Responsible gaming

Hotel Trails writes about casino hotels as travel destinations. We describe gaming floors, count slot machines, assess dealers and rate the rooms. We do not operate a casino, we do not take wagers, and we have no financial interest in whether anybody plays a single hand.

That independence is exactly why this page exists. A publication that describes casino floors for a living has an obligation to be equally plain about what those floors are: businesses built on a mathematical margin, designed to be enjoyable, and capable of causing real harm to a minority of the people who use them.

Roughly two per cent of Canadian adults experience gambling-related harm in a given year, and a larger group sits at some risk. Those are not marginal numbers, and the people affected are not distinguishable on a casino floor from anyone else in the room.

The practices below are what problem gambling services across Canada consistently recommend. None of them require willpower in the moment, which is the point — they are decisions made in advance, when deciding is easy.

• Set the amount before you travel. Decide what the evening is worth to you as entertainment, in the same way you would for a concert ticket, and treat it as spent.
• Take cash and leave the cards behind. Bank cards in the room safe, no cash advances, no loyalty credit used to extend a session.
• Set a time limit as well as a money limit. Sessions lengthen without anyone noticing. An alarm works better than intent.
• Take a break every hour. Leave the floor, get some air, eat something. Gaming floors have no clocks and no windows for a reason.
• Never chase a loss. Playing to recover money already gone is the single clearest signal that the evening has stopped being entertainment.
• Do not gamble to manage stress, grief or low mood. It works briefly and then does not.
• Keep it social. Going with someone who knows your limit is a meaningful protection.

Harm develops gradually and is easier to recognise in a list than in yourself. Any of the following is a reason to talk to someone:

• Spending more money or time than you intended, repeatedly.
• Returning to win back losses.
• Borrowing money, selling belongings or using funds set aside for something else in order to play.
• Concealing the extent of your gambling from family, friends or a partner.
• Restlessness or irritability when you try to cut back.
• Gambling to escape stress, anxiety, loneliness or low mood.
• Missing work, study or family commitments because of gambling.
• Feeling guilt or shame after a session, and playing again anyway.

Concern about someone else counts too. Provincial support lines take calls from family members and friends, and most provinces fund counselling for affected relatives as well as for the person gambling.

Every province in Canada operates a voluntary self-exclusion programme through its gaming regulator or Crown corporation. Enrolling means asking to be denied entry to gaming venues in that province for a chosen period — commonly six months, one year, three years or five years.

Enrolment is free, confidential and generally arranged at a casino guest services desk or through the regulator directly. Most provinces now handle applications online as well as in person. Programmes typically include removal from operator marketing lists and, in several provinces, a required conversation with a counsellor before reinstatement at the end of a term.

• Ontario — self-exclusion through OLG and AGCO-licensed operators, plus support from ConnexOntario.
• British Columbia — the BCLC Voluntary Self-Exclusion Programme, with GameSense advisers available on casino floors.
• Alberta — the AGLC self-exclusion programme, available at any licensed facility in the province.
• Quebec — Loto-Québec's self-exclusion arrangements across its four casinos.
• Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada — programmes run by the provincial Crown corporations and Atlantic Lottery.

Self-exclusion is a practical tool rather than a last resort, and it is used by far more people than most visitors assume.