Ontario aim to cash in on Internet gambling by 2012

Ontario aim to cash in on Internet gambling by 2012

Thursday, 12 August 2010

Following reports of British Columbia’s short-lived foray into online gambling, fellow Canadian province Ontario has made plans to get in on the Internet gambling craze by 2012.

British Columbia had to shut down its poker room only hours after it opened due to severe security flaws and Ontario want to avoid its neighbour’s mistake.


"On the weekend, I watched five poker television shows. I went and looked at a number of online sites from around the world," said Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, proving he may be smarter than most US politicians. "People want this. People enjoy gaming."


According to research by the Canadian government, its citizens spend $1,000,000,000 on online gambling per year with Ontario accounting for $400m of the total amount.


This lead to agreement from Ontario Lottery And Gaming Corporation Chairman Paul Godfrey: "Should we have started before? There will be people on both sides of that issue," he said. "But the fact is, this is the best time to do it because at this point in time, these number [sic] of sites are growing worldwide...they're attracting people each and every day."


Keep up to date with all the news from the poker world by following us on Twitter and Facebook.



Tags: Poker News, Ontario, aim, to, cash, in, on, Internet, gambling, by, 2012