This is despite the entire U.S. casino gambling industry (factoring in both live and online) being more than four times as large as Canada’s. Nationwide, the Canadian gambling industry is worth roughly $15 billion annually, according to data from the Canadian Gaming Association. Slot machines, otherwise known as VGTs, the lottery and casinos generate the bulk of that revenue.
Still, research has shown that about 10 percent of Canadian adults gamble online for real money. According to a study by
GamblingCompliance, provincial lottery corporations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec have begun to aggressively broaden their online footprints. Just a handful of years ago, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation launched the first government-run internet casino in North America.
In 2011, Canada had a major milestone when British Columbia and Quebec agreed to pool internet poker liquidity, which has led to other provinces collaborating with one another. Around that time, poker was significantly the most popular form of online gaming in the nation.
Poker Casino Canada
Years later, Nevada became the first U.S. state to legalize online gaming, but it was just poker. In 2015, New Jersey’s online casino games industry generated about $150 million in revenue, which was more than 90 percent of the entire regulated American market. Nevada doesn’t even release online poker revenue numbers because the market is too small.
Canadians have embraced the benefits the online gambling industry has provided them. A lot of online casinos have become popular nowadays because of the fact that gambling laws in Canada are more relaxed than most countries. The public also strongly supports the right to play online.
In addition to poker, online gambling in Canada includes sports betting, slots, bingo, blackjack, roulette and many others. Americans can’t even bet on sports in a brick-and-mortar setting outside Nevada and Delaware.