Launching #LotteryLeaks

You could call it the motherlode.

It's not often that I receive more than 500 pages of documents via Freedom of Information. But here 'tis.

A compilation of several records from the files of the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, the British Columbia government's regulator of gambling.

Highlights:

Page 3: Investigations of the Lake Country Winfield and District Minor Hockey Association and Comox Valley Raiders Youth Football for unlicensed raffle ticket draws.

Page 28: Allegations of illegal lottery ticket resales by Telco Management (aka CW Agencies) in Vancouver.

Page 138: Prize payment violation by a Fort St. John retailer.

Page 153: Surveillance of a Surrey retailer.

Page 177: Marijuana dealing to teenagers at the Cascades Casino in Langley.

Page 184: Sting operations in Prince George to catch sellers of lottery tickets to minors.

Page 446: Sting operations in Quesnel to catch sellers of lottery tickets to minors.

Page 485: Allegations of selling lottery tickets to minors in Nanaimo.

Page 503: Selling a used Scratch & Win ticket in Pemberton.

As always, I'm sharpening my FOI pencil. I also welcome credible, verifiable information from good sources via email or in unaddressed, brown envelopes to me, c/o Business in Vancouver (102 E. 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2) and The Tyee (P.O. Box 88484, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 4A7).

Gambling crime investigation files

Government's gambling secrets

This time last year, Vancouver city hall was the site of the 2011 version of the great casino debate. Council eventually turned down the Paragon Gaming proposal to expand its Edgewater Casino to a site next to B.C. Place Stadium. The company is allowed to relocate the casino, if it wishes. No word yet on whether that will ever happen.

Part of the reason why the Vancouver Not Vegas coalition succeeded in defeating the expansion was new information about gambling-related crime. Now I have more.

While the B.C. government's Liquor Control and Licensing Branch proactively publishes compliance and enforcement reports on which bars and restaurants flout liquor laws, it's not so easy to get information from the parallel agency, Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. GPEB thinks the names and locations of licensed gambling and lottery establishments that break laws and regulations should be kept secret, whereas LCLB names names. Why is the government reasonably transparent on the booze side and not on the gambling side? Maybe because the profits are higher in gambling, where the government holds the cards through its legislated monopoly.

Anyway, I had to push hard to get documents about the government's enforcement of illegal underage gambling. I actually had to file a supplementary Freedom of Information request when the Solicitor General's ministry claimed it would take too much time and money to compile a list of violations of the section of the act that makes it illegal to sell gambling products to those under the age of 19.

Funny enough, they did have a list, for the period of Jan. 1-Nov. 29, 2011! And it offers more information (albeit often vague) about B.C.'s gambling problems.

More British Columbia gambling crime reports

PlayNow to be "Paddy-powered"

It's not every day that I receive 950 pages of documents via Freedom of Information.

It's doubly special when it arrives before St. Patrick's Day and concerns one of Ireland's biggest companies which is cheeky enough to show nudity in its corporate reports. I'm referring to Paddy Power, the Dublin-based retail and online gambling giant that is now a key partner with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.

Read my story here about this timely relationship and the next step in B.C. gambling expansion in the Vancouver Courier.

Paddy Power wants to grow and enter the North American market. BCLC plans to re-launch its PlayNow legal online gambling website this summer (when the 2012 Olympics will occur) with a heavy emphasis on sports and event betting. Just in time for the federal government to relax Canadian gambling laws because of an NDP Member of Parliament's private member's bill.

By summer, it should be legal to bet on a single sporting event in Canada through legal channels, such as BCLC and the other provincial government monopolies. With this comes the legitimate concerns that more teenage boys will find a way to gamble and eventually become addicts. Read about the science here and watch the Gambling Boys documentary here. In addition to health, there are other worries about the proliferation of gambling and the risks of match-fixing, as chronicled by author Declan Hill.

Sports fans in Canada (particularly British Columbia) will be happy. But deficit-plagued governments across North America are revenue-hungry and, when it comes to gambling, tend only to see the benefits side of the ledger, not the costs.

All 950 pages are posted below. The file is so long, that I have included this list of highlights for your ease of browsing (with page numbers according to the Scribd.com tabulation).

Pages 2-3: The B.C. Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch registration approval for Paddy Power.
Pages 4-5: GPEB regulations (note how sections b, h, j, m, n and p do not apply to Paddy Power).
Page 6: Paddy Power's B.C. registration certificate.
The next 70 pages deal with Paddy Power's software provider, Playtech.
Page 76: 2010 Paddy Power annual report. (Note the iPad motif, a nod to mobile gambling on tablets).
Page 242: 2009 Paddy Power annual report.
Page 378: 2008 Paddy Power annual report.
Page 482: 2007 Paddy Power annual report (inspired by the hilarious Father Ted Channel 4 sit-com. The report contains a well-endowed woman in a wet T-shirt on page 491 and an Elvis impersonator in front of Buckingham Palace on page 493).
Page 586: 2006 Paddy Power annual report. (The company marked its 18th year with a Poker magazine cover marking a Paddy Power-sponsored world record strip poker tournament on page 588, rugby player Donnacha O'Callaghan losing his shorts and a streaker losing more on page 589).
Page 688: 2005 Paddy Power annual report.
Page 774: Playtech news releases.
Page 776: Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority corporate structure.
Page 777: Paddy Power news release on entering the French market.
Page 781: Article about Online Gaming in Kahnawake from the Nov. 6, 2011 Gaming Law Review and Economics by Kahnawake Gaming Commission lawyer Murray Marshall.
Page 791: internal GPEB email and records about the investigators' trip, travel arrangements and expenses to Dublin to inspect Paddy Power's operations.
Page 810: U.K. Gambling Commission: Licensing, compliance and enforcement policy statement.
Page 834: U.K. Gambling Commission: The Gambling Commission's betting integrity decision making framework.
Page 851: Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission: Online Gambling Guidance Notes for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorist Financing.
Page 943: Credit Suisse Private Banking Security Agreement.


Paddy Power to re-power B.C. Lottery Corporation online gambling