issued to employees in addition to the 190 handed out in December

After zoning vote horsetrack looks south for slots says a 3-page Jan. 30 Scarboroughleader article. The track might more to the United States if we understand it rightly.

Quebec racetrack operator Attractions Hippiques, in creditor protection since June, says failure to get it extended next week would mean “a strong possibility of bankruptcy” and cancellation of all horse racing activities in the province this year’ says The 1/31/09 Montreal Gazette. The province will extend 28 million dollarsover 25 years with 300 VLT’s permitted.

British Columbia

Gambling industry starts to feel pinch reports The 1/27/09 Victoria Times Colonist, while Great Canadian cuts casino, office jobs, says the Vancouver Sun on the same day.

B.C.’s biggest gambling company has cut more than 300 jobs from its casino workforce and slashed about 50 head office positions as it prepares for even fewer cash-strapped customers to play with their money in a recession…

and from The Sun:

The Richmond-based company that operates 10 casinos and five race tracks in B.C., Ontario, Nova Scotia and Washington state, including Island casinos in View Royal and Nanaimo, has cut back its hours and laid off staff at all operations and at every level of the company. That has been done to deal with what it calls the uncertainty of the current economic situation.

Ontario

A letter to the Editor appearing in The 1/27/09 Windsor Star suggests that Caesars Windsor Coliseum is for mega-stars, while the Capitol Theatre is a venue for people who want to experience the local arts. The writer would like to see Caesars throw a few dollars in the pot of the Capitol Theatre.

Gambler back at the casino, says The 1/27/09 Sarnia Observer. A local woman who violated a court-ordered casino ban, imposed for fraudulently financing her gambling habits, got six months’ probation in Sarnia’s court.

CAW gearing up for casino vote, says The 1/27/09 Niagara Falls Review.

Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza is scheduled to make an announcement in Niagara Falls about his union’s attempt to organize workers at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. The union could announce it has filed for a certification vote to represent 3,000 of the casinos’ 4,500 workers.

Holy Cross School Parent Council will be hosting a bingo, The 1/28/09 Brantford Expositor announces this unholy gambling meeting for Feb. 12.

Casino workers voting again on unionizing, writes The 1/29/09 Niagara Falls Reviews.

Within a week, 3,000 casino workers will choose to join the Canadian Auto Workers or continue working without a union as they have for 13 years.

Casino staff vote says The 1/30/09 Niagara Falls Review. CAW officials applied for the vote after months of organizing activity. More than half of the workers have already signed union cards, according to the CAW. It’s expected that the vote will take two days to complete. (The vote has been withdrawn by the CAW 03/02/09 - admin)

OPP charge man in gambling bust, reports The 1/30/09 Mississauga News.

The organized crime enforcement bureau of the OPP said it was acting on a tip about illegal video gambling machines. An investigation revealed that illegal payouts were being provided from video machines at the National Sports Bar located at 2580 Stanfield Rd., Unit 2.

       
Prince Edward Island

What now of PEI’s gaming strategy? The 1/28/09 Guardian asks the PEI’s gov’t .

The announcement last Friday of $3.5 million for the Summerside Raceway is great news for the track, the city and harness racing, but there are other issues in play here. It appears the province’s responsible gaming strategy has been compromised with the announcement that a second racino is coming to P.E.I., and this presents a challenge for the province.

We look forward to hear more of this change in the gam(bl)ing plans!

Nova Scotia

Missing cabbie in debt $142,200 before going bankrupt in 2006 reports The 1/30/09 Halifax Herald.

The documents say he used credit cards to fund his gambling activities, used some credit cards to pay debts owed on others, and successfully applied to increase his borrowing limits a year before his insolvency. He increased his debt by $70,000 during that year.

Beyond our border

No, casino can’t rig multi-play machines is an answer to a question in the 1/29/09 Detroit Free Press. With landmarks like this who needs slums? asks The 1/30/09 Buffalo Biz Journal. It describes the barren steelwork marking the site where the unfinished $333M Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino was being constructed. The work was suspended late last summer, supposedly due to the deteriorating economy.

United States

State lawmakers bet gambling can help with budgets, from a 1/25/09 Associated Press article

Proposals to allow or expand slots or casinos are percolating in at least 14 states, tempting legislators and governors at a time when many must decide between cutting services and raising taxes.

New Zealand

The latest Massey University study has found that more than 70,000 New Zealanders are struggling with gambling, says a 1/29/09 article from that country.

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