BestCraps.com

Canada weighs pros and cons of Online Gambling

Posted on September 4th, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

Canadian provinces these days are busy thinking of the pros and cons of welcoming online casinos in their shores. It seems that most of them have already aimed their focus on this issue rather than finding other ways of overcoming budget deficits brought about by the ongoing economic recession. A number of sectors, particularly consumer groups are attracted to the idea of additional income to the provinces without giving residents the headache of having to pay additional taxes. On the part of government agencies, they are also in support of online gambling, especially if it means their departments would not have to suffer from budget cuts that would compromise their programs.

With the promise of easy money and streams of millions of dollars at any time of the day being brought by eager gamblers, it is no wonder why the provinces cannot wait to get their hands in on the action. In fact, British Columbia has been so far the first province north of the US border to allow online casinos by actually taking the trend into their own hands – they operate their own online gambling site that should generate income for their province and would allow players from the province to enjoy casino games in the comforts of wherever they are, anytime of the week. From the news releases coming from the other provinces, it seems that half of the entire country may already legalize online gambling sites by next year.

Since its beginnings in 1998, online gambling has steadily grown into a massive industry today. After 12 years, the industry has reported income of more or less $20 billion, with sources from all around the world. Thus, it seems that all provincial governments need to do is legalize the practice, and attract gamblers from their own turf, offering alternatives to currently operating gambling sites which are based overseas and thus keeping money away from the province. As with any other venture, though, there will always be costs that, in this case, the provinces may have to pay. The coordinator of the Alberta Gambling Research Institute at the University of Lethbridge, Robert Williams, warms that governments may rely too much on its residents who may had never experienced visiting gambling sites before but would now like to try a government-sanctioned site. But Williams theorizes that once these gambling site neophytes have already dipped their feet wet, have sharpened their gaming skills and have gotten comfortable to the idea of online gambling in general, they might venture to the illegal offshore sites which offer better odds and flashier incentives. The possibility of even these government mandated sites producing gambling addicts is not a far possibility, of course. Williams added, “It doesn’t make any economic sense, and it’s going to cause serious problems.”

With potential problems surfacing, British Columbia was not stopped in launching its own legal, government-run online casino, but had to face initial security glitches early on, causing it to have to be re-launched. Loto-Québec is said to follow suit with launching its own Internet gambling site in the coming fall, while Ontario aims to be the third Canadian province once its project is operational by 2012. John McMullan, a St. Mary’s University criminology professor whose studies include online gambling, is just one of a number of groups that have expressed a lack of confidence in the government being able to compete with the established gambling sites. He says, “They’re dreaming if they think they’re going to take players away from those sites.” In comparison, he says that offshore sites offer winners loyalty bonuses to $300,000 cars to chances to play with celebrity players. On the other hand, British Columbia’s PlayNow site offers a sign-up bonus of a $10 token plus a $100 token bonus for an initial deposit of up to the same amount, and a “bonus bar” that gives away $5 tokens for every $5,000 spent on table games or $1,000 spent on slots.