Online casino play to become legal in Ontario

Online casinos are surely getting closer for the population of the USA as we read in recent casino news that the Canadian State of Ontario has the stated intent of launching an online casino site before then of this year. It was in the casino news last year that Dwight Duncan the Finance Minister of Ontario recognised the possible revenues from online casinos and promised to bring in $1.3 billion into state coffers by overhauling the online gambling laws. He recognised that inhabitants of Ontario were already playing at online casinos but those were being run from overseas although there are already seven provinces where online gambling is regulated. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp or OLG for short is now in the news for announcing the selected partner which will bring the ability to buy lottery tickets online (which is not the same as playing the worldwide lotteries online as these are fixed odds games) but in addition will bring various online casino games such as slots, video pokers and table games to the public. The company selected is a UK company by the name of Spielo G2 who won the selection process. According to a statement in the casino news OLG said “subsequent phases will include Bingo, Sports wagering, online poker and the introduction of other new products” suggesting that a full range of online gambling will be available. With all this activity in the casino news in Canada we have to ask how long it can be before the legislators in the USA succumb to the temptation of boosting their own income. We have reported on several occasions in the general casino news that individual states are trying to turn over the UIGEA so this announcement from Canada will add to the pressure.