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 The British Columbian (B.C.) government released the first government-sanctioned online casino in North America on Thursday. The new PlayNow.com web site will offer blackjack, sicbo, craps, baccarat and other table games to Canadian players. The money earned through the site has been promised to social programs, health care, infrastructure, and education and the government seems to be happy with their decision.
Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman said prior to the site's launch British Columbians spent nearly $100 million a year on illegal offshore gambling. He hopes that the site will be able to keep some of that money inside of B.C. instead.
"Online gambling is a $20 billion dollar global industry and its here to stay. It's unreasonable for BCLC to stand on the sidelines at the expense of revenues for BC," said Coleman. "We want to ensure money gambled in British Columbia stays in the province to benefit British Columbians...We're going to redirect that money towards a variety of programs and services that support taxpayers and result in better health care, higher education and improved infrastructure."
In order to access the site players will need to be 19 years of age or older and live in B.C. When players join the site there will be a third-party validation and cross-referencing process to ensure that players are who they say that they are, that they are of age and that they are not a part of a self-exclusion program.
"PlayNow.com also offers the most control with our responsible gambling initiatives," said BCLC President and CEO, Michael Grayson. "It is one of the most closely monitored parts of our business with numerous safeguards to provide player security and encourage responsible play."
Already more than 140,000 British Columbians have registered account with the site and the site is expected to add online poker to their game offerings sometime during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Stay tuned for more news and updates.
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