Gamblor’s World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
CHES CROSBIE, 579-4000
Email: ccb@chescrosbie.nf.net
www.ChesCrosbie.com
ATLANTIC LOTTO IMMUNE FROM CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS
On December 12, 2008 Justice Dymond of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division, released his decision on an application by Atlantic Lotto Corporation that the Trade Practices Act of Newfoundland and Labrador does not apply to a Crown agent (http://www.chescrosbie.com/library/Dymond_decision.pdf). The Court agreed, and decided that the Trade Practices Act does not apply to ALC as a Crown agent.
“Consumer protection laws that apply to everyone else, don’t apply to ALC”, stated Ches Crosbie, class counsel for VLT players who have banded together in a class action. “ALC has again benefited from rules that give the house an unfair advantage.”
Mr. Crosbie said the decision is not unexpected, and leaves the door open for the plaintiff to seek to include causes of action other than breach of consumer legislation. Mr. Crosbie pointed to the daughter of representative plaintiff Keith Piercey, who committed suicide, as an example of the harm caused. The Statement of Claim alleges that Susan Piercey lost her life due to the deceptions designed into VLT games, which led to addiction and suicide.
The Charter of Rights section 7 guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of the person. “VLTs are unlike any other form of gaming in their concealment of the rules of the
game, their manipulation of the player and in their potential for addiction”, said Mr. Crosbie. “For an agent of the government to expose players to breach of their Charter rights is a constitutional tort.”
Mr. Crosbie added that the law of Charter breach “is one area where ALC can’t rig the game.”
Mr. Crosbie stated that the claim will be amended to also allege breaches of the Criminal Code of Canada, the Competition Act, and the Statute of Anne, an early 16th century anti-gambling statute which is still on the books.
CHES CROSBIE BARRISTERS
169 Water Street, 4th Floor
St. John’s, NL A1C 1B1
Telephone: 579-4000 or 888-579-3262
Facsimile: 579-9671
Email: ccb@chescrosbie.nf.net
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q. What is the case against ALC on VLTs?
A. Dr. Kevin Harrigan described how VLT line games work to cheat the player in his Affidavit available in the Class Actions section of www.chescrosbie.com. His summaries are contained at paragraphs 36 and 63. At paragraph 36 he deposes:
VLT line games are displayed on the VLT screen. The first level of deception is that the VLT screen conceals how the line games actually work. Line games are controlled by the computer inside the VLT which uses a random number generator and various tables and algorithms to determine the result. What the player sees on the VLT screen is not the game itself. How the randomness is generated and the probabilities of each winning combination are concealed from the player. The second level of decision is that the games are intentionally designed so that the 3x5 matrix on the VLT screen misrepresents the game to the player. Observing these intentional misrepresentations will lead the player to create incorrect perceptions of how the games work including incorrect perceptions of the nature of the randomness and true probabilities of the game.
Q. What remedy does the class action lawsuit seek?
A. The lawsuit seeks a monetary remedy and an injunction. The aim is to force ALC to eliminate the deceptive features of the games.

“Mirapex Victims Allowed to Claim Punitive Damages in the United States
On November 26, 2007, a US Court allowed various Mirapex claimants to claim punitive damages against the drug manufacturers of the dopamine agonist called Mirapex… At pages 10 - 18 of the decision, the US Court summarizes in great detail the facts relied on by the Mirapex claimants.”

The other link here should open the finding by the court.

http://www.thomsonr ogers.com/ Mirapex_Products _Liability_ Class_Action_ 071128_Punitives _Mdl_order. pdf

Description of show:

“It all started with an unlikely hero, Bob Edmonds of Coboconk, Ontario.

Last year, the fifth estate told you his story: how Edmonds was cheated out of his $250,000 lottery winnings by a store clerk and then was cheated again by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation when they made him go through a four-year court battle to get his money. Bob Edmonds eventually got that money, but his case was not unique.

The story sparked an investigation by Ontario’s Ombudsman, Andre Marin. In two subsequent updates, the fifth estate revealed more problems within the lottery system as well as other suspicious cases, including one Super 7 jackpot worth $12.5 million.

The $12.5 million jackpot

Kathleen Chung didn’t want to talk about the lottery win with the fifth estate.In Twice Lucky, Linden MacIntyre tells the story of that 2003 $12.5 million jackpot and of the young woman, who walked in to the OLG’s offices to claim the prize, gave inconsistent stories to lottery officials and couldn’t remember any details about her ticket. Lottery officials were concerned enough to hold on to the prize money, but failed to do a thorough investigation. When no one else came forward to claim the prize after one year, the OLG paid $12.5 million to someone they suspected of lying.

This case so shocked the Ombudsman that he highlighted it in his report of March, 2007. The next day, the Ontario Minister responsible for lotteries, David Caplan, ordered the OPP to investigate the $12.5 million jackpot as well as other “insider” win cases. So, what has happened since that investigation was ordered? Find out on the fifth estate’s on-going investigation into retailer troubles at the OLG.”

at http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/twicelucky/

can be accessed at Gambling Watch Global. (http://gamblingwatchglobal.com)

Times Colonist, Tuesday, October 30, 2007

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=b40ee291-a70d-4a41-a989-44bb9ac31cc9

“The report that pathological gamblers are almost four times more likely than the average Canadian to try to kill themselves is
just the latest piece of evidence that the province has no business in the gaming industry.

It should also press Canadians into demanding government end its aggressive promotion of lotteries and casinos outright. No
amount of “easy” revenue is worth Canadians’ lives.

Anti-gambling and safety advocates have long warned that problem gambling can lead to suicide. The study just published by the
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry is based on a nationwide survey of 36,000 Canadians, and found a strong connection between
compulsive betting and self-harm.” continued ….

Announcing the latest YGI Newsletter - brought to you by
the Youth Gambling International Centre.

Volume 7, Issue 3:

http://www.youthgambling.com/en/PDF/Newsletter/Fall2007.pdf

If you cannot click on the URL within this message, please
copy and paste it into your browser.

Y.G.I.

www.youthgambling.com

Ideally Canada ’s Gambling Watch Network would have some news gatherers and at least one Newsletter writer in every province or region. As it is now too few of us do too much of what needs to be done despite the fact that many of our fellow citizens agree with our standpoint on gambling. If you do have the time, PLEASE, give us a helping hand!

Due to the closing of our former Internet server, our Web site is presently inaccessible. Its contents are a part of our extensive archives, so it can be rebuilt. We are badly in need of a volunteer Web Master or Mistress who would just rebuild our site. We know how to keep the site updated, but setting it up is beyond our ability. Please give us a few hours!

Here’s a contact that’s recommended by many folks. Visit it and tell us what you think of it:

WOMEN HELPING WOMEN

News and support for female gamblers in Recovery

www.femalegamblers.org

Cyber Gambling

A 9/26 Canadian Press article reports that a USA judge listened to the challenge of the Internet Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (an association of online gambling groups) to USA federal online gambling restrictions. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed and the judge who heard the arguments in the case said she expects to rule within 30 days. The 9/27 Calgary Herald, in an article on this issue, writes that the European Union gaming firms press for as much as $100 billion in compensation.

The 9/29 Windsor Star writes that online poker is a great way to practice a player’s skill for free or for money.

In ‘Internet Gambling October Will Prove an Interesting Month’ the Gambling911.com Publisher writes that that the Internet gambling sector will usher in the month of October with a much anticipated conference taking place October 1 thru 3 in Barcelona, Spain. We quote: “There is plenty of room for optimism during the month of October, though it remains to be seen whether online gaming operators and enthusiasts can celebrate exactly one year after passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that practically crippled portions of the billion dollar industry”.

Sports

A 9/27 Canadian Press article reports that Belgian tennis players say they were offered bribes to lose matches. One of them said he refused an offer of 100,000 euros ($141,950 in Canadian money) to lose a first-round match against Italy ’s Potito Starace in 2005. The player said these things happen a lot and they involve a lot of money.

Crime

‘Fraud costs big businesses millions’ is an article in the 9/25 Calgary Herald reporting that some type of corporate fraud has hurt four out of five businesses worldwide in the last three years. We wish that it were possible to find out how much hurt gamblers in positions of trust have caused!

Canada

‘ US tourist spending plunges across Canada ’ is an item in the 9/25 Windsor Star. Casinos near the border experience the logical consequences of the soaring loonie, the increased border security and the weakening American economy.

British Columbia

‘Abby residents split on slots with more against them’ is a 9/27 article in The Province. It reports that a poll surveyed 300 Abbotsford voters between Sept. 21 and 24. It found that 49% of respondents said council should reject it and 40% said council should accept it and that 10% were undecided. Originally the councillors voted 5-3 to approve the first reading of the motion to install up to 125 slot machines in the bingo hall. How will they vote now? Council will vote on the issue Monday night.

The 9/28 Times Colonist writes ‘The Great Canadian Casino in View Royal is planning a significant expansion that would see it almost double its floor space, build a lounge for live entertainment and add a teletheatre where patrons could watch sporting events and bet on live horse races. But whether it will get municipal council’s approval to serve alcohol throughout the building — even on the gaming floor — is anyone’s bet’. Presently the municipality gets between $1.8M and $2M annually for hosting the casino. One of the reasons given for the proposed expansion is “a huge problem” with parking.

Alberta

In ‘Gambling ban dogs trustees’ an article in the 9/28 Times Colonist, we read that those in charge of the Calgary Catholic schools worry about the finances 30 months from now, when the school board bans casino & bingo fundraisers. A quote: “The controversy began more than a year ago, when Bishop Fred Henry threatened to blacklist Calgary Catholic schools if the board didn’t confront a “moral issue” and withdraw from gambling-based school fundraisers. His view that casinos exploit the poor created a standoff with Calgary Catholic trustees, who were concerned about replacing the $2 million generated annually for local schools through casinos and bingos”.

Saskatchewan

The 9/25 Leader Post has an item about a card game that’s a serious business for a Regina

resident: BRIDGE! According to the player the game is different from most because it depends on skill, not luck of the draw. “There is no money to be won. It is only a very prestigious thing”, the player said.

On 9/27 this paper writes “A Queen’s Bench justice has dismissed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit brought against the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the provincial government by the Battlefords Tribal Council over control of gaming profits from the Gold Eagle Casino”, and in the 9/29 StarPhoenix we read that “Battlefords Tribal Council has no choice but to consider personal liability suits against individual (First Nations) chiefs”, says a news release issued Friday by that tribal council.

Manitoba

“A man entrusted to mind the money for the 2006 Manitoba Games in Beausejour has been charged with pilfering $35,000 from Games coffers” is a line in the 9/25 Winnipeg Sun. Gambling is not mentioned (yet), but we’ll try to follow this lawsuit.

Ontario

“City hall and tourism operators turned up the heat on Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty to make a long-term commitment to keep Casino Niagara open,” says the 9/24 Niagara Falls Review. We then read that the “Committee to Save Niagara Jobs” rolled out a website Friday with the message “Casino Niagara Must Stay Open.” The worry seems to focus on the older Casino Niagara and not on Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. The public’s perception is that there’s a “lack of activity” at the casino and that the casino management company has tried to divert business to the newer Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort.

The next day this paper reports that a city councillor thinks that putting pressure on the present premier might give the impression that Niagara is taking sides in the provincial election and lobbying on behalf of the casino’s landlord. She objected to city involvement in an Internet campaign urging McGuinty to make a deal that will guarantee Casino Niagara’s presence in Niagara Falls for 20 years.

‘Judge orders woman to seek counselling for gambling’ is the heading of an item in the 9/29 Sarnia Observer reporting that a woman who drove away intoxicated from Hiawatha Slots was fined $1,200 and instructed to get counselling for alcohol/gambling problems in Sarnia’s court.

‘Stakes raised for our casino’ is the title of a 3-page item in the 9/29 Windsor Star saying that Casino Windsor, already facing declining revenues in the face of border woes and a rising dollar, will experience even stronger competition at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday when the MGM Grand Detroit casino will be out of the gate when it opens its shiny new resort to the public.

New Brunswick

‘Arsonist targets 25M lottery winners’ is an article we found in the 9/28 Calgary Herald.

We quote: “In the normally peaceful area of Salisbury , N.B., the businesses and homes of David and Byron Hopper — men who split a $25-million lottery win in 2004 — have been vandalized and burnt in the past few months. Local residents say the dispute involving a third man is over a business deal gone bad”.

Canada’s Gambling Watch Network is not alone in its struggle against the continuing expansion of gambling in Canada . Going to http://www.citizenvoice.ca will give you more information on this group, while Game Planit reveals the truth about slots and other Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs). Find out how deceptive the machines can be from virtual reels to concealed odds. All things in the EGMs are designed to addict the player. Visit http://www.gameplanit.com for more information on this subject.

Anyone who wants to join the class-action suit against Loto-Québec, or to find out more on that issue, should go to a link on website www.vivaconsulting.com pointing the way.

Also: a group of activists in Nova Scotia established the Web site gameovervlts, it has many stories that show what pathological gambling does to individuals and their families.

Our Blueprint for action to reform Canadian gambling law, policies & practices into real public interest will be e-mailed to anyone who asks for it.

We’re always open to Guest Editorials and letters to the editor. Placing an item doesn’t mean that we agree with the opinion expressed. As a coalition of a variety of groups and people, our “party line” leaves room for differences of opinion, and we welcome them!

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Financial Help!

Do you like to be kept aware of what’s happening in our country gambling-wise (stupid would be a more suitable word here!)? Our regular subscription price is $20 annually, and any bigger amounts will be received with thanks. Have you paid for this year yet?

Please contact us if you want more information on items in this letter or on their sources.

at http://www.education.mcgill. ca/gambling/

Governments’ addiction to gambling doesn’t sit right
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, July 30, 2007

Traditionalists will argue that gambling is a vice, and a destructive one at that. But even those of us who are reluctant to make moral judgments should be uncomfortable with the way governments exploit, and promote, a potentially addictive behaviour.

A new Statistics Canada report confirms that we live in a gambling nation. Nearly 70 per cent of Canadian households have a member who gambles at least once a year. Here’s the jaw-dropper: All the gambling activity combined — lotteries, video-lottery terminals, casinos — brings in some $13.3 billion to government coffers. That figure is from 2006. In 1992, governments brought in $2.7 billion from state-controlled gambling. In other words, the government’s yearly haul is dramatically increasing.

Clearly, governments are addicted to gambling revenue. The question is, should Canadians be alarmed at this growing dependency? That $13.3 billion pays for a lot of hip replacements, school renovations and highway repairs. But there is an unspoken cost attached to the windfall, namely, the broken homes, lost jobs and suicides that too often are the lot of compulsive gamblers.

continued at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=94141dc5-9eea-40dc-8137-d2684408d958

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.