Canada is having its own problems with gambling. The country is taking its provinces one by one and each one is making their own rulings about whether or not slots should be allowed, and if so, how many. Chances Gaming Entertainment is a gambling facility located in British Columbia and it is the latest location to ask for legal approval to increase the number of slots it currently has on its floor. The business was making the argument that it needed the approval to increase the number of slots they can have as they see fit. This was an aggressive move by casino operators to use slots gaming to bring in as much money as possible. It would take some doing to change to that level of operations and Canada is not yet at the point where it can allow open-ended gaming for every casino that asks. Chances Gaming officials were hoping that due to their past performance legislators would ok their request and let them write the rules. It is their slots parlor that is the most popular and they have a huge senior citizen following. The seniors have days when they come and specials created just for them to take advantage of the lower-wager requiring games.

Canadian officials didn’t go along with their petition though. They limited the number of new slots they can bring into their casino to two-hundred. This is still a huge number and should allow them to do a lot of promotion and advertising for the change. They denied the idea of giving Chances Gaming or any other location for that matter, the ability to increase the number of slots games they install at free will. Part of the problem was they would have a hard time monitoring the machines to keep track of their own cuts of the games’ revenues. It would be difficult to monitor and make sure that casinos were giving them the right records without a consistent investigation of every location offering slots. This means that Chances Gaming is going to get the increase their slots, but every time they want to they are going to have to through the proper channels and get the approval needed.

If you live in British Columbia, you know have some added options regarding slots gambling. It’s no secret that a lot of money comes in via gambling. States everywhere are looking to capitalize on gambling’s popularity by legalizing and regulating the pastime. When it comes to bringing in money, here’s a good breakdown of how it comes into the British Columbia government.
 
• Lotteries -65 %  
• Raffles and charitable lotteries -56 %  
• Instant win tickets - 37 %  
• Slot machines -26 %  
• Private games -15 %  
• Casino table games - 11 %  
• Electronic Keno and Racetrax -7 %  
• Sports betting -6 % 
• Horse racing -5 %  
• Bingo - 5 %  
 
Slot machines are some of the most popular games and they came in at number four on the list of ways gambling money is generated. At only 26%, slot machines made an interesting showing. Though experts understand that the research is indicative of how gambling has defined itself over the past year, they are also extrapolating further on the data. Lotteries, raffles, charitable lotteries and instant win tickets are all expected to stay pretty stable throughout upcoming years, whereas slot machines are projected to continue growing in revenue. Michael Baldwin, of the B.C. Department of Economics, said, “Slot machines are set to grow in our market the same way they have in other markets. We are ready for growth to sustain bigger parts of our market.”

In other markets, though many industries have suffered as a result of the recession, gambling has managed to continue growth. If you look at its numbers throughout the years, you’ll see how lucrative and sustainable it has proven to be for governments using it to generate more cash. In the US many states are looking to bring slot machine revenue in to help defray huge costs for operations and to minimize the deficit. The recession caused every locale to suffer greatly financially and having a huge deficit is the result. Many legislators are rushing to rewrite laws that would regulate and legalize slots gambling for their jurisdiction. The UIGEA of 2006 was the last law in place to help regulate gambling, but it mostly failed at doing what it was intended. It focuses too much on the financial transactions and the banking industry, rather than protecting the gambling public.

The B.C. Lottery Corp just announced it is releasing online casino games that potentially could bring in over $100 million in revenue by the year 2014.  PlayNow is the platrofm the B.C. Lotter Corp uses and the hope is to utilize PlayNow’s outstanding reputation to capitalize on the huge growth in online gambling.  It’s estimated that residents of British Columbia spent over $80 million on offshore gambling websites. 

Despite the sound of success, the B.C. Lottery Corporation is taking a lot of criticism for the decision of expansion.  Many critics believe that they are opening the door for addictions to run rampant throughout the country.  B.C. NDP critic Shane Simpson stated, “On the heels of a recession, the last thing you want to do is create further financial chaos within the system. If the Lottery Corporation opens the door for a huge surge in online gambling, who is to say that we won’t have more people falling into financial straits…everything from irresponsible job loss to foreclosure.” 

Many countries are expanding their online gambling offerings, but to mitigate damage to communities they are instituting online gambling addiction programs and encouraging people to seek help.  One community in the US is already setting up an addiction program specifically targeted towards online gambling addicts.  Because of the growing acceptance of online gambling and its pending legalization, communities are seeing it as a huge area of problems as it grows.  Simpson added, “It’s the law of averages—if you have a larger pool of people gambling online, you are going to have a larger number of problems as a result.”

Legislators are quick to overlook potential problems, however. This is mostly because of the huge revenue potential of online gambling.  With an estimate of over $80 million in British Columbia alone, law makers know the amount of gambling tax revenues they have access to.  Almost every municipality is toying with online gambling in some way or another and trying to find ways to bring more gambling taxes into the government.  Hopefully, they governments will see the value of taking added precautions regarding online gambling addiction and set up programs to help people falling into it.

British Columbia’s decision to up their maximum bet per week from $120 to $10,000 is still drawing sharp criticisms. In related news, starting in March of 2010 table games including roulette, blackjack and poker will all be available on PlayNow.com, announced the BC Lottery Corporation.  Studies have shown that BC residents spend upwards of $85 million on unregulated offshore online gaming.  Michael Graydon, CEO of PlayNow.com, stated, “Rather than it all going offshore to places like Antigua, there’s an opportunity to keep it here in British Columbia.” 

Like other locations, the online gambling debate is coming down to money.  With deficits at all-time highs, many governments are looking to gambling as a sure fire way to fund expenses. In the recessive economy and difficult market, online gambling has become more and more of a target by lawmakers.  They want to utilize in the millions of online dollars that are being funneled out of the country by online gamers. To do this, legalization and regulation are hot topics for debate. 

Many ethically-based groups are voicing their concerns that governments are looking to profits, rather than the well-being of their citizens by legalizing gambling. In particular, BKs move to up maximum bets from $120 weekly to $10,000 weekly is being sharply criticized.  BC NDP critic Shane Simpson stated that “This has been done with no consultation, as I can see, with people who are concerned about problem gambling.”  He added, “[making weekly betting limits so much higher is] unacceptable.” 

Legislators are defending themselves, however, stating that the proper mitigation tactics are being created for the mix.  One safeguard is building a “24-hour cooling-off” period in which online gamblers can bet.  In addition, there are new therapies being developed for addicted online gamblers.  These provisions are purposely being set up before the betting limits rise.  One casino advocate stated, “We want to be ready for any windfall as gambling moves from an exclusive hobby to a mainstream one.”

In the end, critics are still voicing their opinions loudly.  Bill Thompson, professor of public administration at University of Nevada, feels that “[online gambling is a good revenue] generator for governments but ultimately takes away from the poor the middle-class people who are attracted to the convenience of a website.”