Monday, October 09, 2006

The 1-800 hotline established to help Ontario's addicted gamblers is being
inundated with thousands of calls from people looking for winning lottery
numbers, prompting the government to rethink the way it advertises the
telephone number. Figures obtained by the Citizen show that the number of
"misdirected" phone calls to Ontario's Problem Gambling Helpline has
skyrocketed since its inception in 1997, going from zero that year to 13,024
(of 17,808 total) last year. "By far, most of those calls are people looking
for winning lottery numbers," said Brad Davey, executive director of
ConnexOntario, the non-profit government agency that runs the helpline. "Or
sometimes it's hours of casinos or things like that. It's usually related to
gambling, but (the callers are) on the 'I'm gambling' side rather than the
'I think I have a problem with gambling.' Those are the misdirected ones."
Mr. Davey defended the high number of errant calls, saying the Ontario
numbers were lower than in other jurisdictions. "It's a common issue with
problem gambling helplines," he said, adding he views the misdirected calls
as a "marketing opportunity."
"Many times when the person has called in looking for the winning numbers
and our operators explain what it is we do, the person then says, 'Well, I
am concerned with the number of tickets I'm buying every week,' " he said.
Mr. Davey could not say how much it costs to field misdirected calls. The
London-based call centre is staffed by the equivalent of eight full-time
operators and has an annual budget of $826,200. The unusually high numbers
have prompted government officials to reconsider their marketing strategy,
acknowledging that the 1-800 number might either be overexposed or
underexplained. The number is currently posted on every one of the
province's 13,069 slot machines, as well as many lottery tickets, and is
listed either on the home screen or the withdrawal receipt of most ATM
machines in provincial casino and slot facilities. The provincial government
has also launched a series of television, radio and newspaper advertisements
publicizing the number.

While the total number of calls to the helpline has fluctuated between about
12,500 and 18,000 over the past five years, the number of callers seeking
help has remained constant at about 5,000. Officials say the number of
gambling addicts in the province has stabilized over the same period.

University of Lethbridge professor Robert Williams, one of the country's
leading authorities on problem gambling, says the high number of errant
phone numbers is "a waste of time and resources," but says the program is
otherwise effective.

Mr. Williams estimates that between three and five per cent of adults in
Ontario have a moderate to severe gambling problem, but they contribute 35
per cent of the province's $6.2 billion gambling revenues.