Canadian Province of BC is Considering Mobile Internet Gambling
The Canadian province of British Columbia has always led the way in online gambling within the country, having been the first to offer this form of entertainment.
After a few hurdles upon the initial launch of the official gambling website, it has become a highly successful venture and has been used as an internet gambling model by other provinces in the country, such as Ontario.
Today, the PlayNow.com site has given itself the label of “B.C.’s only legal gambling website,” though it is far from being the only gambling site available to the citizens of that province. Unregulated and illegal internet gambling websites have also cropped up to offer casino games and poker.
The PlayNow.com website has not been without its struggles, including controversy surrounding its betting limit increase to almost $10 thousand, and a cyber attack which gave hackers access to some personal data.
The next step for the B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC) appears to be online tickets and games designed for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The market in this industry has become so strong that the province is eager to take hold of its own share.
PlayNow.com recently held a survey to determine if consumers were interested in using mobile devices for internet lotteries and gambling. According to a BCLC spokesperson, neither the results from this survey, nor the final decision of the BCLC have been announced.
Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman – who was Minister of Housing and Social Development (the position responsible for gambling in the province ) at the time when the decision was made – stated that an estimated an annual $100 million was already being spent by B.C. residents on online gambling.
The majority of the annual profits of the BCLC – which total more than $1 billion – is brought in by traditional casinos and lotteries. The organization hopes to increase its online gambling revenues from 1 to 5 percent by 2014.