Online Gaming - If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them!

After fighting illegal online gambling in Ontario for years, I guess the government decided that it was easier to run the business themselves and make and enforce the rules. Below is an article from the National Post on the subject.


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Ontario’s OLG rolling out online gaming in 2012
Natalie Alcoba  August 10, 2010 – 9:04 pm

Eager for a “reliable source of revenue,” the Ontario government is introducing legalized Internet gaming.

Expected to launch in 2012, the provincially run gaming site could ultimately offer everything from lottery ticket sales to interactive, casino-style games and poker online.

“Globally, Internet gaming has become a prominent trend,” said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan on Tuesday.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation will undertake an 18-month consultation and implementation process.

“It is an inevitable step in the ongoing transformation of the OLG,” Paul Godfrey, chairman of the OLG, told a news conference at Queen’s Park. “We will move forward, and we will do it with great care.”

Mr. Duncan said Ontario gamblers already spend about $400-million per year on unregulated Internet gaming providers that make up a “grey market” and are mostly located offshore.

Currently, no private provider is authorized to operate in Ontario. “This means money is flowing out of Ontario,” Mr. Duncan said. He said the province asked OLG to develop a “socially responsible and secure” gaming site that includes safeguards and “encourages responsible gaming.”

Officials estimate that in the fifth year of operation, the site could start to bring in $100-million annually. “This is about competitiveness in the industry,” Mr. Duncan said. “The initial figures are relatively modest.… It’s more about competitiveness of OLG going forward and ensuring that it continues to be a reliable source of revenue for the province.”

OLG delivers about $1.7-billion a year to provincial coffers, a dividend that officials said has been eroding.

B.C. recently launched its own online gambling site, but it was shut down within a few days after the discovery of a security breach that allowed players to play with other users’ dollars.

“That’s why you don’t see us saying we’re going to come out and do it in three months,” Mr. Godfrey said.

During the consultation period, the OLG will review the security procedures of other jurisdictions in Europe and across Canada.

Critics from opposing parties dismissed the venture as a cash grab, and raised concerns about privacy.

“The reality is that people who will be engaged in Internet gambling are people who are already addicted to gambling, as well as young people. And we already have a problem there, why make it worse with Internet gambling?” said Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath. “This small group of people will have another opportunity to gamble away their hard-earned dollars.”

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