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Ontario Online Gaming Plans Greeted with Cautious Welcome

Posted on August 22nd, 2010

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The plan of the government of the Canadian province of Ontario to venture into offering casino games online was met with optimism by an organization which promotes responsible online gaming. The Chief Executive officer of the Responsible Gaming Council, John Kelly, said that as gambling online is already available everywhere, it would only be right for Ontario’s government to get into the action, but the concern now is how to provide this facility in the safest way possible. Kelly’s organization operates throughout Canada and focuses its efforts in eliminating addiction to gambling. The Lottery and Gaming Corporation of the province formalized its plans in developing a program that would make online games available in Ontario by announcing the move last week. Kelly meanwhile, announced that during the development of the program, which is expected to run for about 18 months, his organization will conduct consultations with the government. He further revealed that Responsible Gaming Council, which is based in Toronto, has a number of methods that it will present to the government. With these methods, he claims that problem gambling will be prevented even if the new online gambling system will be in force.

He says that his group has studied various programs that prevent gambling addiction. These programs e being implemented currently in different international online gambling sites. He claims that there are certain safeguards that can be more easily implemented in internet settings rather than in actual physical casinos. One such practice to defeat online gambling addiction is by gamers signing up for an exclusion list. This exclusion list would ban them from logging in casino websites in the province. Asked if this can be done in physical casinos, he said that it can, but it would not be as effective compared to it being implemented online. He claims that with the volume out people coming in and out of casino doors, it would be almost impossible to screen them. This would be in contrast to logging in a casino website, which would really prevent a person who has signed up in the exclusion list to get into the site.

Another preventive act being pushed by other problem gambling organizations is the use of a method known as “pre-commitment.” In this method, a gambler is given the chance to decide how much he or she is prepared to lose so that overspending at a table or slots can be avoided. This method, if implemented online, would be more effective, according to Kelly. He has that a gambler’s account can be shut down once he or she is approaching his pre-committed limit. He compares it to credit cards, where card holders cannot use their card anymore once they reach their credit limits. Ontarians are said to be Canada’s heaviest online gamblers, with more than $400 million every year spend by Ontario residents on online gambling sites, which are as of the moment, based outside Canada because of legalities, according to Ontario Lottery and Gaming.

Kelly claims that a gaming site regulated by the government is needed as it can compete with the offshore online gaming sites, which are currently the only option. He claims that only $125 is needed in other countries to launch a gambling site. He adds that Canadians continue to gamble in offshore sites. He said that in a study conducted by his group, in Ontario alone, 3.5 percent of all the province’s residents are into online gambling. Another champion to the online gang cause is John Pliniussen,an associate professor of Internet marketing at Queen’s University, who claims that online gaming is essential if the province’s lottery and gaming commission wishes to survive, especially in the current e-commerce ruled society. He terms government entry into online gaming as a venture that is necessary, especially if OLG wants to stay in business. He adds that OLG’s focus should now be centered on the uniqueness and attractiveness of the site so that it would appeal more to online gamblers.