Gamblor’s World

Vancouver Sun, March 31, 2009

from http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Toddler+being+left+freezing+outside+casino+rare/1446492/story.html

A case where a toddler was left in his carseat in a locked car for six hours in sub-zero temperatures Sunday night while his father was inside a casino is disturbing but, sadly, not that rare, police say. Police said they responded to a call to the Silver Dollar Casino just after midnight Monday morning after a patron noticed a child crying in a car. Officers said they arrived to find the car, windows covered with blankets. with a toddler inside. The 21-month-old boy, according to police, was very lightly dressed, with no shoes or socks.

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.

Author:
Source: National News [New Zealand]
Published Date: Dec 17, 2007

Description:
Pokie machines attract too much crime to be a valid form of community fundraising, says the Problem Gambling Foundation. Foundation chief executive John Stansfield said today it was ridiculous that an activity that attracted so much crime and caused so much misery was still being used for fundraising. “Almost every day we see another conviction for pokie-related crime,” he said.

http://www.responsiblegambling.org/staffsearch/latest_news_articles_details.cfm?intID=10983

Posted: 21 November 2007 | Subscribe Online writes Natalie Valios

You probably don’t see yourself as a gambler. But many of us - about 32 million to be precise - have participated in some form of gambling in the past year. And when you look at the number of ways in which we can lose our money - from playing the National Lottery, bingo or gaming machines to betting on the horses, doing the football pools or visiting casinos - odds are that most of us gamble more often than we believe.

Since the Gambling Act 2005 relaxed rules on advertising for casinos and online gambling sites and introduced powers to license so-called super-casinos, fears have been raised about a possible surge in problem gamblers. Just before the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2007 was published two months ago there was a flurry of media stories predicting exactly this.

But they were wrong. Contrary to speculation, the number classed as problem gamblers - more than 250,000 - is about the same as in the last prevalence survey in 1999. And the number of adults who gamble has fallen by about one million in the past eight years.

However, with more than £10bn expected to be lost by punters next year, Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, denies claims of scaremongering over the problem.

“People seem to think there’s no problem because it has stabilised,” says Griffiths, who co-authored the prevalence study. “But a quarter of a million adult problem gamblers is a public health issue.

“Problem gambling can negatively affect significant areas of a person’s life, including their physical and mental health, employment, finances and relationships.”

continued at

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 ….

Oct 16 2007, Abbotsford News

Abbotsford’s mayor and council were last night expected to make a decision on a bid to install up to 125 slot machines in the city’s bingo hall.

Five weeks after a public hearing which attracted more than 400 people, the application by the Abbotsford Bingo Association and Playtime Community Gaming Centres Inc. was on yesterday evening’s regular council agenda.

At the September public hearing, more than two-thirds of those who spoke voiced support for the plan.

There has been a greater time lapse than usual between a public hearing and a council vote, due to a decision by Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson to only discuss the matter when all council members were present.

Last night’s meeting, which occurred after press deadline, was the first opportunity to do that.

The application, if approved, would see the bingo hall on Peardonville Road revamped into a community gaming centre. It would initially include 50 slot machines, a number which could grow to 125 depending on their popularity.

Operators of the Abbotsford bingo hall say the facility will close without the additional cash. Last year, the business handed $2.3 million in revenue to local community groups.

Copyright © 2007 Abbotsford News, A Division of Black Press Group Ltd.

Listowner 0pinion - this is a very misguided decision. How much harm is going to be created in Abbotsford due to 50 or 125 slot machines being installed in a moribund bingo hall? How much is the gambling harm going to end up costing Abbotsford? Is there help for problem gamblers in place in Abbotsford now? Are there provisions to offer help for problem gamblers and their families in Abbotsford once this decision is passed?
Lots of questions. As much research with regards to the introduction of gambling, especially slots, into a community - the economic benefits often pale compared to the costs in terms of community well-being. While the introduction of gambling into a community is often promoted as an economic boom, this is seldom the case in actuality, according to existing research in this field. It is a politician’s answer to generating revenues without consideration of the possible and potential harm that is created in communities with slots and a very short-term economic solution - superficial - rather than providing long-term economic development that benefits the community without creating harm.

The creation of community gambling centres out of dying bingo halls is occuring throughout BC - I would be very wary of this development. Research indicates that the community costs of slots end up to be way more than the revenues generated in terms of fraud, family dissolution and break-up, harm to children, etc. etc.

By MICHAEL WALSH,
Capital Gazette
Published October 14, 2007

WASHINGTON - Slot machines, like the ones Gov. Martin O’Malley wants to
bring to Maryland, are “rigged” and designed to create addiction, said the
National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion on Friday. “The aim of these
technologies is to get people to play longer, faster and
more intensely,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor
Natasha Schull.

Schull spoke at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington,
introducing her research showing electronic gambling machines to be
habit-forming as part of a wider effort by the coalition to arrest the tide
toward gambling expansion.

continued at http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/10_14-55/TOP

http://www.gameplanit.com/

at http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=72969&cat=3

Thursday, October 4, 2007 | 1:58 PM ET
CBC News
<The head of Ontario’s Problem Gambling Research Centre is calling for tougher rules to protect players who use the 23,000 slot machines in the province.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission is currently drafting new standards to address questions about machines that flash jackpot symbols or distort the true odds of winning.

But Rob Simpson of the gambling research centre says the new standards proposed for Ontario’s slot machines allow for cheating and deception and is calling on the commission to toughen the rules to better protect players and potential addicts.

Earlier this year CBC News videotaped slots in action across Ontario and then slowed down the images.

The investigation found that some machines rapidly flashed jackpot symbols at players, symbols barely detectable to the naked eye.>

continued at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/10/04/ont-slots.html?ref=rss