Today the Canadian province of British Columbia will become the first jurisdiction in North America to legalize and regulate online gambling. Today Rich Coleman, Minister of Housing and Social Development, along with British Columbia Lottery Corporation President Michael Graydon are expected to announce 75 new online games to be launched on the BCLC’s website, PlayNow.com.

Last August, in an effort to increase revenue for the province, the government decided to increase the individual betting limit on the lottery website from $120 per week to $9,999 per week. Once that limit was increased, letting residents spend almost $10K every week on the lottery website, the next logical conclusion was to add casino games. Today we will see that next step.

The 75 new games to be added to the BCLC’s website will include online blackjack, poker, roulette and more. The websites were taken down yesterday for the switchover and are scheduled to be re-launched by noon today.

The Lottery Corp’s website will include sophisticated programs to ensure that only people of legal gambling age play the new online games and to provide security against cheating and identity theft. In addition, it will have easily accessed links to support programs for problem gambling.

In addition to establishing online casino games in British Columbia, the B.C. Lottery Corp. is working with other provinces in an attempt to bring a nationwide online gambling network to all of Canada. Already, Quebec’s lottery corporation is expecting to launch an online gambling website this fall. Other provinces may soon follow the lead of British Columbia and Quebec.

Tags: Briths Columbia Lottery Corporation, British Columbia online gambling, Canada online gambling, Canadian online gambling, online casino, online gambling, PlayNow.com

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