News

Canadian province drops casino ATM plans

January 21, 2004

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The NDP government has cancelled plans to install ATMs in Winnipeg casinos, admitting the machines could cause problem gamblers to spend more, according to a report in the Winnipeg Sun.

"It's not something I'm willing to consider in the short term," Lotteries Minister Scott Smith said.

Earlier this month, Smith said the province was considering installing ATMs at the Club Regent and McPhillips Street Station casinos for safety reasons and because customers asked for them. (See related story Canadian casinos considering ATMs)

Smith said on Jan. 21 that he abandoned the plan after consulting with the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM).

John Borody of the AFM said the few minutes it takes problem gamblers to physically leave a casino to get cash gives them enough time to reconsider returning.

"The further they have to go, that portion of the population that is having a problem may think about it and instead get in the car," Borody said.

Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard applauded Smith for "giving in to public pressure" and dumping the ATM idea. "They shouldn't have been putting ATMs in casinos in the first place," he said.

Meanwhile, the NDP government is being accused of breaking its own gambling guidelines and running television commercials that depict gaming activity in the casinos, according to the Sun report.

Set to funky music, the recent spots promoting the casinos feature quick shots of a roulette wheel spinning, a dealer fanning out a deck of cards and banks of slot machines with people walking by.

The Crown corporation prohibits ads that "contain scenes in which gambling activity is actually occurring."

Smith said the fall within guidelines because there are no shots of people playing the games.