A year after the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation launched its PlayOLG gambling website, it announced that it is to introduce a brand new product intended for people who prefer gambling from their mobile devices.
The special app would give gambling customers the chance to play some of the most popular games and gaming titles featured on the website, with online slots, blackjack, and poker being among those. In addition to this, the service will allow Ontario-based players to play poker against opponents from other Canadian provinces. It is important to note that the PlayOLG online casino does not offer such an option at present.
PlayOLG was launched on January 8. The website was Ontario’s first foray into the constantly growing online gambling industry. When introduced in 2015, the site was welcomed with mixed reactions. Supporters of online gambling pointed out that more than 500,000 Ontarians already gambled on gray market sites, which resulted in up to C$500 million in lost revenue. According to them, with the PlayOLG online gaming site, the money would go to provincial coffers.
One year after the product’s launch, OLG spokesman Ryan Bissonnette said that they are all pleased with the results and that more and more people are playing the online casino games and are buying lottery tickets online.
Under OLG’s initial business plan, the corporation was expected to generate C$89 million in online gambling revenue in 2015. However, Mr. Bissonnette did not reveal how much exactly the OLG received from the Internet service.
Generally speaking, the OLG is a Crown-owned gaming corporation that annually returns up to C$2 billion to the Ontario treasury. First talks about the introduction of online gambling within the province’s borders started more than four years ago. In fact, the Ontario government had initially hoped to launch the PlayOLG site back in 2012.
The introduction of online gambling was seen as a means to recover budget deficits caused by the global recession and to boost local economy. Commenting on why the site was eventually launched in 2015, Tony Bitonti, a spokesperson for the OLG said in 2014 that they wanted to make things right and to avoid mistakes made by other provinces where online gambling had been legalized.
