Ontario residents will be able to gamble, buy lottery tickets online by 2013

Ontario gamblers will soon be able to purchase lottery tickets and play poker games for money from the comfort of their homes. CTV News Toronto reports that the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) will offer these services to Ontario residents by the end of the year. They will also soon be able to play online slots and place bets on other games from their smartphones, as OLG plans to extend its services to handheld devices within the year.

"People have said that they want to make sure they get paid when they play internet gaming, and that is one of the things they can trust with OLG in terms of the safety, security and the responsible gaming aspect of it as well," OLG spokesman Tony Bitoni told CTV reporters, according to StandardBredCanada.

CTV reports that casinos in Ontario have a shared annual revenue of more than $3.3 billion, which is about what the lottery brings in as well. OLG predicts that the revenue will be vastly increased with the addition of online gambling options, and the industry could make as much as $100 million per year within the first five years of online regulation.

Do you think Ontario's bid to regulate online gambling will be successful? Will the addition of online gambling options encourage American officials to consider legalizing online slots and other forms internet-based casino games?

Published on 9 February 2012