The Alberta Gaming Research Institute estimates that between one and two per cent of Albertans are considered problem gamblers. (CBC)

Alberta is considering instituting a casino card system with pre-set spending limits for gamblers, CBC News has learned.

Some casinos in other jurisdictions already use smart cards that are pre-set for the amount of money a gambler wishes to spend, or that stop working once a certain time limit is reached.

Such cards could help reduce the number of problem gamblers in the province, Fred Lindsay, the provincial gaming minister and solicitor general, said in an interview.

“We are considering that, there are some drawbacks to it that we need to address. When you use the card systems it also tends out to be a promotional tool for the casinos,” he said. “It has worked in other areas, but again, it’s part of the checks and balances that we want to put in place to make sure the industry operates with integrity.”

The Alberta Gaming Research Institute estimates that between one and two per cent of Albertans are considered problem gamblers — which could mean the problem has reached a level that they are missing mortgage payments or contemplating suicide — while another two to three per cent have some problems.

'Voluntary exclusion' doesn't work: recovering addict

The province already runs programs to help gamblers, including a voluntary exclusion program created in 2000. It allows problem gamblers to request that they be banned from all 24 of Alberta's casinos.

But a recovering gambling addict says it doesn’t work. David (CBC News has agreed not to use his real name) said he lost more than $500,000 playing blackjack in casinos.

The voluntary exclusion program allows problem gamblers to ask to be banned from all 24 of Alberta's casinos. (CBC)"I probably spent more money in my lifetime gambling than I expected to earn,” he said. “I lost my family. That was my bottom at the time. The high we get from gambling has been compared to the high that crack cocaine addicts experience.”

When he knew he had to quit, David signed up for the province's voluntary exclusion program, but he says the program didn't work for him.

“I know of no compulsive gambler in Gamblers Anonymous who has availed themselves of the self-exclusionary program that hasn't relapsed,” he said.

“If people want to go back, they will go back. People will dress differently, they will wear a wig, they will wear a moustache, they will wear a dress. And if they want to go back, they will go back. And quite frankly, they can rely on not being caught. The enforcement around surveillance leaves a bit to be desired.”

One of the problems with the program is addicts who wanted to sign up had to first take two days to think about it, he said. But the province is scrapping that two-day wait.

The other problem is most of the gamblers David has met are compulsive VLT players that are not found in casinos, but in bars and restaurant.

“So you are really targeting a very small percentage of the compulsive gambling community with this program. Unless and until they can extend it to things like card readers that you have to slip into a machine before you could start playing that would identify you, or a retinal identification process,” he said. “But at the end of the day there has to be an onus on the individual gambler to take responsibility.”

Too lucrative for objectivity, says researcher

The province gave the Alberta Alcohol & Drug Abuse Commission $90 million from the Alberta Lottery Fund in 2008-09. Besides multimedia campaigns and training for industry staff on spotting problem gamblers, the agency opened Responsible Gaming Information Centres in 16 of Alberta's 24 casinos.

The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission also spends about $1.1 million a year on "social responsibility" programs, including the one that allows people to ban themselves from casinos.

University of Calgary professor David Hodgins, who is with the provincially funded Alberta Gaming Research Institute, said the government making so much money from gambling, they really can't be seen as an objective body for governing the industry.

“There's an awkwardness in Alberta around the fact that the regulator is also the owner,” he said. “I think it would be good to have an independent body that would look at the pros and cons and make a determination about what direction we should go.”