Gamblor’s World

Globe and Mail, POSTED ON 04/04/07

His complaint about lottery fraud led to a CBC-TV investigation, an Ontario Ombudsman’s report and the downfall of the head of a giant lottery agency

F. F. LANGAN

Special to The Globe and Mail, with a report from Canadian Press

Bob Edmonds was a hard-working, middle-class Canadian who always supported the underdog. For the last five years of his life, the underdogs he championed were people robbed of their lottery winnings. He was one of the biggest victims.

His crusade began in July, 2001, after he heard two pieces of music coming from the lottery machine that was checking his ticket. That double tune should have meant he had won two prizes. Instead, the owners of the local variety store just gave him another ticket for a future draw.

When he returned to the car he mentioned the incident to his wife. “I said to her, that something strange had happened. ‘I heard the music twice, but I got one ticket,’ ” Mr. Edmond recalled later.

His son Don Edmonds said it was part of his father’s personality not to make a fuss at the time. “He was a very warm-hearted person and wanted to believe the best of everyone. He said he remembered the store was crowded with kids at the time and the owners were preoccupied.”

Later, Mr. Edmonds received two calls from the store, saying he had left a ticket there. When he didn’t get around to going back, proprietors Phyllis and Scott LaPlante again asked him to return. On Aug. 1, 2001, Ms. LaPlante asked Mr. Edmonds if he had “the other half of the ticket I handed you on the 27th.” Mr. Edmonds even drove Mr. Laplante back to his house to look through tickets there for the apparently missing one.

After he gathered up the tickets, “Scott fanned them out like a deck of cards,” Mr. Edmonds said in court. “He said, ‘It’s not here. Let’s go back to the store,’ ”

A few weeks after the incident, Mr. Edmonds read in the local paper that the LaPlantes had won a big prize. He called the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corp. to complain. It turned out that the second ding on the machine was for a $250,000 prize that the storeowners collected themselves.

From that point on, Mr. Edmonds was a like a dog with a bone. He hired a lawyer and successfully recovered money from the proprietors.

Part of the trial evidence revolved around which numbers Mr. Edmonds used to buy the tickets. The retired draftsman had bought tickets for three decades and almost always used the same numbers, which were on the winning ticket: 2, 9, 19, 22, 24, 33 and 36. The sequence incorporated the birthdays of his wife, Theresa, and that of his eldest son, Bob Jr.

“He had been using those same numbers for 25 years, or however long you’ve been able to choose your own numbers,” said his son Don.

Another coincidence was that he withdrew cash from an ATM in the variety store less than a minute before the winning ticket was sold.

The lottery corporation denied at first that it was at fault and said the OLGC had no way of knowing that Ms. LaPlante was not the legal owner of the winning ticket. A judge in the case disagreed. Madam Justice Harriet Sachs of Ontario Superior Court, who presided at a 2½-week-long trial in Toronto, ruled that the OLGC owed players “a duty of care” in handling winning tickets.

As it turned out, the LaPlantes later settled a lawsuit with Mr. Edmonds, paying him $150,000, although they admitted no wrongdoing.

Then, the CBC investigative program the fifth estate got involved, and in the process, Mr. Edmonds dethroned the head of the lottery corporation and brought the organization to its knees. The man from Coboconk, Ont., had scored a major victory for the little guy.

Mr. Edmonds grew up in Woodstock, Ont. His mother died soon after his birth, followed by his father a year or so later, leaving him an orphan. He was brought up by aunts who ran a boarding house. During his childhood, he suffered polio, which left him with a bad arm for the rest of this life.

He went to Western Technical School in Toronto to study drafting. Almost straight out of school, he landed a job with Ontario Hydro and worked there for nearly 35 years, ending his career as a supervising draftsman.

He bought lottery tickets over the years, but never won much — his biggest prize was a $1,000 win. His wife recalled that he once entered a contest from a fuel-oil company that was a kind of trivia quiz on Canadian geography; he won first prize, which was a ticket for two anywhere in the world. However, his wife was pregnant at the time so he took $5,000, the cash equivalent. He used half the money to buy a cottage in the Coboconk area, about 150 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

For the early part of his married life, Mr. Edmonds lived in Toronto and then in suburban Richmond Hill. In 1976, a few years before he retired, the family moved to Coboconk, with Mr. Edmonds commuting to his job at Ontario Hydro.

He was retired for almost 30 years and spent almost all of that time at Coboconk. He took four trips to U.S. sunspots and spent a lot of each summer on his houseboat, exploring the waterways of the Trent-Severn system north of Toronto.

“He loved the life of rural Ontario,” said his son Bob. “He was a dedicated artist and painted in watercolours and oils, but especially in pen and ink.” Mr. Edmonds sold a number of his paintings and won awards at local art fairs despite suffering from two forms of colour blindness.

In retirement, Mr. Edmonds used his drafting skills to help his neighbours design houses and lay out additions to existing buildings. His son said he was a favourite of local builders because his plans were clean and easy to read. He also worked on his own projects, although he stopped short of becoming a builder. In 1980, the family cottage burned down; Mr. Edmonds designed and supervised construction of its replacement.

The last five years of his life were spent fighting for his rightful lottery win. In the process, he changed the way the OLGC operates.

In 2005, the fifth estate got wind of the story. It spoke to Mr. Edmonds and then did some work on the number of insiders who were winning big lottery tickets.

“We found there were 214 insider wins over the past seven years — close to 200 of them were clerks and retailers,” said Harvey Cashore, a senior producer with the program. “We went to Jeffrey Rosenthal, a statistician at the University of Toronto and he said it was so unusual it would never happen in the lifetime of the universe.”

Last month, OLGC chief executive Duncan Brown resigned. And last week, the Ontario Ombudsman issued a report that was highly critical of the lottery corporation and the number of insider wins.

“Mr. Edmonds has become, and will likely remain, a significant agent for change in how lotteries are conducted,” said a letter of apology from corporation chairman Michael Gough. “What happened to Mr. Edmonds ought not to happen to any Ontarian who purchases a lottery ticket from OLGC.”

Throughout most of his battle with the lottery giant, Mr. Edmonds had also been fighting cancer. Three days before his death, he received a written apology from the OLGC and an offer to fully reimburse him for his remaining legal fees.

Robert McLean Edmonds was born Jan. 3, 1924. He died of cancer in hospital in Lindsay, Ont., on Monday, April 2, 2007.

He was 83. He is survived by wife, Theresa. He also leaves his daughter Renate Simon and sons Bob and Don.

Fantino asks Toronto force to investigate possible conflict of interest by OPP officer seconded to Ontario gaming corporation

KAREN HOWLETT, Globe and Mail, 04/04/07

TORONTO — Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino has asked the Toronto Police Service to investigate the potential conflict of interest posed by one of his own officers formerly serving as head of security at the province’s embattled lottery corporation.

Until his retirement last March, Mike Sharland, an OPP chief superintendent, had been seconded to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., as its head of security. He is now on the payroll of the lottery corporation as its vice-president of corporate security and surveillance.

“To ensure there is no perceived or real conflict of interest, the OPP will no longer provide a seconded officer to the OLG,” Mr. Fantino said in a statement last night.

Mr. Fantino’s decision does not mean Mr. Sharland will have to leave the lottery corporation because he is no longer with the force.

Print Edition - Section Front

Enlarge Image

OPP officers are routinely seconded to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, which supervises casino operations in the province.

Mr. Sharland has become embroiled in controversy over his role in suspending a probe into a disproportionate number of retail clerks who had won lottery jackpots.

A report last week from Ontario Ombudsman André Marin said dishonest retailers had swindled millions of dollars in lottery winnings from unsuspecting customers. The report also said Mr. Sharland sent an internal e-mail in August of 2004, ordering lottery staff to suspend any insider win investigations until further notice.

Inspector Dave Ross, a spokesman for the OPP, said last week that a recent review done by the force showed that the lottery corporation made no attempt to “obstruct justice.”

Nevertheless, questions about a perceived conflict of interest have dogged the OPP, which has been asked by the Ontario government to review other allegations of fraudulent lottery wins by insiders. Opposition members have called for an independent inquiry.

“I think we’re all heartened by Commissioner Fantino’s response,” Progressive Conservative MPP Bob Runciman said in an interview last night. “We were getting obviously frustrated in our efforts to encourage the government to do the right thing and call in an independent investigator.”

Mr. Runciman said he hopes the Toronto police will broaden their probe to examine whether the government attempted to cover up the lottery scandal before it became public.

The scandal got a little closer to Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office this week with the revelation that his former chief of staff attended a meeting with other prominent Liberal advisers to help the lottery corporation devise a communications strategy.

Yesterday, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory alleged in Question Period that the Premier’s office was brushing off the matter as a “communications problem” last August, two months before CBC-TV’s the fifth estate broke the story about the insider wins.

Mr. Tory said that Wilson Lee, now chief of staff to David Caplan, the minister in charge of the lottery corporation, said at a meeting last August that the Premier’s office thought there was nothing to the allegations.

“What I’m asking here is, did the minister’s office know about it, did the Premier’s office know about it,” Mr. Tory told reporters. “If so, why didn’t they do anything about it.”

Mr. Tory could not substantiate the allegation. However, it served to raise further questions about the government’s knowledge of the lottery problem.

Liberal caucus spokesman Ben Chin, who dealt with media calls on behalf of Mr. Wilson yesterday, said, “He has no recollection of making that remark.”

New Democrat MPP Paul Ferreira also called for an independent inquiry into any role government officials might have played in the problems swirling around the lottery corporation.

“We’ve asked for accountability and transparency from the government. What we’re getting is more of a cover-up,” he told reporters.

AFP, Globe and Mail, 04/04/07

Macau confirmed yesterday it had overtaken the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s biggest casino draw, saying it raked in more than $7-billion (U.S.) in 2006. The tiny southern Chinese enclave’s 22 casinos generated 16.7 billion patacas ($2.1-billion) in the final quarter, taking the year’s total gross gaming revenues to 56.2 billion patacas ($7.2-billion). By comparison, the 40-odd casinos on Las Vegas’s famous main strip — including the plush Venetian and MGM resorts — generated $6.6-billion. Analysts tipped in October that the city had overtaken Las Vegas, based on earnings projections. But yesterday’s GDP figures are the first time that city officials have confirmed the historic development.

PETER MCKENNA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL STUDIES, UPEI,
Editor:

Re “The glory days of racing without the racino “(The Guardian, March 17, 2007): Permit me to commend former agriculture minister Eric Hammill for his thoughtful commentary on VLTs and the Charlottetown racino.

He is right on the money when he talks about VLT addiction, the attendant social fallout and the government’s addiction to VLT revenues.

I would also like to include some additional information for Islanders to consider. First, VLT expenditures/wagers on P.E.I. are most assuredly not down and show absolutely no signs of deceasing anytime soon. In fact, these numbers have increased from $18.8 million in 2004 to $19.7 million in 2005. In 2006, those same wagers, including the additional racino portion, jumped to $23.4 million.

The only reason why VLT revenues to provincial coffers are down is because of the losses incurred by the racino, which were subtracted from the province’s overall VLT take. In addition, the harness racing sector was subsidized to the tune of some $2.4 million to cover increased purse pools. How long is this subsidy going to remain in place?

Mr. Hammill talks about the racino being conceived as a means of rescuing the harness racing people. I’ve found absolutely no evidence to suggest that harness racing community is getting one red cent from the racino’s VLT take.

Mr. Hammill argues that “the racino is not the right vehicle to finance the industry.” To be honest, it was always about the money; that is, increased VLT revenues through the creation of more VLT addicts.

As for Mr. Hammill’s point about the harness racing sector surviving sans the racino, I’d hardly think so. I can just imagine the reaction from the horsemen if the Binns government were to terminate the $2.4-million purse pool subsidy. Believe me, it would be game over for the harness racing sector.

But I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Hammill’s linking of province-sponsored gambling with the sale of cocaine. Really, what’s the difference?

I just wish members of the current Binns government would take heed of what their former cabinet colleague and caucus mate has to say. But I doubt they’re even listening.

Lee Greenberg, CanWest News Service, Published: Wednesday, April 04, 2007, National Post

TORONTO - Hoping to capitalize on the controversy over Ontario’s lottery corporation, provincial Conservatives yesterday released a stinging radio advertisement warning voters that re-electing the Liberal government is “a gamble [they] can’t afford.”

Coinciding with the release, Conservative leader John Tory demanded an independent investigation into the government’s response to allegations of corruption and theft at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

“I think it’s not right to give up on this, because something terribly wrong has happened here,”

Mr. Tory told reporters outside the legislature.

The Conservative leader insists senior Liberals are hiding their failure to act on their knowledge of an unusual number of lottery wins by ticket retailers and other “insiders.”

For a second day in a row, Conservatives released information they say implicates staff in Premier Dalton McGuinty’s office.

Mr. Tory said someone tipped him off to a meeting between Wilson Lee, chief of staff to the minister responsible for the OLG, and David Caplan, months before Mr. Caplan says he learned of the problems.

Representatives from the Premier’s office told Mr. Caplan’s representative that the insider wins issue was a public relations issue, “essentially saying, ‘Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,’ ” Mr. Tory said.

Mr. McGuinty did not acknowledge the meeting when it was raised during Question Period. Instead, he defended his government’s actions in the matter and cited praise by the provincial Ombudsman, Andre Marin. Mr. Marin’s report last week revealed serious flaws in operations at the OLG, including insider fraud on the order of “tens of millions” of dollars.

Both Mr. Tory and NDP leader Howard Hampton have called on Mr. Caplan to resign, a call the Don Valley East MPP has refused to heed. Mr. Tory yesterday said he believes the controversy will not blow over.

“I know from reading about past instances like this before ? sometimes it takes two or three weeks where you just have to keep at it,” he said.

The Conservative radio advertisement released yesterday begins with a chime resembling that of a redeemed winning lottery ticket, and accuses the government of sitting on signs of trouble at the OLG for months.

“Instead of trying to fix it up, they covered it up,” the female narrator says, “and in covering it up they took away my dream and lost my trust.”

“This is an election year. The thought of four more years of Dalton McGuinty — that’s a gamble we can’t afford.”

Party officials would not say how much they spent on the ad, which they will run in every major market in the province for at least one week.

“That’s part of our strategy, and I don’t talk strategy,” said Conservative campaign director John Laschinger.

Political parties are only bound by spending limits during official campaign periods. There is no spending limit for political advertising outside the campaign period.

Asked about the ads, Mr. McGuinty appeared nonplussed. “You don’t see much spending on our side yet,” he told reporters. “We’re going to stay focused on doing what we need to do.”

ED. - OLG(C) had just as many problems when the Conservatives were in power in Ontario.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070403/NEWS02/704030467

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener

lstedman@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal gambling — particularly the video wagering machines often found in clubs, bars and truck stops — is headed to the Senate after the Rules Committee unanimously endorsed it yesterday.

House Bill 1510 would pay for 25 new state excise police officers dedicated to rooting out illegal gambling and create a special state prosecutor to try the offenses when local prosecutors decline.

The crackdown’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said it would “put some teeth” into efforts to eliminate illegal card clubs and unlawful video gambling machines.

The measure marks the first time in years that lawmakers have seriously considered something aimed at reducing illegal gambling, in contrast to bills expanding legal wagering.

But even as the committee acted on HB 1510, negotiations continued to pass separate legislation that would authorize 3,000 slot machines at Indiana’s racetracks. That bill has already passed the House and Senate in different forms.

If the Senate passes HB 1510, it would have to return to the House, which passed a version that included only changes to charity gambling regulations. Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon and the bill’s House sponsor, said yesterday that he didn’t know whether the House would go along with the Senate provisions but that he found “nothing objectionable” in them.

Indiana Gaming Commission executive director Ernie Yelton assured lawmakers yesterday that if both bills pass — and HB 1510 was strictly enforced — “the totality would be a decrease in gambling in Indiana.”

The key, though, would be enforcement.

Indiana’s estimated 30,000 video gambling machines — which have names like Cherry Master and Pot O’ Gold — are illegal. State excise police routinely bust bars, restaurants and clubs, taking computer chips out of the devices and confiscating the winnings. That puts the owners’ alcoholic beverage permit at risk.

Last year, excise police cited 435 gambling-related violations and seized the computer chips from about 1,600 illegal video gambling machines.

But state officials say that has only driven the machines to other places — including truck stops and coin laundry businesses — that don’t have alcohol permits, and that local police and prosecutors often look the other way.

HB 1510 would offer new options for battling such gambling. As approved yesterday, it would authorize the state to revoke lottery contracts, retail merchant permits, and state licenses for the sale of tobacco and alcohol for any company or organization found with illegal gambling machines.

It would also increase the criminal penalties for people charged a second time with promoting professional gambling.

“It certainly seems to have a lot of things in it that would make it easier to enforce (laws against) illegal gambling,” said Dave Heath, chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. “It will be a benefit.”

Lawmakers also added language that would clarify that card games played for money — including Texas Hold ‘em and blackjack — are illegal. Yelton said yesterday that at least one Indiana prosecutor had declined to act against people operating a professional poker game because state law defines gambling as games of chance and the prosecutor believed Texas Hold ‘em to be a game of skill.

As passed yesterday, HB 1510 would make it clear those games are illegal.

Dan Gangler, communications director for the Indiana Area Office of the United Methodist Church and a board member for the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, praised the bill.

He said Hoosiers can go through thousands of dollars looking for a win at video gambling machines.

“These machines make them losers,” he said.

Loren Fifer, vice president of the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association, acknowledged the machines in use today are “a bad thing,” even though many restaurateurs rely on their income to make ends meet.

But Fifer urged the committee to consider legalizing slot machines or other video gambling that could be regulated, controlled and taxed. That would help bar owners and the state, he said.

If not that, Fifer said, then bar owners were seeking what he called “parity” with nonprofit social and veterans clubs. Those clubs are allowed to sell paper pull-tab and punchboard games. He said bars would like that same option.

But there was no move in the committee to do that.

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=192734

By Scott Van Voorhis

Boston Herald Business Reporter

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - Updated: 12:43 AM EST

Casino gambling could be a step closer to arriving in the Bay State , as a newly recognized Indian tribe asserts it can open a giant gambling resort without state approval.

In a move that could shake up the long-running debate in Massachusetts over legalizing casino gambling, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe insists it has the legal right to open a resort casino built around so-called “bingo slots.”

And if Beacon Hill continues to oppose expanded gambling, the tribe believes it can go ahead and open a gambling complex anyway, following a path blazed by the now-casino-rich Seminole Tribe, spokesman Scott Ferson told the Herald.

“We are not at this point saying we will do anything,” Ferson said. “We are saying we have the right to do this.”

Still, the tribe is actively looking for land for a casino and is angling to have a tentative site by May 23.

The tribe is scouting sites in Southeastern Massachusetts for a giant gambling complex, looking at Plymouth, Middleboro and New Bedford. Backed by a deep-pocketed Midwest casino developer, the tribe is looking for more than 300 acres near a major highway.

In Florida, which until recently had banned slot machines, the Seminoles built wildly succesful casino resorts using bingo slots. The electronic bingo games are almost indistinguishable from slot machines.

The Seminoles also recently inked a billion-dollar deal to buy the Hard Rock chain.

“When we talk about bingo-type slot facilities, we are not talking about little red stamps on pads with numbers,” Ferson said. “It’s extremely lucrative for the tribe.”

Both bingo and table games for charitable purposes are allowed under Massachusetts law. Federal Indian gaming laws give tribes the right to offer on their land whatever level of gambling individual states allow.

And a top State House power player contends the Mashpee Wampanoags’ reading of the local laws appears to be on the mark.

“There is some truth to that,” said Rep. Michael Morrissey (D-Quincy).

But tribal leaders would much prefer to negotiate a deal with Gov. Deval Patrick and other state officials that would lead to the legalization of a full-fledged casino with slot machines, rather than just bingo slots, Ferson said. Bingo slots, while lucrative, bring in just an estimated two-thirds of the cash that pours into full-fledged casinos.

Tribal officials are hoping to begin discussions when Patrick completes his own review of the gambling situation in Massachusetts. At that point, the governor is expected to decide whether to push for a revamp of the state’s gambling laws.

Tribal officials say they look to Connecticut’s casinos, which pay 25 percent of their slot machine take to the state, as an example.

Even so, the tribe is not in the clear yet. After selecting a site, the tribe will have to win approval from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to put any land in “trust,” making it official tribal land. That can take as long as three years.

by PokerPages.com

http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/news/poland-to-legalize-online-poker-and-online-gambling–29630.htm

Wed, Apr 4th, 2007 @ 12:00am

Poland is planning to introduce regulations to license and tax online gambling similar to those in Italy, according to a recent article in the Polish newspaper, The Warsaw Voice, signaling that European markets continue to open up for online poker and online gambling.

Poland’s decision follows the favorable ruling for online poker and online gambling in the Placanica case by the European Court of Justice (ECoJ) in March

The courts ruled that Italy cannot use criminal law to ban gaming companies licensed in another EU nation from taking bets in Italy.

The court’s ruling concerns three bookmakers who had accepted bets in Italy on behalf of British-licensed firm Stanley International Betting (SIB), where SIB had no license to conduct bookmaking business in Italy.

The ruling says that an online gambling operator who holds a license issued in one EU member state has the right to provide similar services throughout the European Union.

“National regulations that prohibit the acceptance of bets unless one has a license issued by the relevant member state restrict the freedom of services,” said the court in substantiating its decision.

Under current Polish law, it is illegal to take part in gambling games offered from companies located in other countries.

But the number of online gambling sites doing business in Poland has been on a rapid rise, for several reasons.

First, it is practically impossible to enforce the ban on their operation. Second, costs are much higher to operate land-based casinos and arcades, and there are statutory restrictions on advertising them in Polish media. Third, Poland currently does not tax online gambling. Fourth, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIEGA) passed last October caused online gaming sites to look for customers outside of the huge US market.

The Polish finance ministry is working to amend the gambling law to regulate and tax online gambling companies, similar to the way the UK’s Gambling Act of 2005 will do when it comes into force this September, and how Italy began to January 2007

The Italian government now collects a 3% tax from gaming companies on gaming revenues that Italian customers generate.

The value of the Polish market for online gambling (including online poker), lotteries and bookmakers is estimated to run into hundreds of millions or even billions of zlotys.

Analyses by the Gdansk Institute for Market Economics (IBnGR) show that such a move could on its own bring in extra annual receipts for the state budget of zl.133 million (USD 46.1 million, or GBP 23.3 million or EUR 34.5 million) from tax on gambling and an extra zl.12 million from income tax (USD 4.16 million, or GBP 2.11 million or EUR 3.11 million).

http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21508097-643,00.html?from=public_rss

* Glenda Korporaal

* April 05, 2007

JAMES Packer’s PBL has made its first move into the North American casino market with a $1.45 billion joint venture with Macquarie Bank.

The news sparked rumours the new venture could be the beginning of a consortium to bid for gaming company Tabcorp.

Tabcorp, which owns the Star City casino in Sydney, is searching for a new chief executive following the forced departure of its former boss Matthew Slatter.

PBL owns the Crown Casino in Melbourne and the Burswood casino in Perth and is building two casinos in Macau as part of a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Melco.

PBL and Macquarie Bank yesterday announced they had established a joint venture company, New World Gaming, which will buy a package of nine casinos in western Canada.

Under the deal announced yesterday, PBL and Macquarie will buy the outstanding units and convertible debentures of the Gateway Casinos Income Fund, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as well as the assets of the privately held Gateway Casinos Inc and the outstanding shares of the Star of Fortune Gaming Management.
Most of the casinos in the package are small “community-based” casinos rather than destination casinos like the existing PBL casinos.

But the deal should give PBL scope to cross-market its growing Macau casino business in its new Canadian casinos.

The business includes three casinos in the greater Vancouver area which has a high Asian population, having attracted many people from Hong Kong in the lead-up to the handover to China in 1997.

PBL and Macquarie will each put $207 million cash into the deal, with the remaining $1 billion to be financed by debt.

Casino analysts said the move could be the beginning of a more aggressive expansion into North America by PBL.

James Packer has also been looking at prospects in Las Vegas.

The move has been made without his Macau casino partner, Lawrence Ho. Analysts said this might be because of the extreme sensitivity in Canada to earlier moves by Macau casino veteran Stanley Ho, the father of Lawrence Ho, to gain a casino licence to operate in the country.

Rowen Craigie, the chief executive of PBL Gaming who would also become president of the New World Gaming, said the Canadian casinos were “a great opportunity for PBL to enter the North American gaming sector”.

He said Gateway Casinos had “an established track record of offering its customers a high quality gaming and entertainment experience across its nine casinos”.

Gateway said yesterday that trustees with 31 per cent of the units had agreed to support the offer and tender their units into the bid.

PBL’s latest offshore casino expansion follows its agreement with private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific to buy 50 per cent of its non-casino assets, generating $4.6 billion, which Mr Packer said would be used to invest in new casino assets.

PBL shares rose by 36c to close at $20.21 while Tabcorp shares rose yesterday by 12c to close at $16.16.

ED. - This deal contravenes the Canadian Criminal Code vis a vis gambling legislation.