Tag Archives: Canada

Ontario problems

June 12, 2008 1:38 pm

That could mean that you’re driving up to Vegas from LA and ran out of gas before you got too far. But in this case, it’s about a group of thousands of admitted problem gamblers who’ve filed a class action lawsuit against the government corporation that owns Ontario (Canada) casinos. From the CBC:

A $3.5-billion proposed class-action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of thousands of addicted gamblers who allege they asked to be barred from Ontario’s casinos, but were still allowed in.

The suit was filed against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation on Tuesday in Toronto, claiming that the corporation did not do enough for those who signed up for “self-exclusion,” a program that allows people to have themselves banned from casinos so that they can curb their ruinous gambling habits.

None of the allegations has been proven in court and a statement of defence has not yet been filed.

Those who sign up for the program are photographed and registered, and their information is stored in binders at every provincial casino. If they are caught trying to enter a casino, they can be arrested for trespassing.

But gamblers who spoke with CBC News on condition of anonymity said the program doesn’t work. One woman said she registered for the program, but her gambling addiction led her back to a casino soon after.

“I walked through, no one looked at me,” she said. “I kept gambling for the next couple of years.”

Lawyers say the OLG should be using high-tech systems to catch self-banned gamblers. In the Netherlands, gamblers present photo identification at casinos, and their identification is checked against a computer database, lawyers say.

Problem gamblers hit Ontario casinos with $3.5B lawsuit

There seems to be some precedent here, since the OLGC has settled 9 individual suits pertaining to self-exclusion out of court. But this might be going too far.

From the casino’s perspective, self-exclusion has some problems (pardon the pun). As card-counters wearing disguises, etc, prove, if someone is dead set on gambling in a casino, even if they are on a watch list, it’s very hard to exclude them. Of course, if they do something that raises their profile, like win a jackpot over the tax threshold, they’ll be discovered when they have to show ID.

One way to make sure that no one who’s gambling has excluded themselves is to make sure everyone who enters a casino has a player’s card, as is done in Missouri. But these are gambling barges with relatively low capacities and, by their nature, one or two entrances.

This system couldn’t work in Nevada casinos without extensive retrofits, since thousands of people who don’t gamble pass through the casino en route to restaurants, shows, convention space, or their rooms. The millions of gamblers who don’t have a problem would also view it as excessively intrusive. Getting carded every time you walk through a casino stops being fun a few months after you turn 21 and can legally enter.

If there are thousands of people on self-exclusion lists, it ludicrous to ask casino employees to bear the responsibility of actively seeking them out and barring them. Until we invent the Matrix-type system where you can download knowledge without all that tedious studying, I don’t think you could find a way to have employees do this.

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Responsible gaming monitors redux

May 20, 2008 12:54 pm

I’ve got a more in-depth look at the Canadian responsible gaming monitors in the LVBP. Here’s a snippet:

Recently, the British Columbia government announced plans to hire nine “responsible gambling information officers.” These new deputies of safe gaming will spend their working hours hanging out in casinos throughout the Canadian province, looking for “distressed gamblers” with whom they will discuss gambling.

Like many Las Vegans, you may not be quite sure what to make of this news. Is this a case of our Canadian brethren (or at least their elected officials) having a more finely developed social conscience than us hardscrabble, self-reliant Nevadans, or just the nanny state run amok?

Canada sends problem-gambling monitors to casinos

Strangely, what I thought was the most uncontroversial part of the piece: that “The industry has an obligation to ensure that all of the games are actually as they are advertised,” and that players have the right to learn about game odds, was reprinted below the column under the header “Sounding Off.” I don’t know if this means that I was sounding off when I said this, or that readers are welcome to write in defending the right of Nevada casinos to surreptitiously alter the odds of the game. I’d like to see someone write in to say that if a casino wants to take all of the tens out of their blackjack shoes without saying so, it’s totally cool with them as a player. It might be fun, just to see someone’s head explode with fury over at the Las Vegas Advisor.

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New bidder for Trop?

May 12, 2008 9:41 am

With much, but not all of the site work done, I’m taking a bold leap back into the gaming news blogosphere today.

I haven’t heard much about this possible bidder for the Columbia Sussex casino empire, but that might just be because I’ve spent more time poring over css style sheets than reading the news. And before you ask, I’m not related to Gerald Schwartz. From ReportonBusiness.com:

Onex Corp. is ready to place a bet on the U.S. gambling industry, with struggling casino icon Tropicana Entertainment LLC a potential target for Gerald Schwartz’s buyout firm.

Onex has top-end help in its hunt for a gambling deal, teaming up with Alex Yemenidjian, the former president of Kirk Kerkorian’s MGM Grand casino empire. The firm is employing the same strategy in another beat-up business, building products, where Onex has joined with Masonite International Corp. founder Philip Orsino to seek deals.

In gambling, the focus isn’t just on the neon and flash of the Las Vegas strip, where the Tropicana is a well-known name in lights, but in more out-of-the-way places. Onex made a bid for Gateway Casinos Income Fund, which runs gambling operations in Western Canada, but fell short in that 2007 takeover battle.

Onex eyes move into gambling

I wouldn’t exactly call Columbia Sussex a “casino icon,” but what do I know?

Onex is a private equity company:

We also pursue opportunities to create value by putting a portion of Onex’ substantial cash resources to work in additional asset classes that we believe will generate superior returns. Through Onex Real Estate Partners, our acquisition partnership with a team of highly experienced industry professionals, we are investing in high-quality commercial and multi-unit residential real estate. We may invest in other asset classes where we believe we can achieve appropriate returns and where the activities can lead to acquisition opportunities.

I wonder if the US/Canadian exchange rate would make this a good bet for Onex? At the very least, TropEnt owns some pretty valuable real estate on the Strip.

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Vegas to court Canadians?

June 12, 2007 12:38 pm

The LVCVA is looking to step up its work in Canada, hoping to lure more visitors from the Great White North to Vegas. From the LVRJ:

After 26 years as a Las Vegas visitor, Canadian James Dixon is familiar with Sin City’s hard-sell recruiting tactics. The 55-year-old Toronto-area resident gets monthly mailers from Las Vegas hotels and weekly sales pitches in his workplace e-mail, in addition to unsolicited offers for discounts and comps on the Strip.

“Before, we used to have to phone to see if we could get any comps,” said Dixon, whose visits have evolved from guy-weekend getaways in the early 1980s to family vacations today. “Now they send it to us.”

After today, Dixon and countless other Canadians may be getting even more pitches to visit Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is scheduled to vote on whether to approve a contract that would put Canadian marketing in the hands of a specialist with the goal of attracting even more visitors from Southern Nevada’s No. 1 foreign guest source.

The tourism agency wants to divert Canadians who take vacations in Mexico and the Caribbean to Las Vegas. It also wants to increase the number of Canadian business and convention events in Southern Nevada.

“There is potential for us to capture some of that business,” said Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of marketing at the authority.

An estimated 1.9 million Canadians visited Las Vegas last year. Even more skipped the United States altogether in favor of Mexican and Caribbean trips.

Last winter about 650,000 Canadians went to Mexico and 400,000 went to the Dominican Republic, according to the Conference Board of Canada, a nonprofit economic research firm. About 275,000 Canadians made winter trips to Las Vegas. The number is well behind other destinations but is a nearly 15 percent increase from the previous winter.

Building on the increase is part of the authority’s strategy to attract 43 million people to Las Vegas annually by the end of 2010. The authority also wants to increase the percentage of foreign visitors to 15 percent, up from 12 percent today.

Increasing the number and diversity of visitors is important because there will be nearly 40,000 new hotel rooms in Las Vegas by the end of the decade. Recruiting visitors is key to maintaining occupancy rates around 90 percent, no small feat considering there are already about 133,000 hotel rooms in Southern Nevada.

ReviewJournal.com – Business – How about visiting Vegas, eh?

Maybe a Canadian-themed casino is the missing element here. After all, casinos drape themselves in red and gold banners every Chinese New Year to appeal to Asian visitors. Why not a conscious move towards familiar Canadian icons in Vegas casino. Since I’ve only been to Canada a few times I can only speculate about how’d they do this, but bringing more hockey to town would be a great start.

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News alert: Canada radio

May 25, 2007 12:06 pm

I’m going to be on several Canadian radio stations–CBC affiliates I think–this afternoon, talking about a recent casino cheating case. These are the times (Pacific) and cities, with the names of the hosts, too.

12.50
HALIFAX
Carmen Klassen – Host

1.00
CALGARY
Jeff Collins – Host

1.10
TORONTO
Matt Galloway – Host

1.20
THUNDER BAY
Heather McLeod – Producer & Host

1.45
Yellowknife

2.00
WHITEHORSE
Russell Knutson – Host

2.20
WINDSOR
Barbara Peacock – Host

2.40
EDMONTON
Peter Brown – Host

2.50
WINNIPEG
Margaux Watt – Host

So if you’re up in Canada and want to spend 5 minutes listening to me talk about casino cheating, your wish might come true, depending on where you live.

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Sublibellous advertising

March 7, 2007 3:58 pm

There are lots of things the media can get away with, but some things it can’t. You can’t impugn a strip steak if you’ve eaten a steak sandwich, for one. And you can’t claim that subliminal messages in slot machines affect player behavior. At least that what Konami hopes. Here’s the press release:

An item which aired on CBC’s “The National” on February 26 is irresponsible, inaccurate and damaging, says slot machine manufacturer Konami Gaming. The company will pursue legal action. The report by journalist Dave Seglins claims that a few older Konami machines contain a “subliminal message,” implying that this may affect the behavior of the player but the story does not specify how, if at all, this could occur. Mr. Seglins was told in an interview with Konami C.O.O. Steve Sutherland that the machines in question are actually some of the lowest performing machines, based on house averages, within the Konami game library. “The performance of these machines directly disproves the CBC’s theory, but the reporter conveniently neglected to mention that in his piece,” says Sutherland. “The reporter did not ask for the data that shows these machines generate less revenue than comparable machines. Broadcasting a story based on controversial and vague theories, despite the facts which refute those theories, is irresponsible and impugns the integrity of an honest company.” In addition, the CBC reporter neglected to include that the psychologist he interviewed for the story, Philip Merikle, wrote in the Encyclopedia of Psychology that “there is no independent evidence indicating that embedded subliminal words, symbols or objects are used to sell products. Furthermore, even if such embedded subliminal stimuli were used, there is no evidence to suggest this would be an effective method for influencing the choices that consumers make.” The CBC story was also misleading by creating the impression that subliminal perception is a more powerful influencer. Merikle wrote in the same encyclopedia, “A common theme that links all extraordinary claims regarding subliminal perception is that perception in the absence of an awareness of perceiving is somehow more powerful or influential. This idea is not supported by the results of controlled laboratory investigations.” The CBC presented no evidence and no first-hand accounts to support any of its claims.

Slot machine maker Konami to pursue legal action against CBC report

As I said in my original post on the issue, I don’t think there’s any real consensus on whether subliminal advertising is effective or not.

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Sgt. Fritter’s Lonely Jackpot Banned?

February 28, 2007 8:37 am

Earlier this week, the CBC broke a disturbing story: three Konami video slots are briefly flashing winning combinations as players spin the virtual reels. Programming bug or subliminal ploy? You be the judge. From CBC:

Ontario’s provincial gambling operator has pulled 87 video slot machines out of service or physically removed them from its casinos after a CBC investigation found what appear to be subliminal messages flashing at players.

Ontario Lottery and Gaming, the recently rebranded Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., is concerned about three games on video slots made by a company called Konami. It shut them down as a precaution on Friday, and is looking into the issue.

The games flash winning jackpot symbols at players for a fifth of a second, long enough for the brain to detect even if the players are not aware of the message, some psychologists told CBC News.

It’s not clear if messages are influencing gambler’s behaviour. That would take further testing, experts said.

But players who stick to a machine are seeing a winning image every two seconds, the time it takes for one spin, and that concerns Roger Horbay, an electronic gaming specialist who has treated hundreds of problem gamblers.

“I think it’s part of them trying to make their games more attractive to the players to keep them at the game longer so their machines are more profitable,” he said.

However, Konami, the company behind the games, said the jackpot symbols are a technical problem that it is fixing.

OLG pulled 25 Billionaires, 37 Most Wanted and 25 Sergeant Fritter games from casino slot parlours at race tracks, as well as Casino Rama, Casino Niagara, and Fallsview Casino in Niagara. The province has a total of 1,373 Konami machines.

Ontario removes video slot machines flashing winning images

Not Sergeant Fritter! I don’t think I’ve seen that game before, but it seems to be a ripoff of “Cops and Donuts,’ or vice versa.

I don’t know how effective subliminal messages are. Cecil at The Straight Dope thinks they’ve been debunked, but according to his article it is still is illegal in Canada, for whatever that’s worth.

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Canadian gaming illegal?

July 13, 2005 9:05 am

Today, nearly every nation or state grants some sort of gambling franchise, usually in the name of revenue enhancement, i.e., cash. With the police cracking down on illegal rivals, these gambling monopolies are usually pretty lucrative for everyone involved. In Canada, though, the authors of a new report believe that Ontario’s state-sanctioned gaming industry may be illegal.
Continue Reading →

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VLT easter eggs

July 12, 2004 10:02 am

Everyone likes easter eggs, hidden features in video games, DVDs, etc. Usually they are not that impressive–you can unlock hidden commentary or an alternate costume in fighting games. But an article in Canada’s National Post says that video lottery terminals also have easter eggs that can be exploited:

As the middle-aged mother from Illinois plunked away at buttons on the electronic poker machine, something unusual happened. The machine, usually so adept at parting gamblers from their money, fell under the spell of the player.

The woman had manipulated the video lottery terminal at an Edmonton casino into letting her win on command, recalls Zues Yaghi, a computer programmer and gaming machine expert who watched the scene.

“She had been doing it for four years and had put her kids through university, was driving a Mercedes 500. She was all decked out,” Mr. Yaghi recalled.

“She thought she was the queen of the underground…. It’s so easy, so easy to run 10 grand from these machines.”

Mr. Yaghi says the woman was tapping into what he and some other experts call an “easter egg”: a line of digital code allegedly embedded on to the machine’s computer chip by rogue programmers, allowing informed players to cheat the games out of their booty.

Mr. Yaghi reported the problem to gaming authorities after discovering it himself. But four years later, rather than being hailed a hero, he is living a legal nightmare over the issue, facing a $10-million libel suit filed by the American maker of the machine on which he first found an easter egg.

Meanwhile, he and other experts allege that some compromised machines are still out there today, raising questions about the fairness of a diversion on which Canadians spend billions of dollars a year.

‘Easter egg’ cheats cracking casinos?

In the old days of mechanical slots, owners had to worry about mechanics or locksmiths making a duplicate key; today, they have to consider the possibility that programmers have inserted easter eggs.
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Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an opinion piece I wrote about Pennsylvania’s recent slot machine bill’s approval:

Forum: Greetings from Slotsylvania

Obviously, this bill marks a historic milestone, and I think that we’re going to be seeing much more gaming expansion in the next few years.

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