Canadian Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act set to become law

After almost 10 years and two attempts by its proponents, single-event sports betting in Canada is about to be legal. The Senate passed Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, on Monday 22^nd June 2021, by a vote of 57-20. It will become law when the bill gets royal assent.

Once approved, the provinces will have the authority to license and regulate sports betting. It is estimated that $14 billion are spent annually by Canadians through offshore (grey market) or illegal gambling operators.

Until now, bettors have only been allowed to legally wager on two or more games, otherwise known as a parlay. Proponents of legalized sports betting watched two previous efforts to amend the Criminal Code fall by the wayside — first in 2011 and again in 2015. In February 2020, however, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh reintroduced the legislation as a private member’s bill which made it to the Senate more than a year later.

Mixed feedback about the new legislation

Some senators expressed concerns about an increase in gambling addiction and the potential for match-fixing. Lower-tier leagues where athletes aren’t highly paid, could be susceptible to bribery.

“This piece of legislation has many tentacles that could have and should have been looked at more closely,” said Sen. Vernon White, the former RCMP deputy commissioner who proposed the match-fixing amendment and voted against it on Tuesday.

He furthermore said, “I have spoken about match-fixing … and we could speak to areas such as mental illness and the impact micro (or in-game) betting will have on gamblers, the tools used by online gambling infrastructure to ensure a gambler’s continued betting, ethics in sports.”

Single-game betting on pro sports including hockey is coming to Canada after Tuesday’s approval by the Senate. Waugh, a former sports broadcaster, said in a statement that black-market bookmakers and offshore websites “have had a monopoly on single-event betting” for too long.

“I call on provincial governments to act as quickly as possible to get the necessary regulations and licences in place so that all Canadians can begin to place their wagers,” Waugh said. “This bill is a win for Canadian taxpayers, workers and sports fans.”

The passing of this legislation is momentous, and we are confident that Canada will embrace legal sports betting and become a leader in this rapidly developing and cutting-edge industry.

A legal sports wagering environment will also provide a much-anticipated financial boost to pro leagues through partnerships with the books and selling the data they collect from games. CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie told a Senate committee earlier this month that legal sports betting would be an economic tonic for a league desperately seeking revenue sources after missing the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How the Bill C-218 Will Impact Canada?

With Bill C-218 in place, territorial and provincial governments can authorize and regulate single-event sports betting in their designated area. In turn, players will have the freedom to place single-event sports bets in land-based and online gambling companies.

Since the US Supreme Court overturned PASPA – the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, in May 2018, the American sports gaming sector grew by 65%, which is equal to $430 million.

If Canada permits single events sports betting, Canadian gambling revenue will unquestionably rise also.

Sports betting in Canada will be simple to understand with the new act in place and much safer for users to play.

Multiple provincial government candidates have expressed their support for single-event sports betting to be legalized. As such, with the wealth of benefits, it brings the government and public, it’s only a matter of time before the act is permitted.

Implications Of This Bill on Casino markets

Bill C-218, The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, has passed in the House of Commons and awaits approval in the Senate. There are no direct implications on online casinos, except for those that offer also betting as a side business through Increased Sports Viewing Popularity and Advertising Spend.

Bill C-218 can also revolutionize the way that Canadians consume sports. “Imagine in-game betting on your phone while sitting inside an arena (or while sitting at dinner with your family); and a crop of new shows and other sports networks dedicated to betting lines.” This way the casino market may see a reduction in market share lost to betting, soon becoming the in thing to do.

The Festival will feature two dozen Poker tournaments, making it a much welcome event, where new poker players can meet established ones between 20th and 26th September 2021. 

But it’s not just another poker meetup – The Festival also highlights a better range of tournaments than planned for the first edition. This will include Roulette and Blackjack tournaments by Banco Casino Bratislava – read the rules.

The poker tournaments will consist of:

• €550 Main Event with €300.000 Guaranteed Price Pool (GTD)
• Deepstack Side Events
• Highroller Event
• PLO Games
• 8-Game
• Knockout Tournaments
• Possibly Sviten Special (Drawmaha) and Open Face Chinese

For those travelling with partners or who are looking for varied social activities during their stay in Bratislava, the team at The Festival has prepared activities outside of the casino. All package holders can:

• Player Parties
• Go Karting
• Underground Nightlife Tour
• Wine Tasting
• Donau-Tour

More details related to these activities and the event schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

As the casinos continue to flourish the world over the face of the casino industry is changing. The economic fluctuations, the geographical shift in wealth and the emergence and growth in online casinos, have made altered the gaming landscape. Volatile but yet full of promise, Casino world seems like it still has several cards to play. Based on an evaluation of industry trends and statistics revealed by a new study produced by KPMG, I have alluded to the triggers and indicators of change in this constantly evolving industry to provide a deeper understanding of the international casino arena.

There is a global power shift underway on planet casino, as the balance tips towards the APAC (Asia Pacific) region. Economists and technology experts claim to have seen this coming, having predicted this change back in 2011. However it’s only now that the veil of prophecy has been lifted for casino barons and businesses turning this prediction into a reality.

The figures seen in the area are indicative of the accelerated pace at which the APAC region’s gaming industry has grown since 2010. It’s net worth doubled, from $30 million to $60 million between 2010 and 2014, bringing its value almost neck and neck with the US.

As the monetary value of Asia Pacific’s casino industry increased, so do its market share in the international arena. In 2009, the US held 57% of the gaming industry, which was more than double that of the APAC region. However, this margin has shrunk significantly bringing the US and Asia Pacific almost neck and neck with the US holding a 43% market share and the APAC region holding 41%.

So while the US flag is still flying on the largest piece of the global gambling pie Macau has replaced Las Vegas as the biggest gaming city in the world, according to a recent report by KPMG.  However, while Macau may be the new International gambling capital, Las Vegas still houses the world’s most expensive casino CityCentre, which is valued at $9 billion and which has every online casino game imaginable. 

The graphic below provides a snapshot of the changing face of the casino industry worldwide.

When you look at the stats below, Asian casinos are picking up at a rapid pace. In some cases they’re already the biggest in the world.

However, Las Vegas is still the capitol of gambling and USA has the largest gambling market. If you want to learn more about the specifics of gambling in the United States, read through our USA online casinos  guide and prepare yourself to have some Vegas-style fun. 

But for how long will this last?

The trends speak for themselves. Click on infographic to enlarge.

Feel free to share it on your blog by copying the code below and pasting it (don’t make changes, or it could break) in your article:

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Is Las Vegas heading East towards Last Vegas?

While CityCenter has retained its pricy position atop the international casino pyramid (it’s value unchanged since 2010), there is an Asian venue vying for that spot. Singapore’s  Marina Bay Sands is currently valued at $8 billion. That’s quite an impressive rise from the $5.7 billion at which it was valued at in 2010.

Top 10 Most Expensive Casinos

The value of Resorts World Sentosa, also appreciated from $4.3 billion to $5.7 billion between 2010 and 2014; while the value of each Las Vegas Casino remained unchanged.

So, while the US is still ahead of Asia, the question is ‘For How Long?’ The changing  status quo of the land based casinos is evident from the trends illustrated in the figure below.

Note the the stability in casino value in the US vs appreciating value of the casino properties in Asia. 

APAC CASINOS

US CASINOS

So far we have been focusing largely on casino properties or land based casinos, which may give us a potentially skewed outlook of the gaming industry because of the prolificacy of online gaming that could potentially tip the balance once again. The question is will it?

According to KPMG’s latest trends report, the US is the richest potential market place for online gaming. I say potential because the report refers to it as an unrealised market: the departure of numerous players from this geo specific playing field was a direct upshot of legislation that imposed online gaming restrictions. Despite being presented with a study from a lobbying group that demonstrated the monetary advantage of legalising online poker, law makers did not budge. The results of the study showed that it could potentially inject $90 million into the country’s tax vault – More like an unrealised dollar well than an untapped market. 

The Asia Pacific region doesn’t appear to be faring much better with China and South Korea, its largest prospective markets closed to online gaming, according to KPMG. China is an exploding market for internet gambling with gambling woven into its cultural past. Macau has acceded Las Vegas as the world’s most expansive gaming city. Still, online gaming is largely outlawed in the APAC region. 

American players typically go for certain online casino games as well. Online slots, online craps, online blackjack are all immensely popular with the American crowd, with online video poker and Caribbean stud slowly climbing up the ranks as well. If you want to learn more about the legal landscape of gambling in the United States of America, you can read through the different legislations that have been formulated by lawmakers which make online casinos USA what they are today. 

Posted on 26/03/09 – by Theodor Mavrodis

Top Vegas Bets

Professionals and amateur gamblers may not have an equal bankroll or the same amount of skill, but they do generally have one thing in common: They both revel in the thought of winning a life-changing amount of money by placing an extravagant casino bet. And who could possibly blame them? I personally think it’s a dream that most of us have had at one point or another, especially if you frequently enjoy hitting up the casino to play Blackjack online, Slots or any other game of choice.  Below we take you through the top 5 most outrageous casino bets in the history of casino gambling to help inspire you, entertain you and let your imagination run wild. 

5. The Largest Novelty Casino Bet in History

Nowadays, you can bet on basically anything that tickles your fancy- who is going to win American Idol, when life on Mars will be discovered, who will be the next president, literally anything you can imagine. And while these so called novelty bets can be very entertaining, very few, if any, professional gamblers are long-term novelty-bet winners. However, in 1989 an unknown Welshman walked in to his local bookie and wagered £30 on a number of events to happen before the year 2000. These were his forecasts and the odds:

• Singer Cliff Richards being knighted: 4 to 1
• The Irish pop band U2 remaining as a group: 3 to 1
• The soap opera Eastenders still being aired on BBC: 5 to 1
• Neighbours still being shown on British TV: 5 to 1
• Home and Away still being an active TV show: 8 to 1

The odds for all of this to happen were 6,479 to 1, and a couple of days into the new millennium, this lucky Welshman walked down to the local Ladbokes and cashed in £194,400 – the largest novelty bet in history. Utterly astounding, no?

4. Ashley Revell Bets Everything on One Spin

Another person to make it on our list of biggest casino bets in history is none other than Ashley Revel. His story is rather interesting. In 2004, the young Brit decided to get rid of everything he owned. He sold his car, stereo, TV, bicycle and even his clothes. Then he emptied his bank account and his poker bankroll. Altogether he managed to scrape together $135,300.And what to do when you have a bit over 100 grand? Well, as most of us would, Revell travelled to Las Vegas to bet it all on one Roulette spin. Below you can see what happened.

Biggest Roulette Bet 

Yes ladies and gentlemen, he bet it on a single bet on red and won. In fact, he walked out of the the Plaza Hotel & Casino where he was playing Roulette with a cool $270,600. Not bad, huh?

The momentous occasion was filmed by Sky One as a reality mini-series called ‘Double or Nothing’ and it was due to this large life-changing win that Revell was dubbed a professional gambler. Yet, I strongly believe that Revell had Lady Luck’s hand on his shoulder throughout the entire course of the bet.  

Mr. Revell later took on another gamble when he set up an online poker company called Poker UTD. The company later went out of business in 2012. He now owns his own iGaming Recruitment agency website which helps prospective candidates find jobs in the online gambling industry.

3. Johnny Moss Takes on a Fist Fight Bet

Poker Legend Jonny Moss, who is regarded to be the first ever winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, was once standing in a bar talking to a man who claimed that he had never lost a fight in his life. Moss got a proposition from his friends that if he could knock the man out he would get 15 to 1 on his money. It seemed like fair deal. The bet was on and Moss threw a punch at the self-claimed fighting expert.

Naturally it didn’t work. All Moss got was a few broken bones and a trip to the hospital. However, when he came out of the infirmary he didn’t regret his decision: “15 to 1 was too good to pass up,” Moss said.

2. Turning a Social Security Check into $1 Million With the Biggest Blackjack Bet 

In 1995, a less fortunate Las Vegas resident went down to the social security office to cash in a $400 check. His wife had just kicked him out of the house and life wasn’t looking too bright. So rather than sitting on a bench outside feeling all glum, what did the man do? Well, he cashed the check and headed straight for the Treasure Island Casino in Sin City to play Blackjack of course.

According to people that were at the casino that faithful day the man smelled so bad that nobody wanted to be near him, but luckily the cards don’t care about odor. Thanks to his unconventional strategy – he didn’t follow the basic blackjack strategy whatsoever – he managed to win $1 million.

Now one would think that this is one of those rags to riches stories you here about in the media. Sadly, it’s not. What could have been a turning point in this man’s life, ended up being the entire opposite. Unfortunately, the man didn’t stop there. He kept on playing. And as we all know if you keep on playing the casino always wins in the long run. Basically to cut the long story short, in the end the poor Las Vegas Resident remained poor and ended up leaving Treasure Island Casino with an empty wallet.

1. William Lee Bergstrom Bets it All – The Biggest Bet Ever Placed in a Casino 

Casino owner, Benny Binion revolutionized gambling in Las Vegas. Before him, casinos just accepted “small” bets and wanted to slowly but steadily capture every player’s bankroll. Binion, on the other hand, let his visitors’ first bet be their only limit. If you wanted to bet $100,000 on your first Blackjack hand that was totally fine, but you couldn’t raise the stakes later in the session. This was something William Lee Bergstrom wanted to take advantage of.

So on a day in the mid-1980s, Austin-born William Lee Bergstrom walked into Binion’s Horseshoe Casino with a suitcase containing $777,000 (the rough equivalent of $2.31 million dollars today). The man, who later became known as The Suitcase Man, went over to the Craps table and bet it all on the Don’t Pass Line. He won the bet and this was the starting point of an amazing hot streak.

Bergstrom came back a while later and doubled a $590,000 wager, and later a $190,000 bet and lastly he won another $90,000. Everybody there saw that this was a player playing the rush.

Unfortunately, as many casino gamblers throughout history know, the man didn’t know when to stop. One day he stood in the lobby again – now with a suitcase containing one million dollar. He bet the money and lost. The streak was definitely over. Three months later he decided to raise the stakes once again. Bergstrom wagered what he had left in a game of Russian Roulette. He lost. The winning streak was over and he was left with nothing as a result.

Placing The Biggest Bets Ever: To Risk it All or Not to Risk it All? That is the Question 

Feel inspired or just craving a great time at the casino after reading our article? Go on and place a casino bet at an online casino. But don’t be foolish and bet it all at one go. Play the smart way and you might just make it in the online casino player’s hall of fame.