Archive for the Casino News category
February 26th, 2010
The annual Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards for 2010 were announced last Thursday.
In the Category ‘Casino/specialty venue of the year’, we have the following:
- CAESARS WINDSOR, WINDSOR
CASINO NOVA SCOTIA, NOVA SCOTIA
CASINO RAMA, ORILLIA
CASINO REGINA, REGINA
CLUB REGENT CASINO, WINNIPEG
DEERFOOT CASINO, CALGARY
NIAGARA FALLSVIEW CASINO, NIAGARA FALLS
RIVER CREE, EDMONTON
RIVER ROCK CASINO, RICHMOND
Let’s talk a bit more about Casino Regina.
Casino Regina is located in Regina (Canada). It is part of the historic Union Train Station. This building is considered as a National Heritage Site. It has very nice architecture and décor.
The casino itself is considered as being Saskatchewan’s finest casino and entertainment center. It is the top tourism destination in the whole province with over 2 millions visitors each year.
Visitor at the casino will be able to choose between over 780 slot machines. In Saskatchewan, provincial regulations require that any slot machines pay out at least 85%.
All those slot machines housed at Casino Regina have an average payout of over 92%.
So at Casino Regina, you will be able to choose between specialty machines, video keno, poker and multi-line games. Credits start at 1 cents up to 2 canadian dollars. Some machines accept multi-denomination as well.
Last year (2009), Casino Regina has paid out over 61 millions in slot jackpots.
Besides the slot machines, you will have access to nearly 40 table games like: Roulette, Craps, Caribbean Stud Poker, Texas Hold’em Bonus, Red Dog, Baccarat, Blackjack and more.
The Poker Room has a weekly poker tournament as well.
Like in many casinos, player do have access to a Player’s Club Card. This is a free card that will give you access to rewards, perks and Player privileges. For each 1000 points you’re getting on your card, you’ll receive 5 canadian dollars back.
Besides, this card enables you to:
- Discounts and specials at the restaurants,
- Promotional offers (via mail),
- Invitations to: VIP parties, tournaments, performances, player’s events, and more
The Regina Casino has several dining options:
- The Last Spike Restaurant: known for its relaxed atmosphere
- CR Express: for those looking for a quick lunch,
- CPR Lounge: the place to have drinks, alone or with friends,
- Whistle Stop Café: just if you need a coffee break
The casino has a Show Lounge with performances 2 to 4 times a week.
The Regina Casino is open seven days a week from 9 am in the morning to 4 am. There are several bus tour companies doing Casino trips to the casino, some even outside the province.
For those looking for a stay: there are several hotels with discounts for Casino’s players, as well as special packaged being offered.
The Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards for 2010 will be presented on March 11 in Toronto.
December 14th, 2009
The past day, the research and development team for Loto-Québec, Ingenio, announced a partnership with IntuiCode Gaming Corporation (IGC) of Florida to pursue the development and marketing of new casino products.
Also, both will engage in the creation and development of non-exclusive and new multi-player casino games.
With this partnership, IGC will take charge and distribute on a worldwide scale any new multi-player platform games developed and created by Ingenio.
“The combination of Ingenio’s creative expertise with all the flexibility offered by the open architecture of IGC’s platform will generate original games for the casino industry” explains Nathalie Rajotte, Director General of Ingenio.
Jeremy Stein, Chief Executive Officer of IGC adds: “Leveraging one another’s expertise will enable us to provide feature rich and engaging content; bringing new, profit yielding games to the market quickly.” IGC has over 30 years experience in the the casino technology industry.
We can expect the first multi-player casino game to come from that partnership to be released the first quarter on 2010.
Ingenio was created in 1998 and it focuses on the development of new gaming products, besides delivery channels for both the local, and international markets.
In the part years, Ingenio released several multimedia games used by Loto-Quebec. They are found in the gaming sector of lotteries, casinos, bingo operations and video terminals.
In the lottery area, Ingenio is known for developing multimedia instant lotteries of different durations. It did develop too Game Depot: it is a software architecture solution for multimedia lotteries hosting. Ingenio created many multi-platform lottery games, including random and probability lottery games.
In the casino area, Ingenio is known to create new contents for slot machines with interactive bonus modes. Examples done are: Hatch for the Cash, Groovy Machine, Dog Show, Cash Meteor and many more.
Ingenio is also active in the bingo industry. Working together with the Société des bingos du Québec (SBQ), Ingenio developed an original on line promotional game that was met with tremendous success in 2006. It was known as « Le Tour 2e Chance ». The game enables bingo hall players in possession of non-winning bingo card to participate free of charge in a second bingo draw for a change to win some promotional prizes on the SBQ’s web site.
Also, upon request from the Fondation Mise sur Toi, an organization affiliated with Loto-Québec and dedicated to the prevention of excessive gaming, Ingenio contributed to the development of an innovative sensitization tool.
Developed in collaboration with specialists, the 8/8 The Winning Combination questionnaire is made up of eight self-evaluation questions designed to help players maintain and adopt healthy gaming habits This multi-platform questionnaire is using Flash technology and is offered on the Internet and via consoles located in public areas of various casinos.
November 28th, 2009
This coming weekend, the Hillcrest Sports Center will host some of the top women’s curling teams in Saskatchewan for the Casino Moose Jaw Saskatchewan Women’s Curling Tour Cash Bonspiel.
Fourteen teams will play against each others for a total of CAD8,500$. The event will start Friday evening. The tournament will go on all the day on Saturday and the final will be at 3pm on Sunday.
The tournament favorite will be six-time former provincial champion Michell Englot of Regina besides Cindy Simmons. Former provincial senior champion and long time Moose Jaw curler Roberta Fonger will take to the ice with Regina’s Linda Kloschinsky.
The Casino Moose Jaw is located in the heart of Moose Jaw’s downtown, Saskatchewan. It has over 200 slot machines and many table games. All of them are surrounded by 20 very nice murals inspired by the art-deco look of the Roaring Twenties. Each mural is depicting a moment in Moose Jaw’s past.
The slot machines include traditional spinning reels, video keno and poker to sophisticated multi-line games. Players can choose to play from 1¢, 2¢, 5¢, 25¢ and $1 denominations as well as multi-denomination machines. In July 2008, Casino Moose Jaw paid out nearly $878,000 in slot jackpots.
Players will also find lots of game tables. Including blackjack, double zero roulette and three card poker.
The casino has for entertainment the The Mae Wilson Theater.
The upcoming promotion at the casino is starting November 30th. It is called Yuletide Treasures. Players have to swipe their Players Club Card every day at the Casino Guest Services Desk to be entered to win one of four amazing weekly gifts. It includes: an exotic cruise for two, an ultimate entertainment package, a home improvement package or even $10,000 cash.
Tourism packages for the casino are available and starts for as low as $99. It might include being able to relax at the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa (mineral thermal pools). Or visiting the Tunnels of Moose Jaw (historic live action tour). Or receiving a voucher for the casino.
Every bus tour going for the casino offers bus tours discounts, offers and mystery prizes, including:
* a “Pay and Play Double” coupon per day – purchase $15, $20 or $25 in slot or table play and receive an equal amount in free slot or table play;
* a $5 food and beverage coupon per day; and
* a buy one, get one free coupon for a Casino Moose Jaw-presented performance at the Mae Wilson Theater
There are bus operators leaving from all over Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. Cities like Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Medicine Hat, Winnipeg, Portage La Prairie have all operators going for the casino.
The casino is open 7 days a week. Sunday to Thursday from 9 am to 2 am and Friday to Saturday from 9 am to 3 am.
November 19th, 2009
Since a while, a project has been tossed up to power the Caesar Windsor casino. It was a dedicated energy plant. So far, it has cost taxpayers $81millions dollars. And we just learned it might be worth nothing ! According to a report. The initial price tag was to be 40 million dollars. The construction so far has gone well.
The plant was built by the OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation). They are the Ontario regulator for gambling and lotteries. They built the energy center in order to ensure sufficient power to the Caesars Windsor casino. The latest one having gone through a massive expansion over the last years.
Then on Nov. 21, 2008, a report from Cole Valuation Partners said that “under all scenarios, the [net present value] is well below the cost of the Energy Centre of more than $80 million.” While the report explicitly states it is not intended to be a final valuation of the project, it is billed as a “preliminary financial analysis.” It appraises the value of the facility under a number of scenarios based on differing returns from the sale of energy to the casino and to the provincial power grid.
It finds out that the energy center would fetch at most 21 millions dollars if sold in the private market. And in the worst case scenario: it would be worthless.
The Caesar Windsor casino is located in Windsor, Canada. It has lots of slots machines, including Monopoly-related ones !
The Poker Room is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is located on the second floor. There are 14 tables offering Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Seven Card Stud. Table limits vary, starting from $3 to $6 (CAD) up to unlimited amounts. This room offers a cashier cage and cocktail service.
Some features: World Series of Poker (25,000 dollars guaranteed pool), Ladies only poker tournament, and more.
Table slots include the : Canadian Club Salon . This luxurious venue offers opulent surroundings for Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Mini-Baccarat and Pai Gow Poker including a private redemption window. And the High Limit Slots : it includes more than 200 slot machines ranging from $2 to $100 (CAD) per play.
Gaming sports betting is allowed: sports included in Game Picks are American Professional Football, North American Professional Hockey, Pro Baseball, American college football and basketball.
The casino has hotel, dining places, pool, nightlife and shopping places !
So the OLG originally hired Buttcon Energy Inc. to design, build and operate the plant, but Buttcon filed a $355-million lawsuit in September against the OLG, alleging breach of contract, deceit and misrepresentation.
Buttcon has now stopped operation of the plant. The province has hired Angus Consulting Management Ltd. to operate it temporarily.
The government has said it is now searching for a permanent operator, and that contract will be open to competitive bids.
October 23rd, 2009
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.
October 9th, 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.
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.
September 20th, 2009
Upcoming this Saturday September 26th, the River Cree Marriot Resort and Casino will hold the Black and White Celebrity Poker Safari.
This tournament is sponsored by the Zebra center. This center is located in Edmonton, Canada. It is the first centre of its kind in Canada. It enables the community to respond to child abuse with a professional, compassionate and highly integrated program of healing and justice. The Zebra Centre brings together a multi-disciplinary community of professionals : Edmonton Police Service, Alberta Children’s Services, Crown Prosecutors, Child at Risk Response Teams, medical and trauma screening professionals and volunteer Child and Family Advocates. All of them into an environment that nurtures the hurt child and uses all the wisdom of its partnership to see that justice is done.
The tournament will begin at 3pm. The entry cost is 500 Canadian dollars per couples. Like said before, all the profits will go toward the Zebra Center. This includes an afternoon of playing cards with some local celebrities followed at 6pm by cocktails, comedy and the dinner at 7 pm for two.
The River Cree Casino is located in Edmonton, Canada. It has more than 35 game tables on the casino floor. One can find the Roulette, Blackjack, Craps, Baccarat plus many other exciting games.
Over 800 slot machines can be found in the casino with a variety of games.
The poker room has 12 tables offering a number of cash and tournament events. Besides the Black and White Celebrity Poker Safari, some of the events include:
- Monday Madness: Monday nights at 7:30 PM. Player Point Re-buy Tournament Conditional Unlimited $10 re-buys in the first hour and a $10 Add-On at the break.
- Edmonton Poker League: the EPL (Edmonton Poker League) is opened to anyone! On the third Sunday of the month, register for the league in the room on the day of the event and enjoy multi-table, NLTH action !
- Enoch Open Poker Classic – Every second Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM, this NLTH tournament features a $175 + $10 buy-in for 13500 chips. You also have the option of purchasing a $10 add-on from the organizers for another 1500 in chips. $20 of each buy-in goes towards a grand prize poker trip package. The Enoch Open also features a full re-buy-in if you’re knocked out in the first four rounds of action.
- Guaranteed Prize Pool Series VIII – Daily cash tournaments to qualify for the Series Final on September 27, 2009. Earn points through tournament series play, and sign up with the Houseman to earn points for cash play time. The final will feature 40 minute rounds and as many chips as you can qualify for through the series. The Guaranteed prize pool is $30,000 again. Now the winners of the finals are going to be playing for a trip to the WSOP Main Event.
The casino has a lot more to offer: hotel, restaurants, nightlife !
Be sure to take part in one of those events !
September 13th, 2009
Since BC Premier Campbell embarked on the biggest, most aggressive gambling expansion program ever seen in Canada with the changes made to gambling in British Columbia in 1997, gambling in the whole province have been stacked up.
First, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation is going more aggressive than ever. Starting this month, every adults in British Columbia can deposit into their personal E-gambling accounts, managed by the province, the sum of $9,999 every week. Visa and MasterCard accepted. Until this month, registered players were allowed weekly account transfers of only 120 Canadian dollars.
A gambler in British Columbia can now build up to $520,000 in his or her government-controlled account in one year and will soon be able to wager the entire sum on one virtual poker hand, one virtual spin of the wheel. No other jurisdiction in Canada or in the whole United States offers online casino-style games.
In Canada, only the Atlantic provinces offer online sports betting and lottery draws, along with British Columbia. Officially, no other provinces are contemplating the introduction of Internet gambling so far.
Besides offering internet betting, soon the BCLC (British Columbia Lottery Corporation) will offer casino-style betting on games such as blackjack, roulette and poker, designed for computers and portable devices (Ipod, Iphone, cellphones, and more).
Last month, Mr. Graydon from BCLC noted in a newspaper opinion that “Gaming online is growing at a rate of 20% a year. Globally, the industry is worth a staggering $12-billion a year. Simply put, if British Columbians wish to gamble online, we’d like them to do it as customers of BCLC.”.
Seen as a good thing from gamblers, others noted that problems will but arise. In a study released earlier this year (Internet Gambling: Prevalence, Patterns, Problems, and Policy Options), one can find: “The prevalence of problem gambling is three to four times higher in Internet gamblers compared to non-Internet gamblers,” reads the report. “Having problems with gambling is one of the features that best predicts someone is an Internet gambler.”
The report also notes “a significant proportion of online gambling revenue comes from problem gamblers (41.3% in Canada, 27% internationally).” Canadian Internet gamblers have “relatively high, past month rates of substance abuse (23.3% for illicit drugs).” Use of illicit drugs “is statistically associated with Internet gambling,” the report notes.
Though the BCLS is doing reasonable steps to help problems gamblers. Should a gambler in British Columbia find himself losing control, betting beyond his means, having suicidal thoughts, counselling is available. The government provides this help through its gaming policy and enforcement branch.
The whole province is booming with gambling: 17 full services casinos and 10 196 slots machines.
The province is getting since 2001 a yearly increase in gambling revenue of 50 millions Canadian dollars (308 millions in 2001/2002 for 658 millions in 2008/2009). Internet revenue gambling were 0 dollars in 2001/2002 and are now up to 23.5 millions for 2008/2009. The province is expecting around 34 millions for the 2009/2010 fiscal year.
September 7th, 2009
Bodog is finally opening a Canadian website (www.bodog.ca) for their Canadian, and others, customers. The Bodog brand is one of the leading brands for US players and soon to be Canadians featuring an online casino, poker room, sportsbook and race book.
Founded in 1994, Bodog has its head office, and is licensed in, the Caribbean nation of Antigua.
For Canadians, they will need to go to Bodog Canada (visit Bodog.ca) to open an account. The Bodog.com main website will not accept Canadian-based players. The payment methods available for Bodog Canadian players will include credit cards and UsemyBank (www.usemybank.com). Both of which are extremely easy to use. The minimum deposit for Canadian Bodog players is set at $20 Canadian.
The Bodog Poker room uses proprietary software created exclusively for Bodog Poker and is known for their incredibly sick overlays while the casino is powered by Real Time Gaming and features 80 different slot machines along with side games.
One of the most recognized entertainment brands on Earth, a host of world-class entertainment services operate and have operated worldwide under the Bodog banner, including online gaming, which continues to grow at an impressive rate; an international record label; a publishing enterprise (with an online magazine, Bodog Nation, and blog, Bodog Beat); and an international television production company (Bodog TV), which has produced reality television series such as Bodog Fight and Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker.
Bodog offers its players a simple, feature-rich sports betting product, offering a vast selection of sports betting opportunities across all major leagues, tournaments and events around the world.
Bodog’s exciting and fast-growing multi-player online poker community features Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo and 5-Card Stud.
Bodog has several branches covering the international market, the European one, the Chinese one besides the Canadian one with Bodog.ca .
Bodog does not offer online gaming services within the United States of America. Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG), located in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake and led by Olympic gold medalist and First Nations leader Alwyn Morris, is the exclusive licensee of the Bodog brand for online gaming services in that jurisdiction.
BodogBrand.com, created in 2005, is an entirely new model of venture partner: one that takes the vast, contained energy of a globally-recognized brand from one sector, couples it with deep branding expertise and financial depth, and unleashes it to propel new ventures to prominence in complementary industries. A model that respects the entrepreneur and understands that “ventures synergies” is not some marketing buzzword, but has the potential to be the foundation of an entirely new way of doing business.
BodogBrand.com holds the global rights to license the Bodog brand across all sectors and its mandate is to partner with carefully-selected licensees to license the brand to accelerate partner growth, while extending the BodogBrand.com into new and vibrant markets.
So fellow Canadian players, be sure to check the Bodog.ca website !
