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VLT Gaming Strategy Program Changes

In April 2005, the Government of Nova Scotia introduced "A Better Balance: Nova Scotia's First Gaming Strategy", a comprehensive, cohesive, integrated strategy designed to set a new course for gaming in Nova Scotia over the next five years.

The cornerstones of the Strategy are treatment and prevention and there are many players working towards making this real and material change. Government partners in the Gaming Strategy include Department of Health Promotion and Protection, Office of Aboriginal Affairs and Environment and Labour, and the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC), each with their own initiatives.

NSGC's role is to move forward the goal of prevention by educating the public, facilitating informed player choice, raising awareness about the facts and risks surrounding gambling, and reducing accessibility to video lottery terminals (VLTs). With a newly defined focus, the province set out a vision for keeping video lottery players responsible and this included four VLT-related initiatives.

The first initiative was the reduction in the hours of VLTs by shutting off all machines at midnight, regardless of what time the retail establishment closed. This took place on July 1, 2005. Research had shown that a disproportionate number of problem gamblers played VLTs between midnight and closing, as such a decision was made to remove availability during that timeframe.

The second of NSGC's initiatives was the removal of 800 machines on November 1, 2005. An additional 200 machines have been removed through attrition. The removal of these VLTs from profit retail locations will work to reduce availability and accessibility. The number of VLTs in Nova Scotia has been reduced by approximately 30%, taking it from 3,234 to 2,234.

As of January 1, 2006, The "stop button" feature was disabled and the speed of VLT games was reduced by 30%. The "stop button" feature was disabled in order to remove the illusion that players have control over the outcome of the VLT.

As part of the commitment to research and evaluation, Corporate Research Associates (CRA) was contracted to evaluate the Gaming Strategy initiatives. With a goal of prevention and keeping players responsible, CRA used spending levels, time played and player behavior as three measurable outcomes to determine or assess the effectiveness of the above initiatives in reducing availability and accessibility of Video lottery terminals.