Tag Archives: online gaming
Canadian Lotteries to Offer Online Poker
Canadian Lotteries to Offer Online Poker
Canadian lottery players will now be able to play one of the most popular online games-poker. Some Canadian lottery corporations are starting to offer players safe and regulated online poker. Once confined to the shadowy world of online gaming online poker has gained some measure of respectability in recent years. Loto-Quebec is the latest lottery to announce the addition of an online poker website that will launch in the fall. Loto-Quebec says the new website will counter the many illegal gambling websites and expects to make about $50 million by 2012.
The new website will be launched by Loto-Quebec and Atlantic and B.C. lottery corporations. The Atlantic and B.C. lottery corporations already have their own online poker operations. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation has operated an online gambling website since 2004 and allows players to purchase online lottery tickets in addition to poker. The B.C. lottery website offers online poker allowing players to bet as much as $9,999.per week. The B.C. lottery website also sells online lottery tickets. The industry expects big bets to translate into big profits for the lottery corporations
Some Canadian provinces are taking a wait and see approach to online poker and gaming. Kevin Van Egdom, with the Western Canada Lottery Corp stated, “Nothing has been written off forever, but we have no plans to do that.” The Western Canada Lottery Corp provides lottery services for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Van Egdom further stated, “We’re responsible for offering lottery games and selling lottery products through authorized retailers, where you buy them in person. Each region makes its own decision and Quebec’s doesn’t play into ours.”
Ontario Gaming and Lottery Corp. is also taking a wait and see approach. The company says it has spent a ‘considerable amount of time’ investigating the possibility on online gaming and online lottery tickets. Ontario Lottery spokesman Rui Brum said that “No decision has been made,” and that it would be up to the new board of directors whether the lottery will offer online gaming.
John Kennedy FitzGerald, the CEO of the Vancouver-based Interactive Gaming Council says he hopes that government sanctioned lotteries offering gaming is a step towards regulation of the online gaming industry and not a step towards a government monopoly of the online gaming sector. FitzGerald stated, “It’s a natural progression for governments to be more involved. At least we have the government saying they recognize the industry and know it’s here to stay.”
Big revenue in online poker
Making $10,000 a week signing up poker affiliates and selling books on how to beat the online game, one poker book author realized he was still missing the big picture.
“Book sales opened the door for bigger and better things. I started promoting certain key poker sites and before I knew it, I was receiving checks for tens of thousands of dollars on a monthly basis simply for referring players. Top poker affiliates are making well over $100,000 a month. Anyone who has a highly visited website can find success with online poker. All it takes is posting a poker site link on your successful website and you are on your way to referring players. This is known as affiliate marketing. However, it didn’t take long before I realized I was still missing the boat being an affiliate. Starting an online poker room could be key.”
Starting up, maintaining, and marketing an online poker room isn’t cheap. It typically takes a commitment of millions of dollars. To survive and succeed in this market you must have player liquidity. This means when you want to play poker, there better be plenty of players and tables waiting for you to join their game. The best solution to this obstacle is to join a poker network. This is a series of online poker rooms that pool their players together into one online environment.
Some of the largest networks are OnGame and PlayTech. OnGame represents Poker Room, Hollywood Poker, Bwin, Chan Poker, EuroCoral Poker and more. PlayTech is known for Noble Poker, Titan poker, and more. Ironically, Coral and Euro Poker were originally on the Party Poker network. Party Poker booted them when they realized their software was running out of room to handle ALL of the players.
Online poker is a $6 billion dollar annual industry growing every day. Online gaming will be almost a $25 billion dollar a year industry in less than 3 years. There have been some recent laws banning gaming in the US, but thanks to key broadband expansion on a global basis, these figures will hold true regardless of whether or not the US is allowed to be a part of the market. You can legally own and operate an online gaming site, even if you are a US citizen. 11 states in the US have further restrictions. Until the US law changes, you simply don’t want to take US players. There’s still plenty of other countries and citizens out there that you can legally sign up. There are many niches in the world of online gaming.