Posts Tagged ‘ Loto Quebec ’

Gambling Addiction and the Big Win-Win

January 25th, 2010. By LucyC

Last week we posted a settlement of a lawsuit against Loto-Québec, for an undisclosed sum of money—but it will reportedly be in the multi-million dollar range—somewhere between $50 million and $700 million—quite a spread by anybody’s standards. But I’m betting it won’t turn out to be chicken feed. 

The lawsuit was brought against the provincial lottery agency by compulsive gamblers who allege that video lottery terminals—or VLTs—are associated with pathological gambling. The plaintiffs are seeking the cost of their addiction treatments, among other things, at an estimated average cost per person of $5000. And there are an estimated 119,000 plaintiffs. My calculator tells me that’s equal to $595,000,000—that’s a lot of dough—although the final sum will likely be less than that. 

But if you look a little deeper—you start to wonder who actually comes out ahead in all of this. Ironically, it could well be the lottery corporation. Loto-Québec CEO, Alain Cousineau, told the Montreal Gazette recently (1/20/10), that Canadians spent an estimated $675 million just on online gambling in 2008, and revenues are expected to exceed $1 billion in 2012. So, what’s the problem with spending a little on addiction therapy for those people who just can’t help themselves? And let’s be clear here—gambling is an addiction—and as such, you could argue, a guaranteed source of income for the corporations that operate the lotteries. (Wouldn’t that qualify as unfair business practices? Tobacco companies can’t get away with that kind of thing, apparently.) 

But the plaintiffs have also won, even if they don’t succeed at addiction treatment—because they’ve set a precedent. Similar cases are pending in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Ontario, so what happens in the Lotto-Quebec case matters—big time. 

The losers, if there are any, are those of us who buy our weekly lottery tickets in the hope of winning our retirement and never win a nickel—but we keep on trying. Does that count as addiction? Or is it the definition of madness—repeating the same action over and over again, each time hoping for a different outcome… 

At the end of the day, if you asked me where I’d put my money going forward, it would be on the lottery corporations—because they will come out ahead—just like Vegas—you can’t beat the house. But maybe, just maybe, this lawsuit has helped redefine some of the rules.

Tags: Compulsive Gambling, Gambling, Loto Quebec
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