Government Changes Casino Regulations

NOTE: Old and new supervisor ratios for casino games follow this release.

Government made a number of administrative changes to Casino Regulations, today, May 25, to cut red tape and align Nova Scotia with other jurisdictions.

The changes include:

• allowing casinos to train their employees in a casino rather than at a community college
• getting rid of the rule that prohibits cameras on the gaming floor. Today, with most cell phones having a built-in camera, this law was impossible to enforce
• increasing the maximum number of tables that a floor supervisor and pit boss may supervise to match industry standards.

"The Casino Regulations are out of date and need to be updated to keep pace with technological changes and inherently cut red tape," said Service Nova Scotia Minister Mark Furey. "These are back-office administrative changes that will allow casinos to modernize their processes and bring them inline with other jurisdictions, such as our neighbours in New Brunswick, while maintaining the integrity of gaming."

Government worked with the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation and the Metropolitan Entertainment Group to identify a number of amendments that could be made to improve regulations and make it easier for the casino sector to do business.

Old and new supervisor ratios are:

• Roulette: old, 1:4 - new, 1:6
• Poker: old, 1:6 - new, 1:8
• Blackjack and other card versus the house games: old, 1:4 - new, 1:6