Addicted N.S. casino gambler blows $500,000; says no safeguards to stop him - Friday 12th of August 2005
In three years, Paul Burrell gambled away nearly $500,000 of his life-savings at Casino Nova Scotia.
Yet the former Cape Breton coal miner says he was never once approached by staff at the casino in Sydney, N.S., even though provincial law requires them to bar problem gamblers from the premises.
Day after day, week after week, between January 2000 and February 2003, he sat in front of the slot machines at the casino, where the staff let him keep on playing and losing, even though it was clear he was addicted.
He later lodged a complaint with the Nova Scotia Alcohol and Gaming Authority, the agency that enforces the casino regulations, but it was dismissed.
Burrells banking machine receipts show he gambled away a $200,000 workers compensation settlement, family savings of $80,000 and roughly $200,000 from his remortgaged house and personal loans.
"I was in a situation where this destroyed me," Burrell said in an interview. "I didnt like what I had become. I only started coming back into myself when I realized this wasnt all my fault."
With the help of his family doctor and the support of his wife, Burrell said he started to pull himself together last year.
In what he considers an ironic twist, Burrell says he was barred from the casino in February 2004, but only after he laid the complaint with the provincial government.
The casino failed in its duty to him, he says.
Burrell says his situation was no different than that of a alcoholic who gets loaded at a bar, slides behind the wheel of a car and kills somebody.
"Any business has a responsibility to protect its customers," he says. "It doesnt matter what business youre in. When someone is your customer, you have an obligation to protect that person from being hurt or damaged on your premise - or at your place of business."
Burrell has threatened to the sue the provincial government in a bid to force it to be more aggressive in spotting gambling addicts within casinos.
The gaming authority, provincial officials and the new owners of the casinos in Halifax and Sydney refused to comment on Burrells case, citing privacy concerns and the potential lawsuit.
But the authority insists there are safeguards in place to keep addicted gamblers out of the casinos.
The rule of thumb authority inspectors use to spot problem gamblers is: "If a person has been gambling for 24 hours," said Terry Kelly, a gaming authority spokesman.
Kelly confirmed there are few written guidelines for enforcing the law.
The provinces Environment and Labour Department, which oversees the gaming authority, also admitted inspectors and casino staff have little to guide them, other than the American Medical Association definition of a problem gambler.
However, the associations 10-point list for evaluating potential addicts is next to useless to anyone but the gambler because many of the questions are extremely personal in nature.
That means the province expects problem gamblers to identify themselves to casino staff.
"Given the self awareness required, it therefore makes sense the primary tool used by the casino to control problem gambling is the self-exclusion policy," said Bill Turpin, a spokesman for Environment and Labour.
"The regulations, as they stand, do not appear to require more."
Liberal gaming critic Danny Graham, who has been at the forefront of a movement to ban video lottery terminals outside of Nova Scotia casinos, said he was disturbed by the case.
"If Mr. Burrell lost half-a-million dollars, its obvious there was a serious breakdown in the kind of supervision casinos are obliged to take," he said.
"There is an act that requires that casinos to prevent problem gamblers from using their machines and playing on their tables, and if thats not happening then its matter of provincial concern."
A spokeswoman for the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp., which also oversees the casinos, said the agency is satisfied there are enough safeguards in place.
"From the point of view of the province, steps are taken to ensure social responsibility is a priority on the casino properties and staff are well trained to intervene," said Margaret McGee.
The Great Canadian Gaming Corp. purchased Nova Scotias two casinos a few months ago from Caesars Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas.
A spokesman for the B.C.-based company, Howard Blank, said Great Canadian will be introducing resource centres for problem gamblers at both casinos.
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