Ontario Mulling Over Online “Gaming”
It appears that the Ontario Government is quickly getting in line behind Quebec and Vancouver to be the next province to offer Government run online gambling. The new chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming (note..not gambling) stated that he wanted the province to provide Internet gambling instead of watching the potential revenues go to other provinces and offshore websites.
My main problem with this whole set up is this question: if there were government offered online poker, would they go the way of the USA, and create a set of rules, and licences and costs to allow the major players (Full Tilt and Pokerstarset all) “legally” into the Ontario market, or would they charge the OLGA (Ontario Lottery and Gaming Association) with setting up an online poker site that would theoretically serve Ontario (or Canada depending on the rules)?? If they were to allow the OLGA to create and run a website, who is to say they would do it as well as Pokerstars or Full Tilt? The OLGA has a long history of questionable insider wins and malfunctioning slot machines and to lawsuits from gambling addicts and botched scratch-and-win tickets, and it would concern me greatly loading a Government run poker room with my hard won poker money; But maybe that’s just me.
The opposition party has not started shaking their sabers, and in fact, has only brought up one area of concern and that is making sure young people whoshouldn ‘t be accessing gambling sites can’t gain access. It’s quite a different battle in Canada when you compare what’s going on in the states.
Loto-Quebec’s online poker site will launch this fall, with Finance Minister Raymond Bachand predicting the province will pull in about $50 million in dividends after three years. The Atlantic Lottery Corp.’s website, in operation for six years, has five interactive games including Hold’em Poker. British Columbia offers online poker, and imposes a $10,000 a week limit on gamblers. The Western Canada Lottery Corp., which oversees gambling in the three Prairie provinces and the three territories, has said it has no plans to move into online gambling.
