Casino Lac-Leamy's Catherine Schellenberg. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

Seen by some as way to compete with American facilities

Allowing gamblers to bet on single sports games would give Casino du Lac-Leamy an edge over competing American facilities partially blamed in recent years for stagnating revenues at the Gatineau gaming house, said a Loto-Quebec official.

The Ontario government is pushing the federal Justice Department to re-examine rules on sports betting as a way of helping the province's casinos in Windsor and Niagara Falls where, as in Gatineau, federal rules prohibit wagering on the outcome of a single sports match.

The idea has found favour among Loto-Quebec officials and the MP representing the riding containing Casino du Lac-Leamy. The casino hopes the introduction of several new games in the coming years will help attract new and younger clients.

Its most recent addition, electronic Texas Hold 'em, was a major factor behind a $6.9-million increase in revenue last year, said a casino official.

"For the first couple of months, there was a huge amount of curiosity and excitement that brought in a lot of new clients," said communications director Catherine Schellenberg.

Unveiled in January, the 120 playing positions have been mostly filled by new clientele rather than existing blackjack or roulette players, said Ms. Schellenberg.

While local casino officials are unable to bring in new games without Loto-Quebec authorization, Ms. Schellenberg said a provincial review of the process should lead to new games being introduced at a faster rate later this year.

Additionally, Loto-Quebec said in its annual report that several new table games and four new slot machine games are in the works for the province's casinos and gaming houses.

This dovetails with Lac-Leamy's renewed emphasis on promotions and marketing that targets serious players, rather than previous campaigns geared to the general population.

"At one point we went through a phase where it was, 'Let's just bring people through the door,'" said Ms. Schellenberg, giving the example of 'Lucky Seven Days' that featured different daily themes, such as disco Tuesdays or sporting Thursdays.

"It served the purpose of getting the word out that there is always something going on in the casino, there is always something fun to do. In terms of bringing our revenues up, did it work? No," she said.

As Lac-Leamy refocuses its marketing to concentrate on providing top-end customer service to players, recent data shows the casino's revenues and number of visitors are already moving in opposite directions.

Almost 3.2 million people passed through Casino du Lac-Leamy's doors during the last fiscal year, down from almost 3.5 million people the previous year.

However, revenues climbed 3.4 per cent to $208.8 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, a welcome rebound for casino officials who saw revenues plunge more than $8 million the previous year.

Ms. Schellenberg credits the popularity of the new Texas Hold 'em game for the revenue growth, as well as last summer's decision to open 24 hours a day on weekends, which was expanded to seven days a week this spring.

However, Lac-Leamy still faces stiff competition from the proliferating number of casinos in northeastern North America, said Ms. Schellenberg.

Loto-Quebec spokesperson Jean-Pierre Roy said the Gatineau casino competes for gambling revenues with larger facilities in Windsor, Niagara Falls, Connecticut and New York State.

With American laws prohibiting sports book betting outside of Las Vegas, allowing gamblers at Canadian casinos to wager on the outcome of individual hockey, football, baseball and other games would give gaming houses north of the border, including Casino du Lac Leamy, a boost, said Mr. Roy.

"With the dollar going up and the price of gas going up all the time, it would certainly be a competitive edge," he said. Loto-Quebec is not pressuring the federal government to review the ban on sports betting, but organization representatives said they agree with Ontario officials that the rules should be revisited.

"If we one day happen to have some sports betting at the casino, we will be happy about it," said Mr. Roy.

Local tourism officials would also be pleased, given that the Casino Lac-Leamy is a major regional attraction. "It would add value to the casino and diversify our tourism offering," said Outaouais Tourism spokesperson Jose Lafleur.

Likewise, Hull-Aylmer Liberal MP Marcel Proulx said he's open to reconsidering sports betting in casinos since those who gamble on individual games will often go through illegal bookies.

"If we are going to tolerate that, we might as well have it in legal boundaries," he said.

While media reports have said federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is receptive to the suggestions put forward by Ontario cabinet ministers and is quietly co-operating with his provincial counterparts, a spokesperson for Mr. Nicholson would only say the minister is aware of Queen's Park's position and "will continue to take action on issues within the justice portfolio in due course."

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COUNTING CARDS

Lac-Leamy by the numbers

Revenue:

2007-2008: $208.8 million

2006-2007: $201.9 million

2005-2006: $210.1 million

Visitors:

2007-2008: 3.2 million

2006-2007: 3.5 million

2005-2006: 3.4 million