Mobile Casino Gambling Coming to British Columbia Lottery
Posted: September 19, 2011
Updated: October 4, 2017
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation contemplates taking online gambling to the next level with mobile offerings
Residents living in the province of British Columbia have been enjoying online casinos in Canadafor some time now, thanks to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) website. Now there is a widely supported proposal to introduce mobile casino games in order to boost tax revenues.
We have already reported on the BCLC’s intention to introduce mobile casinos in Canada in the (Canadian BC Gambling Powerhouse to Enter Online Mobile Casino Market) article. This time there are reports of BCLC turning to mobile applications developers for a unique mobile gaming platform solution. This is a direct confirmation of the corporation’s plans to introduce a mobile casino.
According to BCLC around 3,000 members already use their tablets to access their online casino. Although BCLC’s online casino operates under Canadian gambling laws, there is still a large number of players, accessing foreign mobile casinos, due to absence of Canadian offerings.
Naturally anti-gambling supporters rushed to criticize the plans, stating that mobile devices are primarily favored by younger generation, and there’s a danger of increase in problem gambling.
The president and CEO of BCLC, Michael Graydon, told Canada gambling news that his company’s decision to go forward with mobile casino gaming is simply an answer to growing demand. He said: “We’re not creating the channel. We are responding to a channel that exists today.”
He continued: “A majority of the 2,000 websites that are illegally operated in this country and accessible here in British Columbia have mobile applications today. We’re one of 2,000, with the difference being that a lot of the safeguards around age verification, responsible gaming and those types of components are forefront in our site.”
CEO also told reporters that currently BCLC is moving ahead with designed a special application that will allow gamblers to self-exclude themselves from the company’s site. The app is scheduled to go live next spring.