POKER-GAMER.

In Cannes, a psychologist helps identify pathological gamblers.

At ten, they try to draw his portrait robot. “Demanding,” says one. “Drugged,” suggests another. “Dreamer,” “unfortunate,” “irrational.” At first timid, descriptions fuse. Are harder, “pest,” “sick,” “aggressive,” “liar” … With anecdotes about strange behavior, up to urinate or defecate in front of “his” machine for not leaving an inch. His machine? A slot machine, “mas” in the jargon. This unflattering profile is that of a pathological gambler, outlined by the staff of a casino.

Cry. Hotel Majestic Cannes, Monday, June 14 Carriers, cashiers at the slot machines, maintenance technicians for these machines, controllers, security officers, or communicators, and ten employees in the Lucien Barriere Cannes have a training day with a psychologist specialized Armelle Achour. Objectives: Learn to identify and better deal with addicts, and betting on the prevention of addiction. All are not in direct contact with customers. But the ladies pee privileged witnesses crying spells and other buggery lead managers, the entire staff of the two casinos Barrière Cannes, or 450 people who follow this course interactive.

Beginning with Pascal Brun, Group General Manager for Côte d’Azur. Initiator of the training so far unique in France, it was the first session in March. “There is no paradox in this, says he to his troops by way of introduction of the course. It is a logical continuation of the business. We must show that the casino is a safe environment, even as the automakers or their food products. “Reasoning shared by Armelle Achour, founder of SOS Players (established 1990), and trainer. “The gamblers, they are in a sense that you do not have access and you will lose them anyway. However, making prevention, you can finally act on 70% of the French population that never set foot in a casino. “Clearly, the fewer dirty stories of players ruined plus Casinos improve their image and attract new customers.

Addicted to the casino more often slots form the majority of patients followed by SOS Players. Alerted by the players or their families, Armelle Achour types often found at the end of race: Indebted to the core, network lenders prey to black, which go to prostitute their wives to be sure of being repaid. “Because of the game, a fifth of our patients had committed torts: theft, embezzlement …», adds Armelle Achour, transfixed in front of his interns. With this light, many realize that the aggressive pests they are paying are actually sick.

But how do they get there? “All games can be addictive, but what is problematic is the screen,” says the psychologist. And list the games that make the most “devastating” Rapido French side of the Games, Points Races side PMU illegal poker machines to bars and of course slot machines. All games with a screen that “catches the eye.”

Big win. ” Armelle Achour then dissects the steps that lead to dependence. The discovery of the casino, often with friends. Then the “big win” phase of gain, the amount is huge but not necessarily significant for the player. “There is money, the feelings, the noise, the honor given to the winner,” says Armelle Achour. In short, only good memories that lead some to return. More and more often. By relying more and more. And starting to lose.

“Time is the enemy of the player,” she recalls, describing the “phase loss” which follows the phase mathematically gain. Some generally good in their lives, they realize in time. For other, more fragile, it is the beginning of the collapse. Where nothing goes. “Where you can intervene, it is the beginning, from the stage win, insists Armelle Achour. Prevention, it’s the little phrases that you tell them beasts, the flyers distributed … “Leaflets are beginning to appear in casinos Pascal Brun. That does not stop there. In a few months, a local branch of SOS Players will be installed, and prevention videos will be released in theaters slot.

The Casino de Namur could be taken over by a new company by the end of June, while it is currently run by interim directors in the wake of the fraud that has been updated. This was announced yesterday after the directors of a council. The general meeting of shareholders of the institution met Thursday night to discuss the various possibilities that arise.

The boss of the company Sizinvest, have 49 per cent share of the casino, proposed to take over all assets and liabilities of expansion, the company Khaid Armand, the director involved in the fraud. This solution offers a new alternative in next 2 tracks that had been mentioned until now: the sale of shares by Mr. Khaid and his family to rebuild a majority within the group of shareholders or takeover by a external company. Five candidates had appeared.

In any event, the decision must be made no later than June 30 At that time indeed, the Gambling Commission meets in Brussels to discuss the matter. The Commission is responsible for licensing gambling establishments which need to function.

Following the large scale fraud, the Casino de Namur could lose its license temporarily or permanently. The announcement of a takeover would affect the decision of the Commission, which also counts in its deliberation of the fate of some 150 employees. The Casino de Namur, whose attendance has not declined despite the announcement of embezzlement last March, remains one of the largest companies in Namur. It has, in addition to game rooms, hotel, restaurant and dance hall. Of the 30 people indicted in the court file, only the Director Armand Khaid is still within the scope of a warrant. He has to appear for the third time before the council chamber on June 23.

With the “Dixie” lounge bar, brasserie and Tara Villa Gallery

Casino Trouville facelift. Saturday night, David Parr, location director, welcomed Desseigne Dominique, president of Groupe Barriere and Jacques Garcia, designer, for an official opening.

“Today, the group Lucien Barriere de Trouville has an exclusive casino, welcomes Dominique Desseigne, group president, he has not stopped growing since 1988 and is now part of the top ten French casinos. ”

Three new areas are to be discovered: the lounge bar and Dixie shows daily in the month of July, the brewery Villa Tara already renowned, and the large gallery that has since regained its original architecture and welcomes new table games. “It’s an asset to the region,” said Dominique Desseigne, no two places like that. ”

To Jacques Garcia, the famous designer, the site has been a source of inspiration: “We are in a historic building … There is a soul. He was stripped of his place for decorative excess return to original elements and primitive. The space was well designed and then had to combine tastefully modern and ancient. “The challenge was formidable:” As I did the “Costes in Paris, he had to succeed in mixing duchesses and rockers at the same table. And the location lends itself admirably. “

06/23 11:00 The Spanish Supreme Court has rejected the casino Madrid, who wanted to ban the entry of roulette players who broke the bank with calculations of probabilities on the statistics of winning numbers, it was judicial source said Wednesday.

The high court considers that the players referred to “have played the game of roulette with any regularity (…) nothing more than the use of ingenuity and application of computer technology to discover that in some casters determined, the numbers were for physical causes adjacent to slight imperfections of construction or placement, imperceptible at first sight, more likely to be other winners during a game time more or less prolonged “says the verdict of the Supreme Court.

The verdict said that “legitimate defensive reaction” Casino de Madrid-based Torrelodones, a suburb of the Spanish capital, “not through expulsion or prohibition of entry of these players, but the change location of the wheels, the exchange of their components, or improved design, construction and positioning. “

The players spent 561 million francs in 2003

Bern (AP) At the end of phase for granting concessions, the opening of six casinos in 2003, yielded gross proceeds of games of 561 million francs. The Federal Commission for Gaming (CFMJ) prepared Friday a positive outcome of the 19 casinos in operation in Switzerland.

At a press conference in Bern, the President of the CFMJ Benno Schneider welcomed the overall results obtained by the casinos. The opening of six of them last year – Class A casino in Montreux, Basel and St Gallen and Category B Fribourg / Granges-Paccot, Locarno and Meyrin – led to a sharp rise in product gross gaming revenue to 561 million francs (88.7%). The Federal Gaming Board stipulates that the current year, the first full exploitation of all casinos will be marked by another increase. The total profit reached 24.5 million.

In terms of gross gaming revenue, the first places are occupied by Baden (109.8 million), Mendrisio (85.7) and Lugano (67.2). In western Switzerland, the Montreux Casino recorded a gross of 56.8 million. Casino Zermatt, whose license was suspended on 1 December last year, closes the list with $ 1.4 million.

Taxes levied on the results of casinos totaled 260.8 million francs, of which 223.8 were assigned to a compensation fund to the OASI and 37 were distributed to the cantons in which casinos were implanted B. Fiscal expectations were met and should even be exceeded in the future, according CFMJ.

Overestimated potential

With the exception of Engelberg, Arosa and Zermatt, all the casinos for which the Federal Council had considered the granting of a concession were mined last year. Due to financial difficulties, casinos Arosa and Zermatt have had to divert large amounts from their own funds and were stripped of their franchise. Apart from Crans-Montana, the potential of gaming mountain has obviously been overestimated by Benno Schneider. Last October, the Federal Council had granted tax concessions to the 14 casinos with Concession B, fixing the tax rate to 20% of gross gaming revenue for casinos mountain and 30% for others. The rate remained unchanged at 40% concession for casinos with A.

Problem of “Tactilos”

In terms of supply of games, security and social prevention, the Swiss casinos have quickly reached international standards, noted Benno Schneider. In the fight against illegal gambling, 169 criminal proceedings were instituted last year and 363 were pending. They mainly concerned the operation of devices in illegal gambling clubs or restaurants. The fines and confiscated values ??amounted to 392,457 francs.

The number of decisions to exclude casino has increased from 350 in 2002 to nearly 2,300 last year. The Federal Gaming Board launched a study on gambling addiction and the results are expected next fall.

The CFMJ remember that there is still no satisfactory boundary between the law on gambling and that on the lottery. This is in particular to determine whether the PLC-type Tactilo “are slot machines that fall under the provisions of the law on gambling houses is why the installation of new” Tactilos “is tentatively prohibited. AP

Toward more favorable conditions

With the revision of the ordinance on gambling (OMJ), the Federal Council wants to establish framework conditions more favorable to casino-type B.

The draft provides that the Kursaal casinos or B, 12 in number, can offer virtually the same types of games that the seven large casinos A. The games allowed would remain limited, however. Housing and gains maximum allowed in casinos B would also be increased. The Federal Department of Justice and Police (DJP) also intends to bring the marginal rate of tax increase. The gambling houses are gradually imposed on the gross gaming revenue. The marginal rate of increase is steeper for casinos B casinos for A. The base rate is 40% to 10 million francs for casinos B. Then the rate rose by 1% per million francs of additional gross gaming up to a limit of 80%. The project plans to lower the rate of 1 to 0.5%. At the casinos are taxed at 40%, but up to 20 million francs. Last October, the Federal Council had decided to make a gesture in favor of casinos B. The basic rate of tax was set at 20% for small casinos mountain, whose situation is most difficult, and 30% for other institutions of type B. With this revision, the FDJP wants to continue to help casinos B. Those of Zermatt and Arosa have already been closed and that Engelberg has waived open. The rest of the industry, by contrast, is thriving. But all the actors do not agree. At the casinos oppose reform that occurs so soon after the opening of casinos. “The rules of the game were known from the beginning. And casinos were able to adapt their business plan, “said Stefan Harra, director of the Casino Bern. Now we want to change the rules of the game, which is not correct against casinos A. Jean-Claude Frings, casino manager of B St. Moritz consists of objections licensed casinos A. But for him, without a new proposal, more closures are inevitable. On one point, the entire industry agrees: she wants more freedom from the legislature to introduce new games. (Ps)

Attack against the ban on new aircraft ordered by the Federal Gaming Board – Violation skills cantonal

Lausanne (AP) The standoff around the electronic lotteries “Tactilo” continues. After the Loterie Romande, speaking cantons in turn protested against the decision of the Federal Gaming Board (CFMJ) to provisionally prohibit any new installation of such machines. In their eyes, this decision undermines the CFMJ cantons.

Conference Romande Lottery and Gaming (CRLJ), which brings together representatives of governments of the six speaking cantons does not swallow the suspension imposed by the Federal Gaming Board. “By enacting a ban on these distributors, assumes CFMJ skills she did not” explain the cantons.

According to them, the Federal Gaming depends on the federal law on gambling and is neither legally nor politically based decision making in the field of lotteries. However, two experts, one legal and the other scientist, commissioned by the Federal Department of Justice and Police and speaking cantons show that ‘Tactilo “are sets of lotteries. The cantons feel so alone with responsibility for licensing and monitoring of these games.

CFMJ also violates the recent decisions of the Federal Council. The latter said last May that a dispute concerning “Tactilo” would be a matter for the courts.

Speaking cantons announce they will take the “necessary steps” to ensure that their rights are respected. If discussions with the Confederation give nothing, a claim for public law to the Federal Court may be considered as a last resort, told the AP Alain Jeanmonod, police chief of the Canton of Vaud.

After battle
The “Tactilo” are the center of a standoff between the casinos and the Lottery Romande. This is to establish whether these automata lottery under the Lotteries Act, as alleged by the Loterie Romande, or if they are slot machines under the law on gambling houses in the second case, they could be installed in casinos. On 19 May, the Federal Council decided to temporarily suspend the ongoing revision of the Federal Act on lotteries and paris professionals, leaving the courts to clarify the situation.

In June, the Federal Gaming Board has temporarily banned the installation of these machines, pending a determination of their legal status. Loterie Romande denounced a “coup”, saying the CFMJ jurisdiction in the matter.

Loterie Romande already operates 600 of these “Tactilo” in bars and restaurants, and plans to arrive at number 700. In 2001, these machines have reported him some 79.8 million francs. The amount per day per e-lottery game exceeds that of an automated gambling in a casino. German-Swiss, Swisslos wanted to introduce a game like and put 400 “Touchlot” in public places. AP

The municipal council of the Brussels City has designated Monday, among the four candidates, the company that will operate the first and only casino in the capital, namely, the Austrian group Casinos Austria, which operates 70 gambling facilities on five continents . A 15-year concession was granted. The casino will move temporarily into the Hall of Magdalene (Rue Duquesnoy), before finally settle, around 2007 or 2008, in Gallery Anspach. By choosing to Casino Austria, Brussels advisers have followed the advice of their administration, which placed the Austrian leader, followed in order by Eurocasino Accor Casino and Belcasino. Of the 13 criteria notified in the specification, the Austrian group was, according to administration, 12 times first and once third. This is also the candidate who offered the best fee (referred to 45 million euros for 15 years). The Brussels-Capital Region has 40 days to approve or not the choice of the council. This is merely a formality.

Like many of his fellow psychoanalysts, Dr. Jean-Pierre Zobel players account among his patients. For him, it is “a symptom that is often part of an array of anxiety neurosis. The patient has an addictive behavior: it depends on the game as others are to alcohol, drugs, sex or drugs. ” Our therapists are well placed to know that this disease should not be taken lightly: “The consequences can be dramatic, up to the questioning of social and family life. For years, the patient is unaware of his addiction. He is convinced that it dominates. ” Comes naturally to the day when one is aware of his addiction. Jean-Pierre Zobel, it is unrealistic to believe that a gambler can stop yourself: “The will has no control over the addictive behavior.” As for the solution to be banned from the casino, he considers that it has its limits: “A very dependent person may either make another symptom or finding other ways to play.”

Treat such a disease is not clear. The analyst explains that it is unnecessary to address the symptom itself. It regresses by itself when the neurosis will be cured. An approach to psychodynamic psychotherapy seemed entirely appropriate. Otherwise, we risk moving the symptom, the patient becoming addicted to another substance. Dr. Zobel mentioned in passing a symptom of addiction may actually save lives because it can sometimes prevent a more severe disease.

To prevent possible abuses of its customers, the casino The White Lion has tools for prevention and detection of problem gamblers

“We do not want to lose customers,” says Chris Silva, Director of the White Lion Casino. For him, joined the business logic of financial safeguard the interests of the client. On the one hand, the establishment baldomérien uses the tools of prevention used in the group Partouche : Freephone Adictel, pamphlets offered to customers (to assess its gambling, how to ban casino). Meanwhile, the staff are sensitized to the detection of players “addict.” Thus, using computers, checkout staff can control the volume of withdrawals by bank card and outstanding checks drawn by its customers. In the rooms, games managers talk with players to ensure their financial capabilities. When a player to risk is identified, members of the steering committee involved in helping the client to limit himself, even using the firm.

However, if the director of the White Lion recognizes “an obligation of means” of his establishment, he stressed that “the ultimate responsibility belongs to the player ‘within the scope of practice of gambling outside of casinos and any device prevention.