EDMONTON – Concerns are being raised about extended table hours at Alberta casinos, which take effect next week.
“For anybody that’s worked a casino, you know it’s fairly demanding as it is now,” said Allan Bolstad, executive director of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL).
Beginning Tuesday, April 1, casino table games will be allowed to operate on the same hours as slot machines — for 17 consecutive hours from 10 a.m. until 3 a.m.
Under the previous Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC) policy, casino table games were only allowed to operate a maximum of 14 consecutive hours, beginning no earlier than 10 a.m. and ending no later than 2 a.m.
“The final shift doesn’t end until 2 a.m. — it’s often more like 3:00, 3:30 by the time people are getting out of there,” Bolstad explained. “Adding another hour to the end just makes it that much harder and we’re concerned it’s just going to push people over the edge and they’re going to not want to volunteer.”
Community leagues rely on casino revenues to pay for a significant part of their operations. Bolstad says over a two-day casino event, community leagues can make anywhere from $60,000 to $80,000.
While additional revenue would be nice, Bolstad also questions whether opening the table games during off-peak hours will be worth the extra work.
“It’s already past the point where the social gambler or the person that’s just out for an evening of entertainment has already gone home. It’s just the last few stragglers that are still hanging around at two in the morning. So we don’t think it’s going to add much more revenue.”
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The AGLC says it consulted with stakeholders, casino organizations and volunteer groups prior to deciding on the change. Of those surveyed, 61 per cent were in favour of extending the hours.
“There’s definitely interest from the casino operators,” said Dan Huang, a communications officer with the AGLC. “They expressed interest in having the hours of casino table games identical to those of casino slot machines.”
The AGLC has heard from concerned volunteer groups, but Huang says the decision to operate during the extended hours is optional and will be entirely up to each casino.
However, Huang adds the majority of Edmonton casinos have decided to operate under the new policy.
“The casinos are businesses and they’re looking for opportunities to generate additional revenue,” he explained. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be up to casino operators to determine if the extra hours is efficient for the business.”
The AGLC says it will monitor the new hours; something Bolstad says he’s looking forward to.
“If they feel they’re already too far along in this process, will they at least review it after a couple months and see how it’s going and give us another crack at it. If it’s not bringing in any more money, then why do we even do it?”
Bolstad says the EFCL — which has 157 community league members — was not consulted prior to the decision.
With files from Ross Neitz, Global News.
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