A $3.5 billion lawsuit has been launched on behalf of addicted gamblers who supposedly said that they asked to not be allowed into Ontario's casinos, and were still allowed in. This lawsuit is filed against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) in Toronto. They claimed that the corporation did not do enough for those that signed up for the "self-exclusion" program, which allows people people to ban themselves from casinos so that they can stop their own gambling habits.
Those who hav
Lawyers say the OLG should be using high-tech systems to catch self-banned gamblers. In the Netherlands, gamblers present photo identification at casinos, and their identification is checked against a computer database, lawyers say. Ontario has settled nine individual lawsuits pertaining to self-exclusion, but has never been hit with a large class-action suit. The OLG has argued in the past that it is ultimately up to the gamblers themselves to stay away from casinos, although the corporation has expressed interest in obtaining facial recognition technology to improve its screening process.
Personally I think that the OLG should implement the facial recognition technology so that problem gamblers do not enter. Also I think that they should implement something where if at casinos they seen people spending an excessive amount of money then they could either polietly escort the person out of the casino or something similiar to that
Feel free to state your opinions. What do you propose we do about these problem gamblers? Does this program have a legit reason to file a lawsuit against the OLG? Do you think this "self exlcusion" program can actually help problem gamblers?
1 comment:
This lawsuit filed against the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is absurd. The "self-exclusion" program is put into place to help these problem gamblers allowing them to be put on a list, registered with the OLG, to ban themselves from entering casinos. This program is a great idea and should work to help problem gamblers however, like all programs, nothing can be enforced 100%. The OLG has been proposed to resort to using more sophisticated technology upon entering the casinos to detect people who are registered in these "self-exclusion" program or use enhanced computer databases. With nine suits pertaining to this program have got to the courts, it is obvious that this is a big issue. However, it is a shock to the OLG that they are being hit with a large class action suit of $3.5 billion.
I agree with the OLG that although they are trying to do the best they can to protect gamblers from their own detructive habits, it is ultimately up to the gambler to do as they wish. With any program, there are always limits to it. The OLG is doing enough to have implemented this program and contrary to this article, I personally know that there are many successful aspects of this program. I think that the proposed face recognition technology is a waste of the taxpayer's money. It is not the country's responsibility to stop people from gambling. The government already has many social programs to help these problem gamblers and if they choose not to use them, they cannot blame the OLG for having a weak program; atleast they're doing something! Gamblers need to take responsibility of their own actions and stop blaming the OLG. I think that the "self-exclusion" program is good enough and although this article discusses a couple of cases that have failed and been brought to court, it does not mention the number of people this program has saved from their own habits!
Alisha, I disagree with your point that casinos should stop someone from gambling when they notice that someone is loosing too much money. Casinos are casinos for the main reason of making money. They wouldn't be there if they did not rely on problem gamblers for profits. It's like saying that in order to stop someone from alcoholism, the Beer Store and LCBO should stop selling beer or better yet, ban that person from entering the store. It's crazy and I think that people need to be accountable for their own actions and decisions!
Post a Comment