People love the Nanny State. Love, love, love it. Can’t get enough of it, really.
So when they don’t get enough of it, they hire lawyers and go for the carotid. A group of ‘problem gamblers’ is suing the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for $3.5 billion ($3.5 billion!) letting them into casinos when they specifically asked to be barred. Kind of like an alcoholic suing a bar for selling him booze.
This seems a little odd to me. It’s not like the casino forced them inside to gamble. They chose (or were compelled, I suppose) to go in, and all the casino did was let them. Hundreds of thousands of people visit Ontario’s temples of chance every year, so it’s perhaps a little unreasonable to expect the staff to check everyone against a ‘do not admit’ list.
I’m not trying to belittle gambling addiction, which is a serious mental illness. But there seems to be a crucial element of personal responsibility missing here. If you’re serious about kicking a gambling habit, that’s something you need to do yourself. You can’t expect the government to do it for you. Addiction sucks, but it’s not the OLGC’s fault. This is another example of the strange duality of modern civilization- people complain up and down about how bad the government is, yet expect them to fix everything immediately.
Of course, there’s a broader issue here about why we permit government-owned gambling in Ontario, amounting to a kind of tax on the poor and sick. It’s certainly a muddy issue, and since I sit on the board of an independent theatre company that gets a share of that sweet, sweet gambling cash every year, I’ll reserve judgement.
And given the spectacular size of the suit, one wonders if this isn’t in fact a further extension of a gambling addiction. Roll the dice, get a few good bounces in court, the province settles…and blam! Big cash payout. Let it ride, folks. Always a smart bet to double down on the welfare state.
Recognizing you have a problem is taking responsibility. Acting on that realization by asking for help is taking responsibility. Acting on advice received by making use of the Do Not Allow list is taking responsibility.
In case you didn’t know it, every game at the casino is rigged; even this one. Casinos have no problem dealing with everyone who cashes in and out. I see those transactions are nice and reliable. But this system is implemented by distributing a bunch of binders. This is obviously a system that is rigged to fail.
But let’s go back to responsibility. What is the casinos responsibility? Do they not have any responsibility to the well-being of their patrons? Do they in fact not have an even greater responsibility that another business, since the service they offer is BY DEFINITION dangerous to their patrons’ well-being? Take by analogy, a for-pay rock climbing wall. In order to be permitted to provide their service, they must go to extreme lengths to guarantee everyone who uses their service is as safe as possible, even though the activity is inherently dangerous. If I take their assurances that the safety equipment is in order and I am safe, and I later find that the equipment was just for show and doesn’t really do anything, I think I would have a pretty damn good case.
Casinos are not welcome in my community, or in most. That we have them at all is a pathetic and shameful compromise of our citizen’s best interests. It’s all about money, so it’s only right that the community should answer in kind.
I’d say that a person who requests that a casino put their name on a “ don’t let in” list is TRYING to cope with a problem deeper and stronger than many of us can imagine. These people have had the courage to at least admit, even to a casino employee, that they have a problem. By allowing the patron to fall back into the same pattern and habits that they, we can assume, so desperately want to break free from raises serous ethical, moral and I’d argue, legal issues.
Sure, point taken, it is somewhat analogous to compare an alcoholic suing a bar for serving him beer. BUT—when that patron drinks too much and becomes intoxicated the bar has a duty to stop serving that person. Problem gamblers are telling a casino via the “don’t let in” list, I am drunk, don’t serve me. BUT—-the casino ignores those pleas for help and keeps on letting them in…..sham!!!!!
I hope this lawsuit encourages our government to take problem gambling more serious.
Either way I love this blog….I read it everyday….good stuff.
Jeff L.
Apologies for my tone. The newspapers all had several hundred comments on this subject, almost all saying the same things as you but less politely. I’m afraid you got to stand in for them