Casino gambling is an excellent aid in the attainment of enlightenment. If you do not obtain direct insight into the teachings of the Buddha at least you gain some respect for the law of averages. This thought comes to mind after a recent trip to Casino Rama outside of Orillia. It must be the worst run casino in Ontario.
Yet you really do not want to be critical. Only 30 minutes from home, Casino Rama provides interesting entertainers, pleasant restaurants and sometimes a profitable gambling experience. (Why so many people think they should win all the time is something of a mystery.)
But the other evening the place was proving how stupid gambling can be in Ontario. After giving an unsuspecting pit supervisor an earful about how bad it is, the Tao of Casinos tells us it is bad karma to gamble in anger. Responding to the advice of the Tao, it was an opportunity to mull it over on the way home. After all we had already won a bit and enjoyed an excellent dinner on the casino.
It is always difficult to place the blame for problems with Ontario casinos. You are really dealing with three separate entities. Your direct contact is with the management company. The management company, hopefully, are the people who understand gambling and this company is under contract to Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG). This is a government agency reporting to the Ministry of Finance. These people are under the gun to make lots of money off the avails of something that used to be a crime in Ontario.
Just to keep everyone honest and lawyers employed, a third group, working for the Ministry of the Attorney General, known as the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), makes the rules. These are the kindly but somewhat anal people who ordain that you get a separate bill after your meal for any alcoholic beverage you might consume. They also make sure you pay, generously, for any alcoholic beverage consumed at the gaming tables.
But Casino Rama needs to learn that the financial rape of gamblers does not need to be conducted in the twilight zone. The place needs to spend more on lighting. It needs to consider the comfort of the suckers. Sometimes you only want a coffee but a few more wait-staff around the tables would be nice. And the recent renovations on the property are a list of mind-boggling errors in design, feng shui and logic too long for this blog.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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