Casino Opening and Closing Procedures

Casino Information: Licensing Process Licensing & Eligibility Forms Casino Gaming Model Conducting a Casino Volunteer Requirements & Positions Opening and Closing Procedures Casino Pooling Guidelines, Terms & Conditions

There are several important procedures that occur for opening and closing the casino event. The following information is general and may vary somewhat among facilities. Advisors and casino facility staff will assist volunteers with all procedures.

First Day Opening Procedures

The advisor, general manager, and banker start between 10:00-10:30 a.m.
Where applicable, start-up is initiated for CasinoTrack, CasinoTrack server and hand-held units. The following cash cage operating procedures are completed:

• the general manager initializes the event by:
• entering licence information and the group’s casino bank account number;
• preparing volunteer ID cards from the list of approvedvolunteers;
• assigning volunteer positions;
• verifying the table game mix;

• the games manager (or designate) transfers the cash float, counts, records, and chip float to the banker;
• the banker opens table games by:

• transferring chips to the chip runner to each table;
• transferring cash to the cashiers.

Cash/Chip Transfers for Both Days:

• chips from the cashier to the banker;
• chips and cash from the banker to the banker at shift change;
• chips from the banker to a games table (fill):

• chip runner delivers chips/coin from the banker (cash cage) to a games table;

• chips from a games table to the banker:

• when a game has an excess of chips/coin;
• chip runner delivers chips/coin from a games table to the banker (cash cage);
• chips from the count room supervisor to the banker (fill);
• cash from the count room supervisor to the banker.

Closing Procedures

• the general manager, or designate, along with the games manager, or designate, close the games:

• verify the count;
• secure the inventory in overnight storage;

• transfer cash and chips from the cashier to the banker (credit);
• transfer chips from the banker to the games manager to be locked in overnight security;
• closing cage bankroll:
  • the banker and general manager verify cash required for the
• next day’s opening bankroll; and
• the banker secures the cash in overnight secure storage until
• the arrival of the next day’s opening banker;

• the banker:

• deposits all remaining cash not required for the next day’s
• opening bankroll in a bank;
• ensures the deposit is safely secured in overnight storage;
• shift ends on CasinoTrack (entered by the general manager); a
• non-zero account balance will either be an overage or shortage;
• the general manager receives, retains, and reviews all reports
• from the banker.
  

Second Day Opening Procedures

• transfer of reports, opening chip inventory/cash bankroll from the games manager to the banker and general manager;
• transfer of cash from the banker to cashiers;
• distribution of chips to the games where closing chip trays are in overnight chip storage.

Cash Cage Closing Procedures on the Final Day

• the general manager, with involvement from the chip runners and casino facility staff, counts, verifies, and records the chip/coin count;
• transfer chips and cash from the cashier to the banker (credit)
• the banker closes the bankroll:

• prepares the next day’s float;
• prepares the bank deposit;

• transfer chips from the banker to the games manager, or designate;
• the general manager receives, retains, and reviews all reports.

Count Room Operating Procedures

The general manager, in consultation with the banker and advisor, may
order a pull of drop boxes when 60% of the opening cash bankroll has
been paid out, or four (4) hours prior to close, whichever comes first. (If
cash is required before either of these criteria is met, an emergency pull
may be done. Consult with the CTCOG for details if this should occur).

To pull the drop boxes, the general manager must:

• ensure the count room staff and the advisor are in position, and are supplied with keys to drop boxes;
• with a security guard, accompany and witness the games manager conduct the pull of drop boxes assisted by chip runners, if necessary; and
• with a security guard, deliver all drop boxes to the count room. Procedures for an interim count are detailed in the CTCOG.
  

CLOSING PROCEDURES on the FIRST DAY

• final pull of drop boxes;
• closing count procedures as detailed in the CTCOG;
• chip transfer from rake boxes to the banker;
• count room supervisor transfers cash to the safe;
• count room supervisor deposits to an outside bank;
• closing accounting records are prepared by the count room supervisor;
• the general manager receives and reviews all reports with the count room supervisor and advisor.

CLOSING on the FINAL DAY

These procedures are the same as procedures for closing on the first day except that the:

• next day’s opening bankroll is not required;
• the general manager returns the keys for the drop boxes to the casino facility representative;
• the general manager receives all completed and voided reports from the count room supervisor and the advisor; and
• the count room supervisor and the advisor print the “Reconciliation of Casino Win/Loss and Pool Contributions” reports and have them witnessed and verified by the general manager and distributed to the licensed group, the facility, the AGLC, and the original to the pooling trustee.

Advisors are obliged to guide and assist groups in closing procedures at the end of the casino event:

• all paperwork pertaining to the casino must be completed and balanced at close of the casino event prior to the advisor’s departure;
• it is the responsibility of the advisor to identify circumstances surrounding any shortages and report them on a “Discrepancy Report;”
• where applicable, every transaction of the casino event has been tracked electronically by CasinoTrack (with CasinoTrack, closing the event takes considerably less time than it did prior to the system’s implementation);
• the advisor leaves after the casino event is balanced.

Casino Event Expenses

At the end of the casino event, the licensed group needs to pay casino expenses by cheque. These include:

• food and refreshments for volunteers while working at the casino to a maximum (from gaming revenue) of:

• Edmonton, St. Albert and Calgary casinos — $750 (GST included)

• All others — $375 (GST included);

• cash cage advisor and count room advisor fees;

• payment to the trustee, by cheque, the same amount that was deposited into the casino bank account from the event.

The noted amounts may vary over time with changes to policy. Consult the CTCOG for current figures.

Licence Fees

The fee for a casino event licence is calculated by multiplying the number of table games open each day by $15, and then adding those daily totals together. Poker tables are excluded from the calculation.

Example:

A two-day casino event at a minor casino with 15 table games operated as follows:

DAY 1: had 8 table games open X $15 per game = $120

DAY 2: had 9 table games open X $15 per game = $135

TOTAL LICENCE FEE = $255

Licence fees are not submitted for casino events in licensed casino facilities. The licence fee and trustee pooling fees are taken out of the casino pool after the casino event and before the final casino proceeds cheque is issued to the group.

For casino events in an unlicensed casino facility (e.g. banquet room, community hall), licence fees must be submitted with the application.

End of Casino Event Report

At the end of the casino event, the casino advisor will produce two copies of the “End of Casino Event Report.” One copy is forwarded to the AGLC.

The second copy is given to the general manager. The general manager, with assistance from the advisor, gathers the required accompanying records and reports. The group is required to submit this report with accompanying documents to the AGLC within seven days of the casino event.