Chips are for dips...Not for casinos!

Rant 3: October 21, 2009

We walk into casinos and we exchange paper for plastic (money for chips). When is enough enough? When does the brain convince the rest of your body that it's time to go home?
Like the stock market, if people actually saw real dollar bills being lost, not paper, it would hit them on the head quicker about what they were doing. When casinos first opened, paper money was used to gamble and people went absolutely ballistic when they would lose the money they just took out of their pocket. Using chips to gamble at a casino or holding lottery tickets instead of money, takes away from what gamblers are really doing; LOSING THEIR MONEY!
One of the simplest and most effective ways of not going into gambling debt is oh so simple; like your speed on a highway, set limits. If you stick to the aforementioned theory, you can't get into trouble. When we start coming up with excuses such as 'a few more minutes', 'a few more dollars', 'a few more spins', 'a few more shoes'...the trouble is on its way. Make a limit, and stay within it. As an idea, as we have designated drivers, we should somehow appoint somebody to enforce the limiting rules you and your gambling colleagues have set forth.

Gambling...it's a killer...

Rant 2: October 21, 2009

Unbelievable! Only in Quebec can you lose thousands of dollars at the casino, take a bus to a subway station, then jump in front of the oncoming subway, and our dear friends at Lotto Quebec don't consider that a gambling-related suicide. But if you hang yourself on the coat hook on the inside of the bathroom casino door, they do consider that a gambling-related suicide, hence the government numbers issued on gambling-related suicide are not remotely close to the truth. Far too many Quebecers take their own life as the ultimate loss. Far too many Quebecers take their own life as a result of gambling. Gambling causes suicide at unacceptable rates! It is killing people daily, weekly, monthly...young people, old people, everybody! Everyone must be educated before they spend money on gambling. Like a drug, gambling brings out the worst in people, and sometimes, the ultimate...suicide.

Con artists find a new home!

Rant 1: October 21, 2009

Gambling brings out the worst in people! It brings con artists to the forefront! September 2009, there was an online classified ad claimant who swears he has a system to beat the casino at a few of its own games...and he’s only asking for 20 thousand in cash and a partner! (I thought Madoff was already behind bars having dinner with Earl Jones!) If you want to beat the casino at its own game...go for dinner and a movie instead.

Denial - It's not just a river in Egypt!

The Winning Hand: West End Times Article - October 17, 2009

No American citizen ever admits to having voted for Richard M. Nixon as Prez in the 70's. But he won!

No Canadian citizen ever admits to having voted for Brian Mulroney as our P.M. in the Mid 80's. But he won!

No Québécois ever admits (rarely) to buying lottery tickets or going to 1 of our 4 provincially run casinos. But they do!

Can someone, anyone, please explain, though, why Lotto Quebec does such a bang up business, and that the Powers That Be at the head office on Sherbrooke Street, here in Montreal, feel the market is almost saturated with ‘players’, A.K.A. "losers"...YES...LOSERS...that they (us) now have a vested interest in the lottery business in France?

Yup, Mais Oui...We now have a stake in the French country as operators of their country’s casino business, because we are so good at emptying peoples’ pockets...better than Oliver, of movie fame with the same name. We are better marketers of the casino trade than snow removal experts with 100's of years of experience, and better hucksters plying the trade of ALL casino and lottery games, than we are at pothole fixing.

Give me a break!

756,983,000 gazillion dollars...it’s not enough?

756,984,000 gazillion dollars...now THAT'S A BUSINESS!?

Give me another break!

Imagine our province being the innovators and leaders in the scientific world or the pharmaceutical world? A province for making a world class car beyond efficient on gas. Quebec, known for building indoor covered stadiums that cost a reasonable amount (you know, something under a billion or so...) is a land rich in resources, and poor in savings; a land proud of poutine, but poor in social services; a land that has its language police in order, but its police department, out of order; a city where a sign for selling coffee must have French words EXACTLY double-double the size of the same words in English...but has casinos well signed in both languages... BECAUSE IT’S BUSINESS. The English have money, so let them lose it in either language...MON DIEU...!

This place we call Quebec is full of overzealous people who will rip, rape, zip, take and pull out as much CA$H from its citizens’ pockets, as humanly (inhumanly) possible.

Gamble. But gamble less. Slowly. Use your head. We give these thieves in Quebec, Quebec enough of our money. Don't hand it to them on a silver platter, for God’s sake!

And please stop denying you go to the casino or buy Lotto tickets...because SOMEONE is...almost 6 billion dollars a year worth!

Man, that's 24 billion quarters...almost enough quarters to park downtown for a couple of hours!
De-nile...And so the river flows...with our money...

Gambling in your PJ's...’cause you're gonna lose your pants anyway!

The Winning Hand: West End Times Article - October 10, 2009

It’s another blustery, wintery, Canadian January, early in the morning. 3:00 AM early! You just can’t sleep, especially after the guy on the radio says "to expect a HIGH of -23°C later in the day. AAAHHH!
What would Air Transit charge to land a plane on my street, pick me up, and take me off to Cuba? Alright, a guy’s allowed to dream, huh?

How about this one; Grabbing your wallet, running downstairs to the basement, closing the door behind you and booting up the ol’ family computer.

Why such excitement? Why the sudden rush??

Because in seconds you’ll be in a virtual casino...while still wearing your PJ’s!

Welcome to INTERNET GAMBLING!

No I.D. is required. There are no line-ups or smelly guys sitting near you. Having a credit card is mandatory and having a secret password is too, which will open the door to one of 1000's of online casinos; a process which only takes a minute or 2 to set up and become a member, if you aren’t already a member of 1, 2 or 10.

The terms internet gambling and online gaming are one and the same.

It is just another avenue to gamble and LOSE hard earned money.

As online shopping was to the retail business, online gambling is to the casino business.
It is just another way to suck your money out of your pockets; another way to make it easier NOT to stay away from gambling. Again, another brilliant idea from the boys over in the marketing department.

The American and Canadian governments have tried their damndest to put stopgaps and laws in place to have online gaming tagged as illegal, but even if so, the majority of online gaming houses reroute their sites offshore (which now makes it legal) and then directs right back to both Canada and The States. Talk about a loophole, huh?

As recent as early September of this year, A U.S. Court Appeals court upheld a federal ban on Internet gambling, but the ruling has allowed each state to at least, for now, have more say on the matter. The bottom-line is that another form of gambling is here to stay.

The United Kingdom has recently claimed their gambling addiction cases have approximately doubled the last year, citing online gambling as the main culprit. Australian authorities have claimed similar numbers. South Africa claims to have a massive increase in their compulsive/pathological gambling cases as well, directly as a result of the online gaming industry.

One of the worries that gambling counsellors, therapists or other professionals in the gaming world have about Internet gambling is that you CANNOT use cold hard cash when betting, thus forcing the player to use credit cards that may often be ‘maxed out’, or to use the account (should there be plus balances) in the said Internet casino, and always knowing that you can play and bet and play and bet...’til your card is dry, and your back is wet!

At least, if you’re trying to quit smoking or drinking and you have no cigarettes or booze at home, you cannot smoke or drink virtual drugs.

Internet gambling...what’s next?

Gambling...It’s Not Always Fun

The Winning Hand: West End Times Article - October 10, 2009

Picture the setting: It’s Friday mid-morning, you just hung up with your sweetie from work, and you’re planning the beginning of your weekend. You’ll be meeting another couple for dinner, and then, with or without your better half, you’re planning a 10:00 PM arrival at the Casino de Montréal. You were in a great mood all day...it’s Friday! All the troubles of the week will soon be gone, and the anxiety, or rather, the anticipation, of an evening at the casino warms the cockles of your heart.

Fast forward 10 hours as you slowly pull up to the Castle of Greed; The Building of Bouillon; The Mecca of Money; or, as realists like to call it, a Place to Piss Away Your Money, A.K.A. The Montreal Casino. There are more smiley faces in the valet area than at the Woodstock concert; More happy faces than at a Wal-Mart head office meeting. Soon, the miles and miles of smiles begin to sour.

Eventually, an hour or 2 into your evening, your hopes, dreams and wishes of a lovely weekend have already turned to dust as you somehow have managed to again prepay your provincial tax by losing at the casino. The first chapter of your weekend has already put you in a bad mood and we haven’t even hit Saturday! Look at the body language and smiles of those getting out of their cars about to walk in for the evening, and then look at those in line waiting for their cars to be brought back to them by the car jockeys. It is simple: Smiles get out of the car, whilst frowns and crappy moods are going home.

Do you ever wonder why there are 3000 slot machines that take your money? Do you ever wonder why there are 90 Black Jack dealers, Baccarat dealers, PaiGow Poker dealers and Roulette Spinners, but only 5 cashiers? Do you think something is lopsided? It is obvious that Lotto Quebec takes in far more money than it gives out. It is such an easy premise to understand and such a hard premise to figure out why we don’t understand it. The worst that could happen at a movie is that you’ve wasted 30 bucks on 2 tickets and popcorn. The worst that could happen at a restaurant is that you’ve wasted 100 dollars and you won’t be recommending it to your neighbours. Numbers show (Quebec government statistics) that 80% of those that go to the casino or who are lottery ticket buyers are the same people. They go day after day, week after week and month after month. Why then, do people partake in something that is so self destructive?

The activity of gambling be it in lottery form or going to the casino is considered by the government to be entertainment. This is a misnomer. If the above statement is true, here are some questions: If you go see a movie that you don’t like, was it entertainment? If you go to a new restaurant and you didn’t necessarily enjoy the food, did you still have a nice evening? And more specifically, if you have gone to the casino and lost money, did you have a nice night? Now, seeing as how far more people lose than win, does that mean far more people leave the building unhappy versus happy? And if so, why is gambling entertainment?

Gambling, it’s not always fun.

Responsible Gambling; Can it be done

The Winning Hand: West End Times Article - September 26, 2009

Peanut butter spreads.

The HIV virus spreads.

A bed spreads.

The swine flu epidemic spreads.

Gambling problems and all that comes with it is spreading too, at an alarming rate.

Weeks and weeks of cynical articles, this columnist has written, but this week we have something different.

I read the numbers. I read the stories. I hear the torture gamblers and their families are living and I am sick to my stomach and beyond upset. There are people out there that are living double-lives, horrible lives, and in some instances, lives that people are thinking about ending.

Though gambling IS SUPPOSED to be a fun-filled activity, often, too often, it gets out of hand, and disaster takes over; thoughts of suicide, heavy financial burdens to many (banks, lines of credits, credit cards, family and friends, loan sharks, etc.) It all becomes completely and utterly overwhelming. The gambler is swimming with worries that are spiralling out of control with no game plan to get back on course.

The word pathological simply means the act of doing something knowing full well it has its consequences and is not good for you, but you cannot stop. You just cannot stop.

Education. Education. Education.

It’s more than arithmetic, English and history.

As I have stated many a time before, the world of gambling and casinos are not going anywhere soon, so, we, as a society and a community, must learn to deal with all that comes with gambling; the good, the bad and the ugly. And so much UGLY there is.

This is where my frustration comes in. This is when I start wondering who is in denial? Who really are the bad folks? Who is really behind this big machine here in Quebec at Loto Québec?

Why don't our schools teach kids about THE REAL world they are living in?

Teach them about manners, about how to live on your own, about how to properly take care of finances for a teenager or young adolescent, to learn how to pay bills, about how gambling can get you into a pile of trouble, about what owing money on credit cards means. These topics ARE important. Yes, it’s great to learn about Montcalm and Wolfe. It is wonderful to know who won The Battle of Hastings. It is delightful to know what year Beethoven wrote his 5th symphony. But really, what about learning how and when and why to open the car door for someone or give up your seat on a bus for the elderly. How to spend your $900 a month you take home as a student and spend the money wisely, learning that rent and money for food comes first, not money for the "Texas Hold `em" game at a friends house Friday night.

Planet earth in the year 2009 IS a wonderful place to live, but we have much to learn. We haven't kept up with the rules, as the game of life is forever changing.

Let`s teach Quebecers HOW to gamble, WHY to gamble, WHEN to gamble and all that comes with it. Putting a 2 inch by 2 inch sticker on a machine with a phone number to call if you are feeling bad just doesn't cut it. Good for the sticker manufacturer, but useless in the real world. That's like calling Air Canada to complain about the flight as the plane is going down!

Gambling. The random act of doing something without any control of the outcome. Sort of like getting married, predicting the weather or guessing what comes out of George W. Bushes mouth. It`s gambling, no matter how you look at it.