Great Canadian Entertainment brings in new finance chief

Casino operator Great Canadian Entertainment has appointed Pauline Alimchandani as chief financial officer (CFO).

Subject to customary regulatory approvals, Alimchandani will take over as CFO on March 31 when incumbent finance chief Darren Gwozd steps down.

Alimchandani has over 18 years of professional experience, most recently serving as CFO at Toronto-listed electric power generation company Northland Power, where she oversaw a large global team across several key functions and chaired the company's Investment Committee.

Prior to that, she held senior positions at Dream Unlimited Corp. and BMO Capital Markets.

“I am delighted to welcome Pauline to our exceptional senior management team,” said Great Canadian Entertainment CEO Matthew Anfinson. “Her extensive public company experience and deep record of successful leadership roles in finance, capital markets and financial reporting, will be immensely valuable as we continue to remain focused on delivering long-term growth and creating value for our stakeholders in a socially responsible way. I look forward to her contributions.”

On Gwozd’s departure, Anfinson said: “Darren has been a valuable member of our finance team for more than six years and has helped lead our organization through a transformational period. On behalf of the Board of Directors, the senior management team, and Great Canadian's team members, we want to thank Darren for his many years of leadership.”

Commenting on her appointment, Alimchandani said: “I am very excited to join Great Canadian and see significant opportunity to build upon the company's strong financial and operational foundation, while developing capabilities that further establish the company's competitive advantage.”

In related news, Great Canadian’s recently opened CAD$1 billion casino resort in Toronto will host the city’s first World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit event next month (March 22nd to April 1st), in cooperation with GGPoker.

“This is a fitting milestone that will create further momentum for our recently opened 30-table poker room at Great Canadian Toronto, Canada's newest and largest casino resort,” said Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto general manager Robert Katsavelos. “We are excited to welcome tournament participants from across the North American poker community and from right here in the City of Toronto and are certain that this event is going to be a huge success.”

GGPoker, which sent 774 players to the Main Event at last summer's WSOP, will be exclusively operating online qualifying tournaments and will be hosting brand ambassadors at the WSOP Circuit at Great Canadian Toronto, including local poker hero Daniel Negreanu.