VANCOUVER — The B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General is calling for a gamblers’ code of conduct at B.C. casinos after a damning report into working conditions at Richmond’s River Rock Casino.
The ministry’s Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch made the call in a report compiled after an earlier report into dozens of harassment and violence claims made by front-line casino staff.
That earlier report, conducted by Paladin Security at the request of the B.C. Lotteries Corp., found among other things that a drunk VIP gambler slapped an employee, and then wrote the victim a cheque for $2,000.
It confirmed reports that an angry VIP gambler had thrown an item at a dealer, a dealer was threatened with death by a player (resulting in a 24-hour ban for the gambler) and a guest-services supervisor was assaulted.
The report stated that “according to several dealers and supervisors, verbal abuse bordering on uttering threats occurs daily, if not hourly.”
It went on to say “extra” considerations were given to VIP gamblers, including the right to keep a dealer at the table that they believed to be good luck, even if the dealer was at the end of a shift or needed to go to the washroom.
“A number of individuals mentioned the Dogwood Room as problematic, between its combination of overwhelming bet volume, poor standards of player behaviour and complicit supervisors and managers,” the Paladin report stated.
“Some suggested that if you don’t speak Mandarin, you don’t have a change to work a higher-tipping VIP table.”
The Paladin report was based on interviews with 460 of the casino’s 1,200 front-line staff.
The branch wants the code of conduct to clearly outline the behaviour and conduct expected of all patrons (including VIPs), and to clearly outline the consequences that a patron will face if found in violation of the code.e
