Help Lines for a Hard Rock Night

ConnexOntario takes questions about gambling, mental health and addiction at 1-866-531-2600. The call is free and confidential, and the line is open 24/7, so the number works from a station platform as well as from home.

Calling is not the only way in. Text CONNEX to 247247, or open a chat at connexontario.ca. Worried about someone else rather than yourself? That counts too, and the same service will talk it through with you.

If things feel urgent, or you are thinking about suicide, call or text 988. That is the Suicide Crisis Helpline, and it takes calls and texts 24/7. The line works the same at the resort, at a shuttle stop or back at home.

My PlayBreak is OLG's self-exclusion program for Ontario casinos. You choose a length: 3 or 6 months, or 1 to 5 years. It applies at every casino in the province, Hard Rock Ottawa included, and once it starts it cannot be ended early.

There are three ways to enrol. Phone the OLG Support Centre at 1-800-387-0098, speak to staff at a casino, or go to a PlaySmart Centre. Since a break cannot be cut short, the length is the part worth thinking over.

OLG runs PlaySmart (playsmart.ca) as its responsible-gambling site, and the Virtual PlaySmart Centre takes calls at 1-833-888-2306 from 11 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week. Because those hours fall in the daytime, it fits a call before the train, not after the last shuttle. Overnight, ConnexOntario is the line still open.

Every casino game is built with an edge for the house, and over time players as a group lose. That holds anywhere, not only on Albion Road, so set a spending limit before you leave home.

Pick your run back as well. The last run from the resort to Leitrim Station leaves at 12:00 midnight, and the 10 PM hour has none. After midnight the runs go to Uplands Station at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 AM. Knowing that time in advance keeps the night inside its plan.