MONTREAL – As online gambling becomes entrenched in Canada, consumers will be able to access poker games and the like while on the go, an industry expert told an international Internet gambling conference in Montreal.
Loto-Quebec, B.C. Lottery Corp. and Atlantic Lottery Corp. will launch a common electronic platform this fall, Bob Rybak, a gaming consultant working with Atlantic Lottery reminded conference delegates.
"We believe the other provinces will join this some time in the future," Rybak told the Global iGaming Summit & Expo, which wrapped up Thursday.
"We see a Canada-wide" operation, he said later.
In an interview, Rybak said that he expects the expansion to occur within 18 months, with Western Lottery Corp., followed some time later by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp..
"The only issue really is a political one," said Rybak, adding that provincial elections may be a factor in determining when announcements are made.
Canadians spent an estimated $800 million in 2009 gambling online with "the vast majority of that money going offshore," he said. Provinces want to divert some of that cash to their own coffers so lottery corporations will offer "a legal and credible" option to gamblers in their jurisdictions, he said.
Among the operational advantages to a Canada-wide online network would be the expanded pool of poker players.
The state-sanctioned online operations will compete with operations that have been building their brand and offerings for years, Rybak noted. They also offer huge pools of players across all time zones.
In a bid to be "competitive and credible," the provincial lottery corporation partnership has hired industry experts to help and are focused on convergence.
Rybak showed more than 100 delegates from Canada, the U.S. and Europe a video in which people were using mobile phones, laptop computers and terminals at lottery kiosks to access a library of online gambling offerings. It was a vision of gambling-on-the-go.
Unfettered wireless devices such as the iPad will be added to the mix as they become more commonplace, Rybak said in an interview. Atlantic Lottery wants to offer its players as many options as possible, he said.
Loto-Quebec in not now working on developing multiple platforms or offerings designed for mobile devices, spokesman Jean-Pierre Roy said Thursday.
"The only joint venture is the platform we will share," Roy said. Quebec’s first offering will be poker, followed by sports betting.
Rybak and other conference speakers stressed that public acceptance of online gambling will be linked to the operators’ ability to ensure underage players cannot access the sites. Another public priority revolves around measures to identify and help problem gamblers.
"Safeguarding the players means safeguarding our industry and our livelihood," said Hillevi Stuhrenberg, manager of responsible gaming for Betsson, a Swedish group whose interests include gaming licences in Malta.
Like their offshore competitors, Canada’s gaming corporations will use geo-locating software to ensure gamblers are actually within their jurisdictions. Even more sophisticated software will help determine the gambler’s identity. As one conference speaker put it, a person who seeks to disguise his identify most likely wants to steal from the operator.
Jeff Derevensky, co-director of McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling and High Risk Behaviours, referred to the online industry’s arsenal of technology in his presentation.
"You have the opportunity to do (consumer protection) better than other forms of gambling," Derevensky said.
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