North America Finally Has Regulated Online Gambling Website

Regulated online gambling has been a topic tossed around by North American lawmakers for years to no avail. Recently and finally, the first North American Internet gambling website has been launched, compliments of B.C. Lottery Corp.

PlayNow.com Launch

The website is PlayNow.com and it has been revamped with the assistance of British gaming leader OpenBet. The purpose is to counter the countless gambling websites that are taking millions of dollars annually from British Columbia.

This offers protection to gamblers from illegally-run gambling websites and their corruption that comes from an unregulated industry. PlayNow.com has launched seventy-five casino games for customers to play.

Player Protection and Verification

In the past, lawmakers have expressed concern for their ability to stop minors from gambling on these sites. They are now using a third party verification process which is a pretty sure bet that minors and self-excluded gamblers cannot manipulate the website.

Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman stated that British Columbia is probably the first location inside of North America to offer games. Any revenue from the online casino will be added to British Columbia's general fund.

Broader Implications for North America

It is expected that online gambling regulations will soon become general practice in North America since many US states have already been contemplating possibly allowing regulated online poker. Representative Barney Frank is an advocate for this cause on a federal level. In Canada, British Columbia is just the beginning force of adding online gambling as Quebec and Atlantic provinces have also shown quite an interest.