Recently, iGaming Ontario released its first quarter report on the state's regulatory market for online gambling. According to the summary, local players invested much more money in online casino games than they did in sports-related betting. 온라인카지노사이트 The iCasino segment generated C$11.6 billion of total volume, while sports betting accounted for C$2 billion.
The province opened its online gaming division for private operators on April 4, 2022, allowing licensed brands to legally offer casino games, sports betting and poker to local audiences. Supervised by Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission and subsidiary iGaming Ontario, the total bet volume for the first quarter of this fiscal year was approximately C$14 billion.
The report summarizes that online casino gaming won C$11.6 billion of the betting volume in the quarter. These include slots, live and computer-based table games, peer-to-peer bingo, and more. Sports betting and poker handled C$2 billion and C$350 million in gaming revenue. Together, these three bring in $545 million in gaming revenue.
However, some experts, such as Nigel Turner, a scientist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health located in Toronto, are concerned about iGaming's growing popularity. He noted that the region is awash with sports betting ads, arguing that the growing popularity could cause more people to have gambling-related problems.
But Andrew Kennedy, the attorney general's spokesman, said the state invests C$31 million annually to tackle gambling. More than C$25 million is spent on treatment programs and the rest is spent on education and prevention efforts. Turner reminded gamblers that it is important to know that there is always a way to get help.
Andrew Kim, an assistant psychology professor at the Metropolitan University of Toronto, said the new figures give an impression of how much eye-gaming is being done, unlike before the regulatory sector began. He is worried because the iCasino service is available 24 hours a day, unlike sports betting where professional sports events are held at a certain time.
David Hodgins, formerly a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Calgary and co-coordinator of sports betting at the Alberta Game Lab, has developed in a way that is now quite similar to slot machines due to its availability and ability to bet on almost anything. Saying that both products have similar addictive properties to players.
Michael Narain, an associate professor at Brock University's Department of Sports Management, noted that sports betting may have caught the eye of experts, but according to him, it is a red flag because casino games are the bigger culprits. This is due to continuous availability and essentially being able to play games anywhere and not requiring much time.
