You read it in the news and here it is: the Newton Square Bingo Country Hall will get a 25 millions grant to expand its facilities.
Following a late night Monday hearing, the City of Surrey (British Colombia, Canada) approved the redevelopment. The grant will allows the Bingo’s premises to bring it around 150 new slot machines.
The Newton Bingo Hall is operated by Boardwalk Gaming Center. This game operator is the leader in Canada for Bingos. It owns and operated 14 bingo gaming facilities all over Canada. Four of them are located in British Colombia.
In 2008, this Bingo operator received more than 3 million guests in its facilities all over the country. Besides, in 2007, Boardwalk paid out over 50 millions dollars in various prize money. It also helped some local charitable organizations with over 20 millions.
So the Monday night hearing was controversial for 2 things:
first, more than 300 people showed up. Many was there to oppose the plan because of various negative effects such an establishment will have on the neighborhood.
Then, there were the supporters. They were a lot more than the opponents ! Lots of them were representing charities groups depending on the annual 4.5 millions of dollars generated by the Bingo Country Hall each year. Also they were people representing service clubs and sports groups.
It was reported 274 organizations in Surrey – including Parent Advisory Councils, Scouts clubs, sports leagues, food banks and community hall associations – rely on revenues from gaming.
The owners said they lost over 30% of gaming revenues over the last years and needed that expansion to keep profits coming in. Boardwalk, the owners, wants to renovate the existing bingo hall and turn it into a mini-casino. It will be a facility that retains bingo as its marquee game and adds a variety of additional entertainment options including slot machines. It will include food and beverage facilities and live entertainment.
So at the end of the hearing, the mayor agreed with the supporters and the city approved the redevelopment by a vote of 5 to 4.
Let us quote the mayor, Diane Watts, : “I wish there was another way that we could fund these charities without using gaming revenue. However … there is no other choice, and I could just not turn my back on all those charities,”
Or like a counselor told a local newspaper: “he had been wavering” on slots, but decided help for needy charities outweighed the negatives. ”
Construction for the expanded facility will begin early 2010.
Last thing: two others gaming facilities are waiting Surrey approval.
The first one would be a 80-storey development valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars located near the King George SkyTrain Station while the second one would be a convention center, an hotel and a casino.

Posted by George in Casino News | No Comments » October 23rd, 2009

Sometimes ago, we all heard about the UltimateBet Scandal. Finally, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) issued an 11-page report documenting the findings of their extensive investigation into the cheating that took place on the on line poker room UltimateBet.

The report found out what many people already believed to be true and also offered some new information about how many people and screen names were involved in the scandal and how much money was stolen from UltimateBet customers.

UltimateBet has been around since 1999. Recently they merged with Absolute Poker to form the Cereus Network. All new graphics, bigger tournaments, better cash game table selection, and improved security has players coming back to UltimateBet to check out this overhauled poker room.

Their famous 111% deposit bonus is still part of their room.

So what happened with the scandal ?

Mostly, many people found out through the end of 2007 and the first part of 2008, players had noticed certain user names winning improbable hands to the point of several statistical deviations. The cheating ran from June 2003 until December 2007 and involved 3 accounts and 117 different user names used both for playing poker with illicit hole card information and transferring money.

Keeping track of hands that seemed suspicious eventually led to the exposure of a software glitch that allowed certain players the ability to see all cards dealt at a table.

The owner of the Ultimate Bet site, Tokowiro Enterprises, was fined $1.5 million, as well as forced to pay restitution of over $22 million to players whose poker outcomes were determined to be involved in compromised hands.

The report pointed out the individual who ultimately bears responsibility for that cheating is 1994 WSOP Main Event winner Russ Hamilton. The available evidence shows that Russell Hamilton, an individual previously associated with the eWorid Holdings Group, was primarily responsible for and benefited from the multiple cheating incidences. The vast majority of the computer devices and IP addresses used by the cheating accounts were directly associated with Russell Hamilton. The vast majority of the cheating accounts transferred money through Russell Hamiltons player accounts.

They, Tokwiro Enterprises, has reportedly refunded the $22 million cheated from players, and Paul Leggett, the Chief Operating Officer, stated, ‘A lot of our players have been patiently awaiting the release of the full list of user names involved in the cheating incidences, and we can now answer any of their outstanding inquiries related to their refunds’.

A lot of the frustration amongst others players is directed at Kahnawake’s refusal to submit the other 31 names involved in the scandal, and why if Russ Hamilton can be named and shamed, the others can’t.

Although not publicly disclosed, the KGC says it has provided extensive information to law enforcement authorities, including the names of those 31 individuals who were associated, to varying degrees, with Russell Hamilton, the cheating accounts and/or transactions related to the cheating accounts.

Posted by George in Casino News | No Comments » October 9th, 2009

Since a while, many operators have been targeting specific people and offering them rides (bus tours) to some local casino.

The concept is not new of course. Be it for gambling or simply going to some local attraction, lots of bus operators are being hired to promote such tours.

For senior people, finding a ride to play to some casino is not always easy. So the idea kicked in to offer them discounted tour.

Example: some tours are offered going from Ontario to the Casino du Lac-Rhemy.

This casino is located near Ottawa but on the Quebec side. It includes poker, keno, slot machines, game tables, It is deserved by at least five restaurants and three bars.

Daily and entertaining shows and events are part of the complex. There is a Hilton hotel for nearby accomodation.

So seniors people can get a round-trip with up to 5 hours of gambling for only 15 Canadian dollars.

Once at the casino, the usual steps are taken: people are greeted by Casino staff and theirs player’s cards are swipped. Such cards are tracking the spending of players.

Such trips are very common throughout all Canada and one can count 100 of them daily. They are on their peak when casinos are going slower.

The Quebec government pays some of the highest bus subsidies of any province : more than $3.2-million over the past two fiscal years to transport patrons to its casinos.

Although such bus tours were long thought to be benign ( retirement homes routinely shuttle residents to casinos or others attractions as part of their entertainment ) researchers now question whether these trips potentially set seniors up for future gambling problems.

Another example is the one for the Casino of Charlevoix (very nice casino located remotely from the city). At first, tours were at 200 trips a year and now one can count over 3400 trips a year.

Casinos are using player’s card to offer better tours, accomodations and similar stuffs to some groups. A group spending more money than another will be offered more consideration in order for that group to come back.

Others trips, from Ontario, are going to the Montreal casino. The trip costs only 40 Canadian dollars (round-trip) including a 10 dollars meal voucher and a 10 dollars coupon for the slots.

Most people agree that seniors going to Casinos are doing it out of boredom. People at the casinos are kind, greeting the seniors and taking care of them…. the whole time they are playing at the resort.

At the end of the day, few will come back with some earnings though some will board another ride some days later. Those buses being usually full at the end of the month when the social security cheque arrives.

Posted by George in Casino News | No Comments » October 9th, 2009

We all know that gambling means lots of money for the government. While for problems gamblers, it means losing, health and work and family problems.

In its defense against a gambler, who recently sued the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation after losing almost $500,000 Canadian dollars, the corporation holds that casino gambling is a form of entertainment and that patrons pay for casino “entertainment” through wagering “just as theater patrons pay for a ticket to a play or sports fans pay for a ticket to a game.”

A research from Statistics Canada shows that net revenue from Canadian government-run lotteries, video lottery terminals, casinos and slot machines (not in casinos) rose steadily from $2.73 billion in 1992, to $13.67 billion in 2008.

It means the average gambling revenue per person 18 years old and over in 2008, were from $114 in the three territories to $825 in Saskatchewan, with a Canadian average of $528.20.

Ontario Lottery and the Gaming Corp. stats show that the revenue generated from legalized gambling in Ontario alone was $6.4 billion in the 2008-2009 fiscal year, compared to $6.2 billion during for 2007-2008.

Big gamblers are losing more than $1-million a year apiece and others are dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars at some Canadian casinos, according to documents that reveal for the first time the magnitude of gamblers’ betting habits.

Documents obtained under Freedom of Information legislation show the top gamblers in British Columbia and Ontario are losing as much as $1.8-million and $701,000, respectively, while many others are blowing sums in the low six figures. Loto-Québec refused to provide similar data, saying it constitutes commercial information that is competitively sensitive, and that even unnamed players could possibly be identified.

Research has established that about one-third of government gambling revenue comes from problem gamblers. Data found on player’s cards is not used to help potential problem gamblers, but often to reward them – and to keep them coming back for more. Player’s cards resemble hotel keys and are inserted into slot machines or handed over to dealers by the gamblers themselves to collect various rewards (like free hotel rooms, dinner, merchandise, cash back and so on).

Here are some points to consider whether you have gambling problems or not:

* Constantly thinking or talking about gambling.
* Spending more time or money on gambling than you can afford.
* Finding it difficult to control, stop, or even cut down gambling.
* Gambling more in order to win back losses or getting out of financial trouble.
* Thinking that your gambling will get under control as soon you have a “big” win.
* Borrowing money, selling things, or committing criminal acts in order to get money for gambling.
* Gambling until all of your money is gone.
* Gambling to escape personal problems or to relieve feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, or other negative emotions.
* Having arguments with friends or family about money and gambling.
* Gambling instead of attend family or other social functions.
* Neglecting work or school because of gambling.

Posted by George in Casino Tips & Strategies, Poker | No Comments » October 5th, 2009