Search
Choose a style
Dark
Light

Highlights from New Horizons in Responsible Gambling 2021: Player Health Reboot: Resetting the Future

BCLC

More than 320 attendees gathered virtually for BCLC’s ninth-annual New Horizons in Responsible Gambling Conference on March 9 and 10, 2021. Delegates and speakers logged on from across British Columbia and Canada, the United States, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, England and Macau, among many other locations, to participate in 14 sessions addressing topics and findings around the theme: Player Health Reboot: Resetting the Future.

Keynote speaker Futurist Sanjay Khanna kicked off the conference with his address, Foresight in Gambling Innovation.

Khanna detailed the converging-crisis era the globe is grappling with: large-scale environmental and societal changes and how this era will impact the future of the gambling industry. Khanna’s address intertwined how influences like climate change and the proliferation of smart phones and social media will affect player health, social resilience and the future concept of play. He offered suggestions for how operators, product designers and policy makers can use technology, innovation and diversity to ‘reset’ and prepare for a future that is positive, resilient and sustainable.

“Bringing together new creators and inclusive design to the context of disruption is hugely important,” Khanna said. “Player health needs to be player health by design and built in at the early inception of new products and services…What we might want to see out of all of this, is a vision for diverse and inclusive play in gambling.”

In her session, Is it Gambling? Breaking Down Esports, Video Games & Social Games, Dr. Brett Abarbanel, Director of Research at the International Gaming Institute at University of Nevada, Las Vegas examined the definition of gambling and how elements of gambling and chance appear in unexpected ways in video games, esports, virtual reality and other applications.

“What do you think of when you think of the word, gambling?” she asked attendees. “A casino game, a slot machine, a poker game, the flipping of a coin at the start of a sports game, or when you role the dice in a board game?” Dr. Abarbanel examined how regulators in jurisdictions worldwide are examining these questions in determining the legality of emerging video-gaming elements like loot boxes.

“Game developers, toy designers, spectator-engagement tool creators who are putting these things together, may not even realize the potentially legal and certainly social ramifications of even just adding a simple random number generator to their games or other gambling-like elements.

“How we define gambling really starts to come into play,” she said.

In Breaking through the Sludge, Understanding Human Behaviour, Bing Feng, Senior Research Associate at Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman School of Management, discussed how gambling operators can address ‘sludge’: broadly described as any intervention that impedes positive-decision making, the opposite of a ‘nudge’.

“Reminding people of their goal, or making their goal more salient will increase their motivation to work towards it,” she said of one approach to encouraging healthy play.

Feng highlighted recent research drawing similarities between effective tools used to increase financial literacy and positive gambling behaviours, including: setting limits, tracking behaviours impulse control, risk perception and alternative activity-seeking.

“Key behaviours can help us design better interventions and solutions,” Feng said. “Sometimes we just need to pause, and take a moment to see what we can improve and how we can make things easier and better for our end user.”

In addition to these sessions, New Horizons offered participants sessions on the emerging risks associated with self-directed investing (day trading), a discussion around the regulatory practices of sports betting and how responsible gambling can catch up with the rise of cashless technology.

To stay connected with New Horizons and for information about future virtual sessions, please visit https://horizonsrg.bclc.com/.

SOURCE: BCLC

British Columbia Casinos Pass One Year of Closure With No Firm End Date in Sight

By Tom Nightingale

For British Columbia casino operators and gamblers, the waiting game continues.

Last week saw the marking of one year since casinos were last open in the province. All land-based gaming facilities were ordered to be shut down on March 16, 2020 as the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic began to become clear this time last year.

B.C. has taken perhaps the hardest stance on land-based gaming of any Canadian province or territory or any U.S. state throughout the pandemic. While other provinces like Ontario have gone through numerous reopenings and closures in line with health advice and regional changes to the COVID-19 framework, B.C. has opted for a blanket approach.

Interim British Columbia Lottery Corporation CEO Lynda Cavanaugh says BCLC is anxious to reopen casinos and is working closely with the provincial government to achieve that aim. There is currently no target potential reopening date, but she hopes that COVID-19 vaccine progress will accelerate the timeline.

“We provided what is a very robust health and safety protocol plan to both the provincial health office and WorkSafeBC quite some time ago,” Cavanaugh told NL News. “Since then, we’ve continued dialogue towards (reopening). Our casinos are set up now for reopening… And we’ve been optimistic all through this past year that that might happen sooner rather than later. But regardless, whenever that does happen, we’re ready.”

Meanwhile, Stewart Groumoutis, director of eGaming operations at BCLC, said earlier this month that the Crown is cooperating with industry regulators, WorkSafeBC, and the provincial health officer on working out a possible reopening date and working conditions. He says all parties involved are aware of the need to reopen and that discussions about it are very positive.

Concern over vague timeline

However, for many mayors in the province, the lack of specific timeline is a concern.

A letter on behalf of 13 mayors in B.C. was sent to Premier John Horgan earlier this month, stressing that the mandated closures “have had and will continue to have a lasting impact on workers and their families, in all corners of the province. To make it worse, they still have no indication of when they might be able to return to work to provide for their loved ones.”

The letter continued: “Other provinces and territories in Canada have managed to have their gaming industries operate without incident throughout the pandemic, with the safety of patrons and workers coming first and foremost. Our residents continue to face difficult and uncertain times as a result of the closures, with no indication of when they might see a reliable paycheck again.

“The safety of casino workers and patrons is paramount. We urge you to look at other provinces and territories for best practices on the reopening of casinos in developing a plan for British Columbians to safely return to work in this important sector to our communities. Workers and their families deserve to know what the Province is doing to get them back to work as quickly and safely as possible.”

When gaming does reopen, as in other provinces, there will be plenty of changes, the kind of which have become the new standard across the gaming industry. Cavanaugh says there will be Plexiglass at tables and slot machines and slots will be spread out two metres apart. Plexiglass will also be set up anywhere where a player might interact with a staff member, and there will be sanitization stations, constant cleaning, and directional signs on floors. Masks will have to be worn indoors at all times.

Many casinos, including Cascades Casino in Langley City, have already begun implementing those changes.

Tanya Gabara, public relations director of Gateway Casinos, which operates that venue, noted that B.C. is the only jurisdiction in North America that has “completely refused to permit casinos to re-open, even in a restricted manner, during the pandemic.” She added Gateway was able to reopen multiple casinos with capacity restrictions, barriers, and physical distancing measures in Ontario and Alberta in October and November 2020 and again in early February, without seeing any instances of the spread of COVID-19.

“We believe that the Canadian gaming industry is a demonstrably safe indoor entertainment option that provides a vital alternative to indoor gatherings and other social interactions that are aggravating the spread of COVID-19,” she added.

Data shows that nearly 37,000 people were employed through B.C.’s gaming, entertainment, leisure and hospitality sectors pre-COVID-19, including over 10,000 people directly employed by gaming operators in casinos, community gaming centres, bingo centres, and horse racetracks.

Segev LLP: Equipping the gaming industry with expertise

By Tom Nightingale

Gaming is a nuanced and unique industry, and that is reflected in the extensive and varied work of Segev LLP.

The team operates in a range of fields and has built an esteemed reputation as a world leader in gaming and betting law. “We love this industry and we’re deeply embedded in it,” partner and co-founder Ron Segev tells Canadian Gaming Business.

Ron stresses that while the firm bears his and his twin brother and partner Alon’s surname, it’s a much larger united effort. “We have a seven-strong dedicated gaming team that has largely been in the industry for almost 16 years,” he explains. “We’re a firm packed full of people who understanding gaming very well.”

The firm’s work in the Canadian and U.S. gaming industries to date has been comprehensive. It has helped U.S. gaming groups obtain remote licensing and payment processing solutions and assisted companies in locating gaming and betting development infrastructure in Canada. In its home province of B.C., it has aided several multinational gaming companies with their applications to become suppliers to BCLC and its PlayNow.com brand. Another notable example has been helping a large online gaming tech solutions company align its Canadian operation with federal law and foreign licensing obligations.

That only scratches the surface, but it goes some way to help understand Segev LLP’s reputation in the gaming field.

Adapting with industry change

The core focus of Segev LLP’s work is in the perpetually evolving field of iGaming. The firm’s iGaming team deals with issues including IP commercialization, privacy and data, and regulatory and compliance, and also includes a securities division that handles IPO and RTO work on Canadian capital markets. Ron himself, while adept and experienced in other areas, has been a specialized iGaming lawyer for more than 10 years, assisting online and social casinos, sportsbooks, and daily fantasy sports and eSports clients, among others.

Ron is highly aware that he and his team must constantly adapt to keep pace with the rate of change in the industry, specifically citing iGaming in Ontario, sports betting across the country, and cashless gaming and technologies and the operational and security factors that lie therein.

“The firm has grown to serve the evolving needs of the gaming industry,” Ron acknowledges. “When I set the firm up eight years ago, I was originally doing commercial work and licensing compliance work because that’s what people required. As the industry’s needs matured, we started hiring around that. There’s been so much activity on the public markets side, so four or five years ago we started a securities practice. We go where the gaming industry takes us, we’re quite happy to follow.”

In recent years, that has also led to considerable focus on the eSports side. Segev LLP was one of the first Canadian law firms with a dedicated eSports practice group and has worked closely with many leading Canadian eSports companies and numerous video game studios.

“Since the repeal of PASPA, we’re seeing a real bleed between traditional video gaming, gaming, and betting, and that’s being furthered by eSports,” says Ron. “There are big challenges, like getting regulators comfortable with operators taking bets on ‘smaller’ eSports tournaments. The eSports competitive landscape is vast: there are tournaments happening all the time on amateur platforms. It’s cool to see how this is moving forward. I think we’ll continue to see more of a bleed between sports betting, sports media, sports entertainment. The West Coast is an interesting place to be from that perspective.”

Key to Segev LLP’s work is being open to anything. As the industry moves forward, the firm prides itself on problem-solving. As Ron notes, “it’s not very helpful to say ‘no’, so we make it our mission to figure out how to get to ‘yes’.”

Nurturing the future

As part of that forward-looking approach, Segev LLP is also putting its time and efforts into preparing for the future of Canadian gaming, which includes joining the Canadian Gaming Association.

Not only does the company make it a point to keep up with an ever-changing industry it also embraces a role of teaching and mentorship. Segev LLP has worked with the University of British Columbia’s video game professor Jon Festinger and graduates of the school’s video gaming courses which help to train and prepare students for careers in game design, writing, and programming.

“There’s a conduit of young fresh talent immersed in this space,” notes Ron. “These are people who essentially grew up with a game controller in their hand and for whom eSports isn’t a standalone topic, it’s just life. We have young lawyers coming through that program all the time. We train them in legal best practices, and they bring us what’s new and what’s happening in the industry. I think we’re very lucky to have that relationship with UBC students. Innovation is very much youth-driven right and so we build from the bottom.”

The law firm has also worked with the Centre for Digital Media (CDM), which offers a two-year diploma program as a joint venture between Simon Fraser and Emily Carr universities, Vancouver film school, and British Columbia Institute of Technology. Segev LLP has also done significant work with start-ups and growing companies, particularly in the B.C. area. One of those is recent CGA member FansUnite, which was a client of Segev’s very early in the company’s history and has already become a big success story in the market. “It’s super fun to mentor and work with groups like that and see them achieve their potential,” says Ron.

Moving forward, Ron says he hopes joining the CGA – a move he calls “long overdue” – can be the beginning of a fruitful two-way partnership. Ron: “Joining the CGA is long overdue.

“There’s a real money gaming and betting hub out West and we feel we help to serve as the eyes and ears for the CGA here,” he concludes. “Not just Vancouver; the Pacific Northwest is a really important market. We feel we can support CGA initiatives out here but also have that flow both ways.”

CGA President and CEO Paul Burns has called Segev LLP “a go-to source” for information on finance, technology, and digital programs and services in the gaming industry and stressed “it’s been terrific to share the stage with them.”

It’s a partnership that both sides are looking forward to continuing.

Follow Segev LLP on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn

Responsible Gambling Council Partners with Entain for Ontario iGaming and Betting Research

Global sports betting and gaming entertainment group Entain has announced its non-profit foundation will fund research conducted by the Responsible Gambling Council into consumer practices, preferences, and behaviours in Ontario as regulators prepare to legalize gaming and sports betting for the first time.

As Bill C-218 looks to pave the way for the legalization of single-event sports betting across Canada, and Ontario considers liberalization of its provincial iGaming market, the research project aims to draw on consumer insights in Canada and elsewhere to help regulators to make balanced and appropriate recommendations.

A key focus will be on ensuring those recommendations balance the mandates of online operators with the identified behaviours and risk factors for consumers.

The research will use a same group of around 4,000 adult bettors and gamers to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of responsible online sports betting and gaming needs and interests. The work will also review other key international jurisdictions to assess regulatory approaches to identify effective responsible betting and gaming practices.
Research is expected to begin shortly with the full report due later this year.

Ontario is expected to become the first Canadian province to introduce online gambling, with a view to initial licences potentially being granted netx year.

Shelley White, CEO of RGC, said: “As a global leader in responsible gambling, RGC is committed to working with regulators, operators and the public to establish the development and implementation of a robust responsible gambling culture. RGC’s work with Entain will contribute to vital advancements in consumer safeguards.”

Martin Lycka, Senior Vice President for American Regulatory Affairs & Responsible Gambling at Entain, added: “We know from similar research in many markets in which we operate, including the United States, that regulators value research which supports an evidence-based approach to decision-making and effective regulation from a wide range of other international jurisdictions. Entain, which operates across five continents and over 20 countries, has unparalleled experience with different regulatory approaches taken around the world in the past 15 years. “

Entain operates across five continents and over 20 countries and has experience with different regulatory approaches around the world in the past 15 years. The company has already expressed interest in applying for a licence in Ontario if, and when, they are available, and recently extended its iGaming partnership with Scientific Games.

SOURCE: Entain

Sports Bettors More At Risk of Problem Gambling Than Other Gamblers, Says Study

A new study published by the University of Guelph has found that sports bettors are exponentially more prone to develop problem spending habits than other gamblers.

The study, led by professor of psychology Harvey Marmurek and co-authored by Master’s students Katrina Olfert and Alysha Cooper, studied 1,280 self-identified gamblers from the wider Ontario region. Participants in the study were surveyed for their motivations, cognition, and impulsivity. From this number, 596 confirmed that they had engaged in sports betting activities as recently as the last year.

Those who had bet on sports were then asked to give themselves a rating based on the “known” signs of addictive and/or compulsive gambling, which include placing big bets in a state of excitement, acting more impulsively than normal when it comes to betting on sports, and experiencing relationship, financial, or even health issues because of individual gambling habits.

Marmurek said that the survey found that sports gamblers, who mostly fall into the category of young males, are more prone to higher overall bouts of impulsivity. This particular group also happens to be more involved in sports in general and are also much more vulnerable to compulsive betting on sports. “They tended to rate higher on just about everything,” Marmurek said. “They are higher on intellectual challenge as a motivation, for example. They are also higher overall on impulsivity.”

The research concludes that sports betting itself isn’t problematic; more so the personality and characteristics of the individual bettor. “They are more likely to say that they stick to it because they think they are going to win…” Marmurek said. “All gamblers think that there is likely more harm than benefit. But sports gamblers have a more positive attitude overall so their rating of ‘do the harms outweigh the benefits,’…is lower than for non-sports gamblers.”

Marmurek stresses that the study proves that proper and freely accessible education around sports betting is key at a time when it looks as though Canada may finally legalize single-event sports betting and continue to expand the wider sports betting market.

Bill C-218 is currently being debated in the Senate after passing at the House of Commons.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) recently launched #bettersportsbetting, a campaign aimed at amplifying the voices of Canadian sports fans that want to speak up in favour of legalization of single-event sports betting in Canada.

In a statement, the CGA “urges the Senate to continue to deal with Bill C-218 as expediently as possible given the groundswell of stakeholder support and Canada’s lack of safe regulated sports betting options when it comes to single-event sports betting.”

Watch the full 2021 Virtual Canadian Gaming Summit: Facing The Future TOGETHER

The Canadian gaming industry reconvened virtually on June 9-10 for the 2021 Virtual Canadian Gaming Summit with so many things to talk about.

The theme of this year’s Summit was Facing the Future TOGETHER, recognizing the industry’s position today and where we may go from here. Th Summit featured keynote presentations, education sessions, supplier technology sessions from prominent and expert presenters covering key topics based on today’s gaming industry environment while also looking ahead.

You can now watch the full extensive Summit programming at canadiangamingsummit.com. Find the sessions from Day 1 of the Summit here, and Day 2’s sessions here.

The Canadian Gaming Summit is the only conference and trade show in Canada that serves the entire Canadian gaming industry. The annual event is built on its extensive educational program, developed by industry educational program committees representing all facets of the industry.

In advance of the two-day virtual Summit, a series of pre-Summit webinars were also delivered in April, May, and June.

The below webinars can be watched on-demand via the links:

The remarkable resilience our industry demonstrated this past year – reconfiguring of business operations to manage closures, reopenings, and closures again – is proof of the strong leadership and dedication of employees and companies across the country.

Everyone at Canadian Gaming Business, MediaEdge Communications, and the Canadian Gaming Association understands how challenging and unprecedented the current situation is, and we want to ensure that we can help prepare the industry to safely and gradually re-open as the situation allows.

In the meantime, stay safe.

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Chuck Nervick, Senior Vice President of MediaEdge Communications, at 416-803-4653 or [email protected].

HookMotion’s table-tracking software optimizes your casino’s operations

The Canadian gaming industry is taking leaps forward when it comes to integrating technology and gaming. But, as the gaming experience moves with the times, security, surveillance, and casino optimization are in danger of being left behind.

Montreal-based company HookMotion are making it their mission to avoid that from happening and bring casino monitoring up to speed with industry developments. The computer vision company’s Table Motion solution provides table-tracking technology that monitors casino table games with a key focus on reducing fraud, reducing errors, limiting losses, and increasing revenue for operators.

Noting that casinos have been estimated to be losing tens of thousands of dollars monthly on tables due to human error, co-founders Matthieu Clas, Dominic Morin-Proulx, and Samy Zarour identified the need for modernization when it comes to security and surveillance.

“Stereotypically, we believe what we see in the movies: that security systems in casinos are really high-tech,” notes Clas. “In reality, we learned attempted fraud detection is often still just people watching hours of video and taking notes. We knew there had to be a better way.”

That’s when the trio decided to build their vision. HookMotion’s computer vision software connects to a casino’s existing camera infrastructure to automatically track table games. Casinos tend to have extensive camera systems above table games; the disconnect is with what happens to the footage, how it’s analyzed and utilized.

“It’s very important to us that we don’t bring in any extra hardware or cameras to these table games,” says Clas, noting the cost and time-consumption factors that would entail. Instead, HookMotion’s technology simply connects to the existing cameras and automatically detects the positions of cards and chips on the table, how many people are playing, who’s winning or losing. The software is able to run completely in-house, meaning no information ever needs to leave the casino and thus ensuring maximum data security.

The results of the system are wide-ranging. There are clear error detection and prevention benefits, like the ability to notify security or floor staff if there is human error on the table or if someone isn’t playing by the rules.

It’s not just security, though. The technology allows for the tracking of gameplay, yielding key insights like how many people are playing at any given time, win/loss ratios, hands per hour, player rating and dealer rating systems, and increasing operational efficiency with automated alerts.

In turn, this allows casinos more insights into when to lower or raise minimum bets, open or close tables, and other movements. “Because we have a good understanding of the table, we can extract any information that the casino might find relevant,” says Clas.

Part of HookMotion’s rationale in looking to avoid the need to add extra cameras or systems is that Canadian and U.S. casino markets have been noted as lagging behind other jurisdictions like much of South-East Asia when it comes to hardware on tables. Instead, their mission statement is to offer an easy and simple installation. HookMotion’s offerings allow operators to bypass the need for numerous single-objective technologies with the added benefit of allowing for the gathering of more data than if multiple hardware was being added to tables.

The company has already carried out proof-of-concept testing in Canada on single casino tables and is now doing wider trials in multiple countries including the U.S. The ultimate aim is full deployment on multiple tables in numerous jurisdictions, with the technology running full-time to assist casinos and operators.

“Our main objective is to make cameras smarter, reduce losses by catching fraud and keeping money on the table, and increase revenue by giving better data so casinos can optimize their games,” says Clas. After all, knowing your casino’s most popular games and harnessing player information has never been more important than in the pandemic era of changing habits and slimmer margins.

As casinos continue to open up and welcome back players across the country, HookMotion has the answer to your security, surveillance, and operational needs. It’s time to bet on data.

Find out more at HookMotion.com.

Play Alberta Shuffles Deck to Include Live Dealer Options

Play Alberta, Alberta’s only regulated online gambling website, is expanding entertainment options for its users starting March 11. In addition to the pre-existing choices of slots, instants and virtual table games, players will now have access to table games with live, professional dealers.

Play Alberta’s live dealer experience will have several different games for players to access, such as Roulette, Baccarat, Infinite Blackjack and Ultimate Texas Hold’em, with plans to add more games in the future. Players will be able to play and interact in real-time through a chat function with professional dealers. The games will be streamed in 1080p quality video to players’ mobile and desktop devices.

AGLC’s responsible gambling program, GameSense, continues to be an integral part of Play Alberta. The website integrates tools and resources utilized on GameSenseAB.ca and the ability for players to set reality (time) checks and deposit limits that encourage healthy gambling choices.

Play Alberta is accessible to Albertans over the age of 18 and physically located within the province’s border through browsers on desktop, smart phones and tablets.

The new live dealer function will be provided through Evolution Gaming, which also suppliers live dealer options to government-run online gaming platforms in British Columbia and Quebec, as well as several other global gaming institutions.

AGLC is mandated to ensure the province’s gaming industry is carefully managed so it can maximize the benefits to Albertans. In 2019-20, over $1.4 billion in net gaming income was generated for the General Revenue Fund, which is used to support programs and services that Albertans rely on every day.

SOURCE: AGLC

Luckbox Excited to Help Drive Canadian eSports Growth in 2021

By Tom Nightingale

The gaming industry keeps moving forward, and eSports is the newest kid on the block.

Luckbox, a new member of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA), has kept a keen eye on Canadian gaming developments for the last year. In light of the latest steps in sports betting and iGaming, the business sees the expansive nationwide eSports market as a hive of opportunity.

“We know that eSports is a large and growing market in Canada, and fans are demanding betting on matches,” CEO Quentin Martin tells Canadian Gaming Business. “We’ve built such a fantastic North American and primarily Canadian investor base and we’re so optimistic about this community, it has such fantastic eSports grassroots programs, companies, and venues. We can’t wait to work with this infrastructure – Canada has huge potential as a licensed market.”

Built by veterans

Luckbox’s mission statement is to offer players a unique and legal platform built on real-money betting, live streams, and stats on all major eSports and traditional sports for both desktop and mobile. It offers a B2C platform and leverages shared technology, data, and resources, as well as a custom-built in-house interface, to provide an extensive range of betting options for eSports tournaments. As Martin puts it, their intention is to provide solutions for “eSports betting done right.”

Luckbox was built by a team that boasts vast experience in the iGaming industry, including veterans of PokerStars and the Stars group. Martin himself was an esteemed professional gamer as a teenager, rising to UK number one, a position he replicated in Canada during his time in Vancouver. Briefly world number three, he then became a professional poker player for about eight years. The former PokerStars Head of Social Gaming explains his personal aim was to take that gambling pedigree and experience and create something unique, appealing, and lasting.

Luckbox started out in the Isle of Man around three years ago, co-founded by Martin’s former PokerStars colleagues Lars Lien and Mike Stevens. Combining the expertise of Martin and his colleagues with a passion for online gambling and sports, the company has grown rapidly. Today, it serves eSports fans in more than 80 territories worldwide, and in November 2020, the company was named Rising Star at the EGR Operator Awards.

Taking advantage of a surging sector

By 2021, eSports is nothing new.

The shift towards online and mobile gaming has been prevalent for years leading up to this point, and Gen Z, the latest generation of gamers, engages more frequently and prominently with eSports than ever before.

“Esports has come a long way from professional computer game tournaments,” notes Martin. “There’s now very much a thriving betting scene. It was a bit of a Wild West a few years back, essentially made up largely of betting on in-game virtual items. It’s moved on remarkably since then.” He adds the eSports industry has been growing 25 per cent year-on-year for the last few years, while eSports betting is at 44 per cent growth year-on-year, according to Goldman Sachs.

“If you can put those two together, and it’s a massive single revenue stream in eSports,” Martin says.

Indeed, Luckbox observed the spike in players shifting from betting on sports to eSports in 2020 and has grown its customer base on its eSports betting platform by 500 per cent. As with the entire gaming industry in 2020, Martin notes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic must be considered: “With the pandemic, eSports just exploded.” says Martin.

Eyes on Canadian growth

With the developments in advancing single-event sports betting and iGaming that have been in the works in recent months, Martin and his team are turning their eyes to their Canadian operation. Once it can become available in Canada, Luckbox will be a fully licensed eSports betting platform offering wagers on a variety of popular eSports markets around the world. It has, says Martin, one of the widest offerings of matches, titles, and markets to bet on in the world, and also now offers betting on over 100 traditional sports. Later this year, the company hopes to add casino to its portfolio.

“In this space in the industry, there are a lot of older companies with outdated interfaces,” notes Martin. “Ours is simple, enjoyable, easy-to-use, and attractive. We speak the customers’ language in today’s world, that’s really our main value proposition.”

Martin emphasizes that Luckbox has “a real passion” for Canada, too, demonstrated by the fact that its parent company, Real Luck Group, is now headquartered in Calgary, as well as by securing membership with the CGA.

It’s well-documented how large the offshore market is estimated to be in Canada, and the CGA and other industry advocates have been consistently vocal on the clear benefits offered by the legalization of single-event sports betting and the further liberalization of provincial iGaming markets. In short, the message has been that Canada is missing a huge opportunity right now, and Martin subscribes to that viewpoint. Luckbox hopes to see the provinces work with companies like itself to bring revenues back to the legal market. “It has to be a collaborative approach,” Martin stresses. “We want to proactively contribute to the Canadian market, and we hope to be a prominent part of that collaborative future. If the massive jurisdiction of Ontario leads the way with a particularly liberalized market, we’re hopeful other provinces may follow suit.”

Martin emphasizes that having worked with multiple jurisdictions around the world on licensing, Luckbox knows the impact of having an authoritative body lobbying on behalf of the industry, embracing new developments, and helping to shape responsible gaming and the path forward should not be understated.

Martin notes the company is joining the CGA at a “key inflection point in the Canadian betting industry.”

“We hope we can help empower the CGA as well as get the benefits,” he concludes. “We see membership as a badge of honour and trust and a way to show the seriousness of our intent.”

Follow Luckbox on Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn

Torstar Corp. to Launch Online Casino

Torstar, the owner of numerous media outlets including Toronto Star, has announced it intends to enter the online gaming market.

The corporation announced earlier this month it is aiming to launch an online casino betting brand in 2021, pending approval from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

“As an Ontario-based media business and trusted brand for more than 128 years, we believe Torstar will provide a unique and responsible gaming brand that creates new jobs, offers growth for the Ontario economy, and generates new tax revenue to help support important programs in our province,” said Corey Goodman, Chief Corporate Development Officer at Torstar, in a statement.

Right now, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is the only operator approved to offer online gambling in Ontario. But the provincial government has promised to open up the market to private operators in its most recent budget, enacting legislation that gives the AGCO the authority to issue licences to private companies.

The company cited government data that shows Ontarians spend about $500 million a year on online gambling. The vast majority of that goes to grey market websites based outside Canada, where there is less legal and regulatory scrutiny, and the revenue does little to stimulate the Ontario economy.

“We want to ensure the new marketplace is well represented with a Canadian, Ontario-based gaming brand so that more of our players’ entertainment dollars stay in our province,” said Paul Rivett, Chair and co-owner of Torstar. “Doing this as part of Torstar will help support the growth and expansion of quality community-based journalism.”

In a press release, Torstar announced it has assembled an “iGaming team” to head its expansion into the market. The team includes Gil Steinfeld, a marketing strategist for several U.S.-based gaming operators; Don Bourgeois, former General Counsel for the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario; and Jim Warren, president of Riseley Strategies Inc., a Toronto-based business consulting firm.

Rivett said the gaming site will include casino games and sports betting.

“We want to offer online gaming in a reasonable and responsible way,” he said. “It’s something that, if done responsibly, allows people to partake in their form of recreation and entertainment without making bad decisions.”.