A report by CTV News reveals the Queen’s Park press conference will commence today to examine the topic of “modernising lottery and gaming in Ontario” and will include discussions from Finance Minister Dwight Duncan and OLG Chair Paul Godfrey. Further details about what will be discussed at the press conference have not been released but it is thought that it could potentially bring betting closer to home.
Ontario has been pondering whether to make changes to its current gambling laws for some time in a bid to exact more profit from the industry. CTV Toronto’s Queen’s Park bureau chief Paul Bliss reported last month that the OLG would allow residents to purchase lottery tickets online by the end of the year.
There’s also exciting news for smartphone bettors in the province as the Crown Corporation is also expected to let gamblers place bets from iPhones, BlackBerries and computers by this time next year.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has said online gambling is worth about $500 million in Ontario, but all that money currently goes to offshore betting sites. As a result, the agency has recently sent out proposal requests for help setting up and running online games such as video poker and video slots, as well as lottery ticket sales.
According to CTV News, Ontario’s casinos take in approximately $3.3 billion every year, while lotteries and bingo net another $3.3 billion. Will the added option of mobile gambling help boost the province’s gambling revenues even further?
