REFLECTIONS ON CASINO GAMES

   


      IT'S SAD TO SEE HEADLINES LIKE the one on gambling that appeared recently in a local newspaper. It said: "Millions in shady transactions reported at provincial casinos."
      The story below the headline in The Vancouver Sun detailed the fact that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news people had uncovered hitherto secret information on suspected money-laundering through casinos in the province of British Columbia.
      This information was in the records of the provincial finance department, but we apparently wouldn't have known about it except for the diligent efforts of the CBC, backed by freedom-of-information laws.

      USING CASINOS FOR MONEY-LAUNDERING is an old trick: people with ill-gotten gains take the cash to the casino, buy credits in large amounts, make a couple of bets then cash in the credits so that they can claim they won the money at the casino, should any law authorities inquire.
      It seems to me that the provincial authorities who are supposed to keep an eye on gambling transactions aren't particularly attentive, and/or have little interest in publicizing irregularities. After all, it took not the government but the CBC to shine the light on this.
      Our provincial government is supposed to represent the public interest and see that licensed gambling places operate on the up-and-up and keep "shady transactions" out of their premises. It is the B.C. government that should have brought this information to public attention.  Why it didn't in this case is therefore open to speculation.

      THREE YEARS AGO the government indicated it saw a need for anti-laundering measures. Perhaps I've missed something, but I can only conclude that so far little or nothing has been done.
      Provincial politicians seem to be quite lax when it comes to handling the gambling file. One wonders why.
      Personally, I haven't visited any casino for a long time, and have no plans to -- they are strictly places for losers. Sure, sometimes casinos display interesting performers on their show stages, but I can never escape the feeling that such entertainers are simply shills, often ones in career decline, and in any event are there just to draw in the local yokels so they can be separated from their money.

       I'VE SAID IT BEFORE, AND I'll say it again: I'm not against moderate gambling, and I'm just as inclined as the next person to wager a few bucks on the lottery. But when it comes to the casinos, well, when you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. In addition, and I cannot note it often enough: You don't find many happy faces in a casino. Which ought to tell you something.
      Let me close this editorial with what I regard as some sensible quotations on the subject of gambling.
   
      WASHINGTON: "It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief."

      HORACE (Roman lyric poet): "Curst is the wretch enslaved to such a vice, who ventures life and soul upon the dice."

     ZIMMERMANN: "Gambling houses are temples where the most sordid and turbulent passions contend..."
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