Industry Reports

British Columbia Launches First Regulated Live Dealer Casino

Online gambling has a firm grip on the gaming industry and it is certainly here to stay. The online casino industry appeared to be a hot topic for regulators and people all over the world. The budding online gambling industry has been criticized by many as people had doubts over the actual fairness of the games.

With the advent of technologies, online gambling industry found a way to bust all myths related to the dark side of the industry. Consequently, the concept of a live dealer casino continued to gain popularity and more companies have started to introduce new games.

On Wednesday this week, British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) officially announced that its provincially-run PlayNow.com online gambling site has launched the first live dealer casino in British Columbia. The website offers a rich selection of 10 gaming tables. Players can play live baccarat, blackjack, roulette, auto roulette and baccarat eSqueeze from any location for real money.

Players can easily reach the games via desktop and mobile channels. Here it is important to note that the online live dealer casino is available for 16 hours a day, and more precisely from 10 am to 2am. The casino is powered by the worldā€™s leading live dealer casino supplier Evolution Gaming. Last April, Evolution Gaming entered the Canadian market after signing a five-year deal with BCLC. Under the deal, Evolution Gaming agreed to stream video of 10 actual tables in real time.

Canada Sets the Stage for Online Gambling

In Canada, online gambling is often described as a ā€œlegal grey areaā€. The truth is that no offshore websites are allowed to target Canadian players, unless authorized by the government. Some of the provinces operate their own online casinos, which are approved by the government. In that sense, players are allowed to place wagers over the Internet through such approved betting outlets.

Nowadays, a growing number of players prefer to play in an online casino, as it saves time, traveling costs and hours of waiting in the land-based casinos. These are only some of the benefits of playing in an online casino. Online and land-based casinos each have advantages and disadvantages. But experts believe that it is only a matter of time for the online casinos to take over the traditional brick-and-mortar gambling establishments.

It is not a secret that the expansion of the gambling industry worldwide is intertwined with the broad economic effects it brings with it. Legalization of online gambling industry has been, and still is, a slog in many countries, but it seems that the stage is already set for the online gambling industry. Many regulators decided to abandon the hostile attitude towards online gambling, that was mainly ignited by their prejudices.