Ontario Casinos Must Assume Responsibility For Problem Gamblers

The Canadian government spends more than $35 million a year on problem gambling prevention, treatment and research. Most of that money comes from profits from slot machines across the country. Today a conclusion from one of the comprehensive studies, funded by that money, found that the Ontario government and its ten full casinos, along with its seventeen racetracks which house slot machine rooms, have a legal responsibility to gambling addicts.

The study released by the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre said that casinos have a responsibility to the gamblers who frequent them, the same way bar owners have a responsibility to their patrons.

The report revealed that the gambling halls and casinos gather a great deal of information about their gamblers. They have players cards which are put into slot machines each time a player plays and the casino keeps track of the amount of money the player spends, loses, wins and plays. The report also revealed that casinos track high roller gamblers, players who gamble amounts higher $2,500. The casinos track all this information as a way to comp the player, or reward the player for the more time spent playing with them. The report concludes that if the casino can track all such information, then they should be able to know whether a person has a problem with gambling.

There is also a voluntary program in Canada which aids requests by patrons to be banned from gambling establishments. This is similar to a gambling prevention proposal in Pennsylvania which would share the voluntary information with casinos across the state.

The Canadian report does not examine in detail whether courts would also likely find the government liable for gambling addicts' financial losses. Courts have been very careful about ordering damages for purely financial losses that don't involve physical or psychological harm because of fear they could open the floodgates of liability. The report says that it is up to a court case to set a precedent in this area.

November 17, 2006
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!

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