|
 Canada
Becomes a Poker
Nation
Randy Shore of the
Vancouver Sun has
written an excellent
piece on the
emergence, evolution
and eventual
evaporation (or the
3 "E"'s) of online
poker from a
Canadian's point of
view, since so much
of what we read on
the subject
originates from
within the United
States. The
"evaporation" does
not imply online
poker has met its
untimely demise -
quite the opposite
in fact. Shore
is simply pointing
out the process of
elimination,
focusing on how a
number of online
poker enterprises
have removed
themselves from the
U.S. market
following
implementation of
new legal measures.
Still, those legal
measures remain
clouded.
PokerStars legal
eagles, for example,
insist that they
continue to operate
on the right side of
the law. The
privately held
online poker
enterprise still
accepts customers
from the United
States while its
publicly traded
counterparts have
chosen to leave the
market entirely due
mostly to pressure
from shareholders.
Poker is hardly a
crime, unless of
course ESPN, NBC and
nearly every other
big name television
network has entered
the business of
"aiding and
abetting".
These networks
promote
poker-related
television shows
with reckless
abandonment, and
with good reason:
Nearly all the poker
shows bring in high
ratings.
Shore takes a good
hard look at the
global view of
online gambling
beyond just the
scope of the US and
Canada.
How we're becoming a
Poker Nation
Free sites whet the
appetite for
real-money stakes
Global gambling
revenue is estimated
to be almost $200
billion. Because
many of the online
gambling companies
are privately owned
and are not
obligated to publish
their balance
sheets, it is
difficult to know
the exact size of
the industry, but
The Economist
estimated that
global revenue from
online gambling
would hit $18
billion in 2008. So
with a product that
people can use in
their own homes, the
opportunities for
growth in online
gambling are
enormous.
In Canada, the legal
landscape for online
poker players is
murky.
The operation of
legal gambling is
the jurisdiction of
provincial
governments, so
technically any
gambling that is not
regulated by the
province might be
considered illegal.
The Criminal Code
makes it illegal to
be in the business
of taking bets and
to run a betting
parlour, but exempts
bets made between
individuals "not
engaged in the
business of
betting," according
to Terri MacKay in
her report, Internet
Gambling in Canada
Awaits in Legal
Purgatory.
So is it illegal to
play online poker in
B.C.?
Yes and no,
according to
assistant deputy
minister Derek
Sturko of B.C.'s
Gaming Policy and
Enforcement Branch.
The only forms of
gambling that are
allowed are those
authorized by the
province and the
province does not
allow Internet
gambling, he said.
 But
online poker has so
far proven
impossible to
regulate, he said.
No one in B.C. has
ever been charged
criminally for
playing online
poker.
When gambling money
begins to leak
overseas, the
response of
provincial
governments in
Canada has been to
expand domestic
gambling to capture
that "leakage,"
according to policy
analyst Jason Azmier
of the Canada West
Foundation. Azmier
notes: "The
emergence of poker
as a significant
ratings winner for
television networks
underlines the
suggestion that
gambling as a
product is nowhere
near its market
boundaries."
As always, the
Vancouver Sun
delivers another in
depth report on the
online gambling
industry.
The article from
Randy Shore can be
found here.
Find More News from
Gambling911.com Here
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