Casino's and accountability.

The media is currently following a Chch lawyer that has reportedly spent $11,000,000.00 (this figure has risen with every report) at Chch casino yet was somehow not identified as a "problem gambler".

Now if you are a thief and sell your goods to a second hand dealer, the dealer has to return the said goods upon proof of the crime being obtained. Yet when it was suggested to the casino manager to return the embezzled money the manager said "Why should we have to return the money? We are a business not a nanny and babysitting service"

Effectively the casino is benefitting directly from crime without any legal requirement to refund the $11,000,000.00 to the victims. This means compensation has to come from the Lawyers Indemnity Fund which will in turn raise legal costs for anybody looking to pay for legal services in the future.

Rightly or wrongly there are different laws relating to physical property and currency, you always retain title to property you own, not always the case with financial assets.

Any business that can get 11 million taken from it is usually big enough to have insurance protecting it though.

This has nothing to enhance my image of Casinos. While I accept the Casino has done nothing wrong under law it is supposed to monitor individual gamblers that spend outside the norm. Having obviously been used to identify a problem gambler it has fallen short in attempting to put things right by the victims. In the same interview the Casino Manager said the machines used were designed to give the illusion of winning even when losing. This moves it away from the heading of entertainment and closer to that of parasite.

The Lawyers have indemnity insurance as one would expect but this is more of an insulation for the practice than an intention to assist the victims. Any organisation that can have 11 million taken from it would appear to have less than transparent accounting practices.

if i were prime minister, i would outlaw pokies. they are the most effective means of redistribution of wealth from the poor to the rich.

If you outlawed pokies the 'poor' would vote you out of power.

Pokies at the country's four licensed casinos aren't the problem. It's the ones at the bars in the burbs of South Auckland that are the evil doers. Someone should bomb their ass back into the stone age for releasing those weapons of mass distruction on the lower socio-economic classes.

i dont think the casino should have to give it back at all. the guy should have to pay back every sent. he stole it and chose to spend it at the casino. now lets say he spent it on a huge overseas holiday, would those companies have to refund because they benefited from stolen money? ummm no!

Renaissancer = knows the score.

Just because casino are money hungry bastards (up there with taxi drivers), doesn't mean they have to be nice guys all the time. Like any business, they are in the game to make the bling.

Next time you loose your shirt on the blackjack table, tell them 'hey, this money isn't actually mine, it's supposed to buy my kids dinner' and see what they say.

By claiming to have systems in place to prevent such things then they have to take some responsibility when those systems fail. Just how much is the difficult question.

Agree about pokies. Its an escape from the shit of everyday life for some people, with the false illusion of a pot of gold at the end of it. Pokies do nothing for our society and I would love to see them removed. I prefer casinos over pokies by a long way, and I don't like casinos particularly.

Pokies are terrible. I can't believe how much time and money people spend of them. There is a pub just down the road from where I work. I can walk past at mid-morning and most of the machines are occupied. I just don't understand :/

Agree with Renaissancer in terms of casinos repsonsibilty.

Personally, I dislike casinos and what they stand for with a passion - profiting from peoples weaknesses. Casino's are there to MAKE money ... the house will ALWAYS win, there is no way around it.

Maybe I'm just a tight-ass but I can't stand giving my money up knowing that I probably won't get anything in return.

So don't go to the casino and don't play lotto...

Casino's are the total scumbag businesses of this world. I challenge any casino to display any benefit they provide the community or the economy. And to dispute the massive problems they directly create and encourage.

BH!
Rob W

Hey .. Sky City sponsors the Auckland Rugby team cheerleaders!! That's a definite benefit for the community ...