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.
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
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.
October 5th, 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.
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 !
August 13th, 2009
A study by Statistics Canada, released on July 22nd, shows that Manitobans are the most avid gamblers in Canada.
The same study by Statistics Canada says gambling revenues in 2008 dropped for the first time in 16 years. Canadians were putting less money into lottery
tickets, horse racing and video lottery terminals as a whole. But the Canadian drop in gambling revenue is pretty benign because the relatively small losses are offset by gains elsewhere. While lotteries might be losing popularity, casinos are drawing more people in.
56% of all Manitoban households are involved, a way or another, in gambling activities like casinos, VLTs, bingos, lotteries and others. In whole Canada, Manitoba has the highest percentage though most other provinces are not far behind.
The same study shows that Manitoba has the highest percentage of people, 25%, playing VTLs, slot machines and similar casino games. The StatsCan study shows that the Manitoba government trails only Saskatchewan and Alberta in per capita gambling profit.
It is important to consider the report does not take into account First Nations Casinos and charitable revenues. Those amount can be huge in some provinces.
The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba reported those numbers coincide with those of gambling addicts in the province.
A study done by the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba in 2006 but only released summer 2008 shows that Manitoba’s rate of problem gambling ( around 1.4% of the general adult population) is slightly higher than the Canadian average. The AFM is treating about 500 people every year besides handling over 3000 call to its help line.
The report, from Statistics Canada, shows that the Manitoba provincial government got $645 million in gambling revenues in 2008. That amount is the one compiled once prizes and winnings have been deducted. $358 million from that money profited to the government, once operating costs were deducted. It includes non-gambling casino revenue like concerts and restaurants.
Gambling generated $13.6 billion in revenue for governments across Canada in 2008.
Saskatchewan brought in the highest gambling revenue per person ($825) followed by Alberta and Manitoba.
Gambling was still going strong in prosperous provinces such as Saskatchewan.
Gaming in Manitoba has held steady despite the recession. The Manitoba Lotteries Corp., said half the province’s residents bought a lottery ticket in the last month. While almost one-third have been to a casino in the last year.
The Manitoba Lotteries annual report shows the province’s gaming revenue goes generally into spending like health care and education. A smaller portion is used for municipal grants, economic development and the Winnipeg Police Service.
The same study from Statistics Canada shows that older, single men and women were most likely to engage in at least one form of gambling.
Some 50% of women living alone and between the ages of 45 and 64 said they gambled. While 54% of single men in the same age group admitted to buying lottery tickets, playing the slots or going to bingo.
This very interesting study is available on Statistics Canada website.
July 17th, 2009
The Chronicle Herald from Halifax, Canada is running a daily contest where participants can win a 1-night trip to the local Casino Nova Scotia.
Casino Nova Scotia has over 600 slots and table games, ranging from Blackjack to Baccarat and from Slots to Poker. All the table games, except Roulette, are played with what are called ‘Value Chips’. Those chips can be purchased from the dealer at any table. The player simply put his money on the non-betting area of any table and when asked, the dealer will give the appropriate amount in chips. Those chips can be used at any table in the Casino Nova Scotia.
For the roulette, Value Chips can be used or at each roulette table, multi-colored chips can be purchased and they are only usable at the given table. When leaving, they must be exchanged for Value Chips.
The Casino Nova Scotia offers a very nice poker room featuring 8 tables with Texas Hold’em.
There are a couple of restaurants available on the facility, including the Paradise Buffet. Asian, Mexican and Carribean buffets are offered on different week days and during the night.
On site entertainments include at least two main show rooms with special events and of course, nightly ones. Purchasing tickets in advance is the way to go. One of the show room, the Harbourfront, has daily shows past 9pm each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
There is a Premiere Club where premium guests can receive complimentary services based on their level of play. Rewards may vary depending on the type of gaming being engaged.
The casino opens from Monday to Wednesday from 10 am to 4 am and from Thursday at 10 am up to Monday 4 am. During that latest period, the casino is open 24 hours.
The contest held by the Chronicle Herald will last until July 31st 2009. Each day any person above 19 years old will have a chance to enter an on line entry by going to the Chronicle Herald website. By the deadline a winner for the month will be selected. The prize comprises a 1-night trip package to the Casino Nova Scotia.
Each 1-night trip package includes the following:
- Traditional guest room
- Casino Nova Scotia Coupons: Million Dollar Slot Pull Coupon, $5 Table Games Coupon, $5 Slot Money, $7 in Paradise Buffet Bucks
- Free parking at the casino and hotel
- Possibility to choose from one of ten hotels in downtown Halifax or Oak Island Resort in the nearby Western Shore
The contest has been running since the month of May and we can expect to see it again for the month of August. It costs nothing, but time, to enter the daily ballots and if you happen to be a winner, you will earn a great night at the Casino Nova Scotia !
