Ontario Online Gambling in Media Spotlight
The Canadian province of Ontario is set to roll out online gambling later this year, but the issue has attracted a lot of media attention of late.
For instance, recently The Star newspaper ran an article entitled: "Online Gaming: Will it Cannibalize at OLG Casinos?" in which it posed the question of how online gambling will affect the greater gambling industry in the province, and what residents can expect from the appearance of online gambling?
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, up to $500 million is spent each and every year by Ontarians at offshore gambling sites.
The spokesperson for OLG, Tony Bitonti said: "That gray market cash is going to Malta and going to the Isle of Man. It's not staying here in Ontario."
According to the article, the OLG has a five year plan in place, which incorporates the expansion in the world of online gambling. The entire plan is set to increase the OLG's contribution to the provincial government's coffers from the current $2 billion to $3 billion. Of that, online gambling will contribute $375 million.
The plan is to allow Ontarians to place bets via their mobile phones, computers or tablets and enjoy games and betting markets while on the go.
Online Gaming Affect on OLG Casinos
But what's the flip side? This is the question posed by the article in The Star.
It quotes William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and an expert in the casino industry, saying that online gambling is not able to save an industry, let alone an economy.
The article points out that Las Vegas has seen at least eight poker rooms shutting down in the past few months, and growth at Ontario's five poker rooms has slowed, due in part to the influence of the internet.
"There are only five poker rooms in Ontario, so it's not oversaturated," Bitonti is quoted as saying. "The market peaked. Several years ago, poker was all over TV. You couldn't turn a channel without seeing a poker tournament. Poker rooms were busy at those times.
Introducing online poker, according to opponents to the idea, could be signing a death warrant for at least some of these five Ontario poker rooms.
The Lure of Online Gambling
Most people, however, understand that online gambling is here to stay and that OLG keeping it out of Ontario will only lead to higher numbers of residents taking their gambling offshore.
The appeal of online gambling is also hard to resist.
As McGill University professor Jeffrey Derevensky is quoted as saying in the article: "Gambling online minimizes restrictions. You can do it wherever you are. You don't have to go out of your house. You don't have to buy food at the casino. You can do it 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
With that kind of argument, it is clear why the OLG felt the need to bring online gambling to Ontario.
