The Canadian city of Richmond has received an unexpected $5m windfall from River Rock Casino, which is British Columbia’s top gambling and entertainment destination.
Richmond had budgeted to receive $12m in gambling revenue last year, but instead took in a record $17.6m, up 13.1 per cent over 2012. Casinos in Canada are required to give cities in which they operate 10 per cent of net gambling revenue. River Rock has consistently paid out more to local municipalities than any other casino in British Columbia.
Since 1999, Richmond has received $136.7m in gambling revenue, according to the provincial government, exceeding payouts from all the other large casinos in Metro Vancouver, including Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby, Edgewater Casino in Vancouver and the former Boulevard Casino — now Hard Rock Casino Vancouver — in Coquitlam.
“It’s always been a strong performer, a flagship for us,” Kiran Rao, chief financial officer for Great Canadian Gaming, said of River Rock.
