Gamblor’s World

June 26, 2007

No Report in over Two Years

Toronto: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today is calling on Premier McGuinty and Public Infrastructure Minister David Caplan to release the annual reports for the past two years for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). “The Premier is stalling on the release of the report for 2005/2006. What is he hiding at the OLG?” said Kevin Gaudet, Ontario Director of the CTF. “Given that fraud and scandal have become synonymous with the OLG in recent months, withholding their reports only adds suspicion”.

Annual reports provide transparency and accountability of government corporations, detailing expenditures, planned projects and corporate mandates. But since the OLG’s 2004/2005 report, nothing has been made public. This comes at a time when OLG executives were both fired and demoted following revelations of widespread fraud and scamming of winnings by lottery employees. This prompted an investigation by Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin leading to a March 2007 report A Game of Trust, which signalled that the lottery industry is vulnerable to exploitation.

Gaudet concluded, “The CTF is demanding the McGuinty government show us its hand. The OLG can not begin to rebuild its credibility until it becomes transparent and accountable.”

For more information please contact:

Kevin Gaudet at 416-203-0030 office or mobile 416-725-0501

For further information contact:

Kevin Gaudet, Ontario Director, CTF - Ontario

Ph: 1-416-203-0030

Copyright © 2007 Canadian Taxpayers Federation

July 5, 2007 - 12:18 PM, swissinfo

Image caption: Switzerland has one of the highest casino densities in the world (Keystone)

Five years after the first Swiss casinos opened for business, almost 17,000 people have been banned from playing in the country’s 19 gambling houses, mostly for addiction reasons.

Casinos have a legal obligation to work to prevent gambling addiction. swissinfo visited a casino on a midweek afternoon to see the everyday players the law aims protect.

Inside the Casino Barrière de Fribourg is another world. It is cool and dark with no hint of the scorching summer’s day outside. In the moment it takes to get your bearings it seems like a vast space filled with flashing, beeping, jingling machines.

The regulars trickle in, flash their identity cards and head straight for their favourite machines. At this time of day the table games are lying idle.

But the most popular and most addictive slot machine game, Super Cherry, is a hive of activity. There are players in front of two thirds of the casino’s 20-odd Super Cherry machines, including one player who is able to master two machines simultaneously.

Low income

Psychiatrist Claude Uehlinger, head of the Fribourg Addiction Treatment Unit, provides treatment to gambling addicts, most of whom come to him under pressure from their family circle.

“Socio-economic status is a factor in gambling addiction, with less-educated people on lower incomes more at risk,” Uehlinger told swissinfo.

“It’s not only a question of time but also a question of environment. Ease of access to slot machines, for example, can trigger and speed up the addiction but psychological predisposition is also important,” Uehlinger said.

The personality trait of impulsivity plays a major role in the development of pathological gambling.

“A person with a weakness in terms of mood stabilisation would be more at risk,” Uehlinger said.

Gambling is a very severe addiction and it requires long treatment.

Claude Uehlinger, psychiatrist

Intervention

According to Linda McCarthy, resident psychologist and customer relations manager at Fribourg Casino, it is the casino’s goal for the client to remain healthy.

“Our approach is more about collaboration than confrontation. If necessary we will direct them to the appropriate professional help.”

Casinos are obliged to train staff to recognise problem clients. In Fribourg, once a person has been identified as a potential addict, McCarthy approaches them, suggesting a deal to limit the number of visits per month or stop access altogether. This arrangement would include all Swiss casinos.

It is not uncommon for family members of players to call the casino asking for their relative to be barred. If they can supply proof of financial difficulties, the casino will impose a ban on the person.

“There are still people who slip through the net, we cannot prevent all cases but we can do a lot to reduce the risk,” McCarthy said.

“Casinos must observe their clients, keep a record of problems.

Jean-Marie Jordan, Federal Gaming Board

Inspections

The Swiss Federal Gaming Board supervises and inspects Swiss casinos and ensures that the law is upheld. In its report for 2006, the Board praised casinos for significantly improving their measures for gambling prevention.

The Board carries out unannounced and arranged inspections which can be short one-day inspections or in-depth three-day visits.

“Casinos must observe their clients, keep a record of problems and speak to visitors if necessary. They may also demand proof of the person’s financial status and they have the right to bar the player,” Jean-Marie Jordan of the Federal Gaming Board told swissinfo.

“From the social point of view, we acknowledge the casinos are on the right track,” Jordan added.

According to Uehlinger it takes months of treatment exposure to deal adequately with gambling addiction. “Gambling is a very severe addiction and it requires long and repetitive treatment including psychotherapy, behavioural therapy, medication and lifestyle change.”

“Addiction cannot be completely cured but you can people move from an addiction state to a remission state. However addicts have a predisposition to go back to their addiction throughout their lives.”

swissinfo, Clare O’Dea

What is social bookmarking?

CONTEXT

A report co-commissioned by the Federal Gaming Board in 2004 found that the average monthly loss incurred by gambling addicts was SFr5,380 ($4,437).

Of the gamblers in counselling, 54% were losing half or more than half of their monthly income on average.

The gambling career can be subdivided into three phases:

1. The positive early phase, also known as the winning phase 2.The critical adjustment or losing phase 3. Finally the addiction or desperation phase.

KEY FACTS

Switzerland has one of the highest casino densities in the world.

There are 19 casinos in Switzerland, 9 A-casinos and 12 B-casinos.

B casinos are restricted to 150 gaming machines, three table games and maximum bets of 25 francs.

A-casinos decide themselves how much the bets can be.

In 2006 Swiss casinos made a profit of SFr955 million.

SFr750 was lost in slot machines and the remaining 205 came from table games, such as Black Jack or Roulette.

from: http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10362

Author:
Source: Tecumseh Countywide News
Published Date: Jun 21, 2007

Description:
Gateway to Prevention and Recovery of Shawnee, Okla. has added treatment for compulsive and addicted gamblers to its programs. “Although legalized gambling has increased the number of addicted gamblers, we are not against the casinos. We have their (casinos) support in helping the addicted gambler,” Cindy Satterfield, Gateway’s compulsive gambling program coordinator said. The program is funded through money from casinos and the state lottery set aside by the Oklahoma Legislature and distributed through the state Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services.

from http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10366

Author:
Source: Casino Gambling Web
Published: Jun 25, 07

Full Document:
FLORIDA — PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has released a study that focuses on the gambling industry around the world, and its findings are that there will be increases in the industries worth over the next four years.
Figures released in the report claim that in the year 2011, the global gambling industry could be worth up to $144 billion, after a compounded growth rate of 7.2%. That figure is up from the current # of $101.6 billion.

The main reason for the increase will be due to the Pacific-Asia region of the world, which is led by the resort of Macau in China. Revenue in that region is expected to raise from $14.6 billion to $30.3 billion, a 15.7% increase.

In the United States, revenue is expected to increase by 6.7% a year, taking the overall number from $57.5 billion to $79.6 billion. Nevada revenue is expected to grow to $18.2 billion, up 7.5% per year.

Revenue in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa will increase only 1.9%, and raise the overall number to $27.8 billion from $25.2 billion.

from: http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10370

Author:
Source: Chinarealnews
Published: Jun 27, 07

Full Document:
MACAU — With the development of the gaming industry in Macao, an increasing number of people of the city are addicted to gambling or affected by gambling issues. According to a survey released by the University of Macau in 2003, nearly 70% of Macao residents have the habit of gambling, 4.3% of whom are defined as problem gamblers. Problem gambling is a continuous, uncontrollable behavior which could have a negative impact on gamblers and their families. As a result, gamblers are advised to ask the Rehabilitation Centre for Problem Gamblers in Macao for help once any gambling problems are found on themselves.

from http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10369

Author: Peterson, Eric
Source: Chicago Daily Herald
Published: Jun 27, 07

Full Document:
ILLINOIS — A Schaumburg man whose mother suffered a relapse of her gambling addiction asked the Illinois Gaming Board Tuesday for greater monitoring at casinos to make the state’s self-exclusion program for addicts truly work.
Todd Ruder had testified in front of the board before about his mother’s success in beating her addiction.

But after earning her one-year pin from Gambler’s Anonymous in May, the 67-year-old woman went to the Hollywood Casino in Aurora again on Father’s Day.

“She is so disgusted with herself, like I’ve never seen before,” Ruder said.

This time, all his mother lost was a couple hundred dollars from her income tax refund. But in the past couple years, she’s drained about $160,000, most of it at Joliet’s Empress Casino, he said.

He’s asking the state to require the same ID check for all casino patrons that it already uses for people who appear to be under 30.

Only then, he believes, will the self-exclusion program be effective in helping addicts of all ages help themselves.

Self-exclusion works by threatening those who sign up for it with forfeiture of all money won if they’re caught gambling. Trespassing charges can also be filed against those who violate the self-exclusion program.

It’s supposed to remove all motivation to gamble, but an addict’s mind doesn’t operate so logically, said Ruder, who is a teacher at Maine West High School in Des Plaines.

Illinois Gaming Board member Eugene Winkler was responsive and sympathetic to the request, saying that it’s seniors who need more help with compulsive gambling.

For many addicts, the problem first shows up between the ages of 45 and 65, Winkler said.

But as other members of the board agreed, its recommendations aren’t often followed in Springfield.

Anita Bedell, executive director of the Springfield-based Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction, agreed that more pressure needs to be put on lawmakers to recognize the true nature of compulsive gaming.

“Legislators always want to expand gambling, but they never address the impact it has on families,” Bedell said.

Ruder said his mother’s road to addiction in the past couple of years was unexpected and largely invisible to the rest of the family until it was too late.

He believes her attempt to retire from nursing, coupled with her anxiety over watching her own parents decline in a nursing home in their 90s, fueled the addiction.

Before that, his mother, whom he asked not to be identified, never even bought lottery tickets or gambled while in a Las Vegas casino, Ruder said.

He and his family thought it funny when she first expressed an interest in joining them at the riverboats.

Then she was less than forthright with them about her reasons for wanting to sell her house and move in with her daughter in Hinsdale.

What she was really doing, Ruder said, was assembling all the cash she was going to throw into the casinos.

Now she’s had to get a job again and give up retirement, working at night and relinquishing all access to her money and financial decisions to the daughter she lives with, Ruder said.

from http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10382

Author:
Source: Toronto Star
Published: Jun 29, 07

Full Document:
LOS ANGELES — Indian revenue from gambling grew 11 per cent in 2006 to about $25.5 billion (U.S.), slower than the average annual pace of 15 per cent in the past decade, as fewer facilities opened, a report yesterday showed.
Gambling enterprises on tribal lands employed about 327,000 people, led to about $80.7 billion in output to the U.S. economy and generated $11.7 billion in taxes, according to the Indian Gaming Industry Report by Alan Meister, an economist with the Analysis Group consulting firm in Los Angeles.

Indian gambling is intended by law to build and sustain self-sufficient tribal governments, and experts say it generally has met its goal, though some tribes have benefited more than others.

A total of 228 tribes use gambling revenues to fund tribal governments and support social services such as health care, housing and education.

About 34 per cent of tribes distribute direct payments to tribal members, the report showed.

Last year’s revenue growth rate is the lowest since 1988, when the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed, the report showed.

The total number of Indian gambling facilities – 423 – increased by just one in 2006, compared with an increase of 10 in 2005. There’s also more competition from non-Indian gambling and racetracks with slot machines.

at http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles.cfm

Guide to help gambling operators spot addicts

Author: U-Wen, Lee
Source: TodayOnline
Published Date: Jul 06, 2007

Description:
If you tend to spend your entire days relentlessly putting coins into jackpot machines at any of the social clubs in Singapore, it may trigger off an alert with the operator. Such signs of gambling addiction will come under more watchful eyes in the future, once a new code is rolled out by the end of the year. Singapore’s two largest industry players — Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club — along with 12 public sector recreation and social clubs are early adopters of the voluntary Responsible Gambling Code of Practice. Unveiled yesterday, the code covers five main measures, including training gambling operations staff to spot warning signs of problem gamblers, and providing information about the potential risks of gambling.

2. Treatment for gambling should be a priority

Author: Barnard, Michael
Source: Desert Sun
Published Date: Jul 06, 2007

Description:
Most people gamble as a form of entertainment, but it is estimated that 3 percent of the population is a problem gambler. It is a complicated issue to diagnose because most gamblers are embarrassed to admit they have a problem. They will hide the financial losses by lying, borrowing, stealing or selling their assets. Untreated, it may lead to bankruptcy, divorce or even suicide. Most problem gamblers have other addictive behaviors such as alcohol or drug abuse or anxiety disorders. Treatment must address all of the behaviors, or one will be substituted for another. New studies on “cross-priming” show that performing one addictive behavior will trigger other addictive behaviors, for example, smoking will trigger gambling impulses.

3. State to look at legal gambling impact

Author:
Source: Associated Press
Published Date: Jul 05, 2007

Description:
The state, for the first time in a decade, will take a close look at how legalized gambling has affected life in Connecticut by funding a study on its impact. The study will include not only the lottery system, but the two Indian-run casinos in southeastern Connecticut. Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun casino pump about $445 million into the state’s general fund each year. However, critics say state officials have taken the money and ignored the negative consequences of legalized gambling.

4. National Council on Problem Gambling rolls out code of practice

Author: Shyan, Foo Siew
Source: Channel NewsAsia
Published Date: Jul 05, 2007

Description:
Singapore’s National Council on Problem Gambling has rolled out a Responsible Gambling Code of Practice, targeted at existing operators and clubs which run jackpot rooms. The code was launched at the inaugural Problem Gambling Conference, with the aim of reducing potential problem gambling among customers. So far, 14 operators, including Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Pools, have agreed to adopt the code.

5. Casinos aim to take the pain out of gambling. High stakes and high society – casinos may have a glamorous image but they can lead to ruin for those who end up addicted to gambling

Author: O’dea, Clare
Source: Swissinfo
Published Date: Jul 05, 2007

Description:
Five years after the first Swiss casinos opened for business, almost 17,000 people have been banned from playing in the country’s 19 gambling houses, mostly for addiction reasons. According to Linda McCarthy, resident psychologist and customer relations manager at Fribourg Casino, it is the casino’s goal for the client to remain healthy. In Fribourg, once a person has been identified as a potential addict, McCarthy approaches them, suggesting a deal to limit the number of visits per month or stop access altogether. “Casinos must observe their clients, keep a record of problems and speak to visitors if necessary. They may also demand proof of the person’s financial status and they have the right to bar the player,” says Jean-Marie Jordan of the Swiss Federal Gaming Board.

6. Treatment sought over jail for gambling addicts. More lawyers are using tactic to request leniency

Author: Soto, Onell R.
Source: San Diego Union Tribune
Published Date: Jul 05, 2007

Description:
Before pleading guilty to grand theft in May, Michelle MacLaren, through her lawyer, asked a judge and a prosecutor to consider a psychiatrist’s opinion that she is a pathological gambler. It’s a tactic lawyers are increasingly taking as the number of problem gamblers grows. They’re asking for treatment rather than prison – as they do for many drug addicts. Around the country and in San Diego County – which has a horse track, four card clubs and more Indian casinos than any other county in the United States – it’s not a persuasive argument. Problem gamblers aren’t all criminals, said Michael Still, a San Diego prosecutor. “It’s a very real and very serious problem for those who have it,” Still said. “But when you try to lay the blame for your criminal actions on a condition you have . . . I don’t think there’s a lot of sympathy.”

7. Teach youths about risks of excessive gambling: experts

Author: Ying, Wong Siew
Source: Channel NewsAsia
Published Date: Jul 04, 2007

Description:
International studies show youths are two to four times more susceptible to problem gambling compared to adults. Since many tend to start at about nine or ten years old, experts say it is important to educate them about the dangers of excessive gambling, before it is too late. This is one key focus at a two-day Problem Gambling Conference. Besides organising educational activities in schools, the National Council on Problem Gambling has also run programmes to raise awareness on the topic among Singaporeans.

8. AI to help Svenska Spel identify problem gambling

Author:
Source: Gaming Intelligence Group
Published Date: Jul 04, 2007

Description:
Sweden’s Svenska Spel has partnered with ICU intelligence to launch their latest responsible gaming tool, Spelkoll. The software, integrated with Svenska Spel’s online gaming platform, claims to be the first of its kind to detect problem gambling in its early stages. “Spelkoll” is the result of a unique cooperation between ICU intelligence, Svenska Spel and Spelinstitutet. The technology looks to find weak, almost invisible patterns in customer behaviour within large databases without any human interference, using a combination of artificial intelligence and evolutionary programming.

9. Now open: Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino

Author: Fink, James
Source: Business First of Buffalo
Published Date: Jul 03, 2007

Description:
Casino gaming has officially come to downtown Buffalo. Less than one day after the National Indian Gaming Commission approved the opening of the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, the venue welcomed its first patrons Tuesday morning [July 3] at 10 a.m. The opening marks a significant milestone for the Seneca Nation of Indians in their efforts to bring casino gaming to Buffalo. The project remains subject to on-going litigation. Casino supporters say the interim casino is the first step towards a major economic development project that kick start new projects along an economically challenged area of Buffalo.

10. When gambling is a problem, the question becomes: Whose?

Author: Leber, Holly
Source: Medil Report
Published Date: Jul 03, 2007

Description:
People who deem themselves a problem gambler may officially ban themselves from Illinois casinos by bringing identification and filling out forms at a designated office of the Illinois Gaming Board or any sanctioned enrollment office. Anyone on the self-exclusion list who is caught gambling at a casino will be arrested for trespassing. But even with the threat of arrest, how effective is self-exclusion? “Self-exclusion is a good tool for recovery,” said Wayne Burdick, president of the Outreach Foundation for Problem and Compulsive Gamblers in Downers Grove, said at a meeting of the Illinois Gaming Board last week. Casinos can be fined if an employee knowingly allows a self-excluded gambler to enter a gaming area — the stiffest fine on record, officials say, is $600,000. But some wonder whether it is really fair for the onus to fall on the casinos to keep out problem gamblers.

and more …

Article from:
LUCY HOOD

July 07, 2007

UP to 10 Skycity employees are believed to have been suspended after
being linked to an Internet site which attacks the casino as an
unsafe workplace.

It is understood the employees were listed as “friends” on the
www.myspace. com/skyshitty site, which alleges casino staff have been
injured by faulty equipment and are forced to work in unsafe
conditions.

The Advertiser was contacted yesterday by a 25-year-old male employee
who admitted running the site.

The man, who is known under the alias “Money Monster”, wished to
remain anonymous. He said the site was the second he had set up after
the first was shut down.

“Staff have been cut, burnt and another guy was shocked by a faulty
machine,” he said.

“During the employee induction, the food and beverage attendants are
told to keep customers at a ‘happy drunk level’ so that they don’t
feel bad about losing money.”

The man said he was also forced by a manager to incorrectly fill out
a document which was supposed to record food temperatures in one of
the casino’s restaurants.

“A health report, which should have stated the temperature of our
food for the last six months, hadn’t been filled out so he just told
me to write in ‘random numbers’,” he said.

Money Monster said they have now removed all “friends” from the site
in an effort to protect their jobs.

Skycity marketing general manager Tamsyn Alley said the
allegations “are not factually correct”.

Peter McKenna, For The Calgary Herald, Saturday, July 07, 2007

Gambling proponents and video lottery stakeholders maintain that a VLT ban will never work. For them, there is no sense thinking about it because it can’t be properly structured or effectively enforced, and addicts will always want their fix.

This sentiment was captured by the president and CEO of the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Michelle Carinci, when she spoke before the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Accounts Committee in January 2006. “Prohibition has never proven to have worked in any jurisdiction that we have looked at. . . . What prohibition does is it drives the activity underground. The activity will happen,” she declared.

South Carolina’s abolition of some 34,000 video poker machines in 2000 undermines Carinci’s claims. The tipping point for that state was the death of a newborn in a car on a sweltering summer day as the child’s mother played the VLTs for hours at a roadside casino.

The governor of North Carolina moved to ban an estimated 10,000 VLTs from his state as of July 1. He did so in part because of a flood of illegal machines that entered the state after being outlawed in South Carolina.

The real argument against a VLT ban is that it will work too well.

A ban will cut into the revenue stream of governments (and interested parties) and force them to look for monies elsewhere. It could also have a marginal impact in terms of job losses.

This expected financial hit is what really terrifies opponents. North Carolina’s revenue department is projecting a forfeiture of some $100 million annually and the potential loss of more than 1,700 jobs.

In North Carolina, law enforcement agencies joined church groups, the mental health community and citizens in calling for a ban.

The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association maintained they didn’t have enough resources to regulate the machines, which were supposed to pay out prizes worth no more than $10 in merchandise or store credit (when they were paying out significantly larger sums). With the ban, not only did they have one less thing to worry about from a policing standpoint, but they wouldn’t have to involve themselves in time-consuming and costly investigations of illegal payouts.

The sheriffs said illegal activities often accompanied improper operations, including increased political corruption and crime. They viewed the ban as a critical step in reducing petty theft, fraud, embezzlement and even domestic violence.

Clearly, the argument of those who say a ban is unenforceable is severely weakened when the ones who would be responsible for implementing it endorse it.

South Carolina police have had no problem enforcing their ban as long as they have in place guidelines, penalties, sufficient staff and the requisite political backing of legislators.

The real problem with a ban is politicians’ utter lack of will and commitment.

The Alberta government should stop listening to the Gaming and Liquor Commission and do what is best for Albertans. Politicians need to stop fiddling with prevalence studies, responsible gambling gimmicks and marginal reductions in the numbers of machines, and put out the VLT fire with a ban on these insidious machines.

Peter McKenna is an associate professor of political studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. he is completing a book on the politics of VLTs in Atlantic Canada.