Blog entry published on 27 September 2010
Boss Media Kicks Canadian Players to the Curb
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After reading recently that Boss Media, a leading online gambling software firm, has instructed the online casinos it powers to 'pull out' of Canada, it struck me how similar the online gambling industry is to the complex 'friend politics' of grade school.
Let me explain. The global online gambling industry may be worth tens of billions of dollars, but it is all too often flimsy and fickle, much like the kind of friendships kids form in grade school. For instance, one day you might be best friends with little Suzy because her mother packs her the best lunch and she lets you share it. But the next day Ben is your new best friend because he got a brand new bike for his birthday which he lets you ride, plus Suzy left her lunch at home. Kids can be fickle and so can the online gambling industry.
Online gambling operators market their services pretty much anywhere they can until they are stopped in their tracks by laws and regulations - or until something better comes along. In the case of Boss Media, it' likely that the firm saw Canada's increasing move to legalize and regulate online gambling one province at a time, as a threat.
Perhaps it saw the 'writing on the wall' that Canada was fast becoming no place for offshore-owned and operated online gambling operators, given the onset of strict government regulations and restrictions. I mean it's no secret that online gambling regulation is already in place in British Columbia, that the governments of Quebec and Ontario have authorized online casinos, and that Ottawa and Alberta are expected to follow suit shortly.
Who knows? But what I do know is that by effectively pulling out of Canada, there are now few online casinos for me to play at as a Canadian resident, which irks me. The one thing I love most about online gambling is choice, because the more casinos, poker rooms, betting sites and bingo casinos I can choose from, the happier I am. Now my window of choice is smaller.
 | Posted by Anton Johan at 11:16 on 27 September 2010 |
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