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It didn’t take long for the state of Ontario to turn an idea into reality. On Monday, the province, which includes one of Canada’s major cities, Toronto, launched its legal online gambling market.

The feedback on the launch has been somewhat mixed. While local companies such as Toronto’s Rivalry praise the move as a step towards putting Canadian casino and betting companies first, gambling addiction experts fear that it will make real money games more accessible to people that should be protected.

Ontario to Follow the UK’s Example on Bonus Offers

To understand the new changes to online casinos and sports betting in Ontario, one must travel across the big pond. In many European countries, online gambling has been legalized for quite a while.

In Great Britain, online casino operators face the harshest limitations through regulation. For example, players cannot use credit cards to deposit or withdraw money from any online casino. Before even playing for real money, they have to go through a lengthy KYC process to confirm their name, age, and address. This also includes an affordability check to ensure players have the financial means to support their gambling habits.

While non of this will be required (yet) in Ontario, the Canadian province did borrow the legislation around bonus offers from the UK’s Gambling Commission. Like Great Britain, Ontario-licensed operators cannot advertise an offer as ‘free’ if players need to risk their own money to qualify.

It means that an online casino cannot promote ’50 Free Spins Welcome Bonus’ if the player is required to make an initial deposit to unlock the offer. 

The rules are rather complex, and casino guides like Casinostoplay.com cover all ins and outs around bonus offers for UK-facing sites.

Strict Rules on Gambling Advertising

Ontario’s licensed operators will also have to prepare for strict limitations when advertising their gambling offers.

For example, online casinos and bookmakers are strictly prohibited from advertising inducements and bonuses to convince players to click through to their websites. This includes targeted advertising and ads that follow a specific algorithm, e.g., so-called retargeting in Google or Bing Ads.

However, gambling operators will be able to promote bonus offers on their websites and through direct marketing like newsletters where customers have given their prior consent. This is different from regulated markets in Europe, where email newsletters are widely prohibited.

Are Problem Gamblers at Risk?

Gambling addiction experts have quickly criticized the new regulations as ‘too lax’ and not thought-through. Do they have a point?

At first glance, gambling regulation is a positive thing. When people risk their hard-earned money, you want to ensure there is no room for abuse. Games should be fair, deposits protected and wins and withdrawals honored. 

At the same time, however, you make online gambling more accessible as regulation creates social acceptance. For that reason, it’s imperative to put programs in place to combat a potential surge in gambling addiction. Here is where addiction experts see a problem and have a point.

Ontario only started its regulation process in 2019 and pushed its legislation through various panels in record time. While restrictions on advertising and limitations on bonus offers are the first step, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) did not seem to consider protecting players who are already customers.

So far, there’s no word on deposit limits, cool-off periods, self-exclusion, or affordability checks – tools and processes to help protect those finding themselves unable to control their gambling habits. Addiction experts, therefore, seem to be correct in their argument that the regulation process is a good start but hasn’t been thought through before launch.

Unlicensed Operators are Here to Stay

One major goal of any regulation is to push unregulated businesses out of the market. In Ontario, however, it doesn’t seem to happen anytime soon. 

Different from markets like the United States, Australia, and Russia, the AGCO hasn’t announced yet how they will handle casino sites that do not obtain an Ontario license. Typically, you would have to go after the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and request to block access to websites from IP addresses within the regulated region. However, putting these processes in place takes time, so one should expect to see a flourishing gray market for online casinos and bookmakers in Ontario for the first couple of years at least.

But even then, gambling regulation doesn’t seem to be successful at erasing unlicensed operators in general. Sticking with the example of Europe, there’s been a surge in illegal gambling activity in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Spain due to limitations that many gamblers find too strict. In some instances, even the regulatory bodies recognize there’s a problem.

For example, the British Gambling Commission (BCG) has recently warned against intrusive affordability checks during the Grand National, the nation’s most important horse race. In an official statement, the BCG says that these checks would undermine the customer experience and push punters to black market sites. According to the Commission, an estimated £5 million is already set to be staked on unregulated bookmaker websites.

Gambling Regulation Needs to Balance Protection with Experience

Reiterating the above, gambling regulation is generally beneficial to the customer. It aims to protect deposits and withdrawals and ensures that games are fair to both the operator and the player. Further, regulations prevent bookmakers and casinos from exploiting their customers, especially those that show signs of problematic gambling behaviors. 

However, looking at other regulated markets, it becomes evident that regulatory bodies need to better balance protection and customer experience. Gamblers want to play, and they will; thus, introducing rules that ruin the gambling experience will sooner or later push these players into the unregulated gray and black market.

Ontario is still in the early days, and there’s hope that the Canadian state will learn from other countries’ mistakes and, over time, introduce rules that create a fair and fun yet safe online gambling experience. If this is the case, there’s no doubt other Canadian provinces will follow Ontario’s example very soon.