Closer Look at BC’s Online Gambling Ambitions – September 18th, 2009

One of the more interesting articles over the weekend was a piece authored by Brian Hutchinson writing in the Canadian publication The National Post on the online gambling ambitions of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.

Hutchinson prefaces his story with the comment that the BCLC is no stranger to massive profits, pointing out that last year saw over a billion in profits, the 24th consecutive year of profit for the organisation.But management was disappointed – the results fell some $19 million short of what they were expecting.

“They decided something new was required to keep the win streak alive,” writes Hutchinson. “More games. A different venue. An appeal to younger players. The bureaucrats set to work.” The article explains that the new project involved boosting allowable deposits into gambling accounts….and launching Internet casino-style betting on games such as blackjack, roulette and poker, designed for computers and portable devices.

Hutchinson looks at the conservative history of BC provincial authorities, remarking that the latest goals would have unimaginable even a decade ago, when Premier Gordon Campbell was adamant that: “There will be no further expansion of gambling. We’ll try to reduce it.” But once in power, Premier Campbell embarked on the biggest, most aggressive land gambling expansion program ever seen in Canada, claims Hutchinson.

“Now there are signs that traditional gambling markets in B.C. may have reached the saturation point.” “New casinos still draw crowds, but overall participation rates have started to fall. Lottery games are considered old hat. Young gamblers especially don’t seem enthralled,” he adds. Hutchinson notes that with the more generous limits on deposits, BCLC players can now build up to $520 000 in their gambling accounts in one year, and will soon be able to wager the entire sum on one virtual poker hand, one virtual spin of the wheel.

“No other jurisdiction in Canada or the United States offers online casino-style games,” he writes before outlining the often confusing situation in the United States and the status quo in Canada, where only the Atlantic provinces offer online sports betting and lottery draws, along with B.C. Officially, no other provinces are contemplating the introduction of Internet gambling, he informs.

Hutchinson spoke to John Kennedy Fitzgerald, a Toronto lawyer and CEO of the Interactive Gaming Council, an online gambling trade association based in Vancouver. Fitzgerald told him that mention of Internet gambling generally sets off alarms because it is perceived as gambling expansion. “But I don’t think it’s an expansion at all. I think it’s just recognizing what already exists, and making a decision to regulate it,” he opined, adding that BC “….might as well jump in and grab some of the business being conducted illegally.”