Casinos in the Vancouver area are no longer allowed to accept undocumented cash for chip buys and the anti-laundering rules—which went into effect last year—are being blamed for a fall off in high roller play.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp. reported that table drop in British Columbia fell 12 percent to C$283 million ($210 million) in the first quarter compared with the same period the previous year.
“VIP play is still down out here in B.C.,” Rod Baker, the company’s chief executive officer, said on an investor call according to Bloomberg News
Since the rules were introduced in January 2018, business from table games is “a little more stable” at River Rock casino, but the Hard Rock facility was “frankly much less broadly dispersed at the VIP level,” he said.
British Columbia has cracked down on cash transactions at the casinos, which for years included stories of gamblers arriving with suitcases and hockey bags filled with cash. The new rules require a tighter identification of sources of funds.
In another example, Parq Vancouver, a luxury waterfront casino whose opening coincided with the new rules missed an interest payment on a second-lien loan last week after business took off slower than expected, according to Bloomberg.
In another Canadian matter, the Ontario government has eliminated funding to an organization that researches problem gambling and ordered it to wind down operations by the summer.
Gambling Research Exchange Ontario was told last month that its entire $2.5 million annual budget had been cut by the province.
The agency says it provides problem gambling services used by front-line service providers including the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission.
The government said it was making the cut so that it could focus directly on delivery of front-line services. A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott told the CBC network that the government is committed to an “effective and respectful” closure of the organization.
“As part of our commitment to redirect all available resources to the front lines, we have made the decision to wind down certain research programs,” Hayley Chazen said in a statement.
The government continues to spend approximately $33 million a year on problem gambling prevention programs, she said.
