While most provinces in Canada have their own government-run gambling sites, Alberta is one of the few that doesn’t, which might change in the near future. The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission is currently on a hunt for companies who would be able to provide an internet gambling service for the province. The AGLC estimates between 0 million and 0 million is spent by its residents annually on grey-market gambling sites.
British Columbia became the first Canadian province to have its own gaming site when their lottery agency launched Playnow.com in 2010. Manitoba followed suit, opening their own Playnow.com brand in 2013. Both Quebec and Ontario launched online gaming sites this month, which leaves only Alberta and Saskatchewan behind.
The Canadian sites offer slots, blackjack, baccarat, single-player poker, roulette, and also sells lottery tickets. Bill Robinson, president and CEO of the AGLC said, “As we move forward and start to examine internet gaming potentially for Alberta, we wanted to see what existed in the marketplace that was cost-effective and a professional safe site, should the government choose to go in this direction.”
Robinson is currently gathering information which he will present to Alberta Finance. Meanwhile, Robert Williams, a research coordinator with the Alberta Gambling Research Institute warns of big risks associated with opening the doors to online gaming.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s prostitution, cannabis, or casino gambling. Because more people are introduced to it, more people engage in it. The question is, if you’ve expanded the market, how much of that expanded market are you able to retain in your jurisdiction?” Williams feels an Alberta-run online gaming site could potentially get half the money spent by residents in the grey market, but comes with the possibility of creating a larger market, of, say $200 million.
