How to reach Online Casino BC
At this time you cannot reach us. Sorry.
What does the BC government expect to make on this online casino deal?
Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman said British Columbians spend $100 million a year on illegal, offshore gambling sites and he wants to see that money spent in B.C. instead.
There are more than 2,000 "illegal" online gambling sites, Coleman told a news conference on Granville Island.
"Of these websites, not one is accountable to the residents of British Columbia, not accountable to the players that play on their sites and not accountable to the laws of this country," he said.
He insisted the money collected on the government run website will go to social programs, health care and education.
On the site, users can play in five categories including casino, bingo, sports, lottery and games.
In the casino section, players can choose to play blackjack, sicbo, craps and baccarat, among others. Poker is expected to be added next year.
Only people who live in British Columbia are able to access the site and users must be 19 and older to play.
Michael Graydon, president of the B.C. Lottery Corporation, said the government is conducting a review of the program that should be complete within a year. There are about 6,000 people in the program. He did not see a problem with rolling out the new online casino while a review of the self-exclusion program is pending. "It is still a responsibility that rests with the individual to take action, so from this perspective we are only dealing with 6,000 potential customers within our business at this point ...," he said, noting "today there are over 24 million visits to our facilities."
The government said safeguards in place to help people with addiction problems include reminders on screen about the risks, easy access to odds and factual game information, a session log displaying the amount of time players have spent online and a player pre-set deposit limit. Registered members whose ages and addresses have been verified will be allowed to spend up to $9,999 a week. The amount was dramatically increased last August, up from the earlier $120-a-week limit.