The WAGER, Vol. 3(16) – Casino gambling in Canada - BASIS (The Brief Addiction Science Information Source)

Casino gambling in Canada has expanded in recent years. The chart below describes the gross earnings per month (in millions of dollars) and the dollar amount won on average per player for all of the commercial casinos in Canada as of April, 19981. The gross earnings per month are defined as [what is bet by the players] [what is won back by the players]. As the chart makes apparent, there is a wide range of dollar amounts ($25.53 -$114) that casinos make per player, but even the lowest amount is a positive number. The casinos with the largest gross earnings do not necessarily win the most money per player. For example, while Casino Windsor earns a gross of $41.7 million per month, their daily attendance is 11,800 players and thus the win per player is $114. Casino Niagara, in comparison, grosses $42.3 million per month, has a daily attendance of 20,500, and an average win per player of $66.56. A recent meta-analysis of prevalence studies in the U.S. and Canada2 revealed that 88% of adult Canadians in the general population have gambled in their lifetime. In addition, 27.23% of adult Canadians have participated in casino games in their lifetime, and 13.12% have participated in casino games in the past year. However, Canadian spending patterns may only partly explain these figures. For example, three of the four casinos with the highest gross earnings per month, Casino Niagara, Casino Windsor, Casino de Montreal, and Casino Rama, are located close to the United States/Canadian border and probably attract a significant number of American players, whose spending patterns may differ from those of Canadian players. In addition, tourism likely has a meaningful effect on the win per player figures.

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