The shadowy world of online gambling wants to go legit, and the world's virtual casino barons have come to Montreal to help make it happen.

The sixth Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo that kicked off yesterday at Palais des congres is making self-regulation its theme.

The goal: regulate this $12-billion (U.S.) market before politicians do.

"We're not in this to make a quick buck," said Roger Raatgever, chief executive of Microgaming, a leading gambling software developer in the Isle of Man. "We want this to be a sustainable, credible industry."

Thousands of online casinos operate in a legal limbo - running websites in island havens but marketing to countries where it's outlawed.

GoldenPalace.com, better known for its publicity stunts, is hosted across the Mercier Bridge in Kahnawake, today a major online gambling jurisdiction.

The reserve declares itself a sovereign territory, and therefore immune from Canadian laws.

Gambling critic Sol Soxenbaum says the Kahnawake grey zone is one reason the convention is held here.

"If it was held in the U.S. the FBI would round them all up and arrest them," said the president of Viva Consulting, a lobby group for problem gamblers. "If we can have a conference in Canada where online gambling is illegal, that sends a very strong message about our values."

Police authorities have claimed for years to be investigating the casino server farms in Kahnawake, but have taken no action.

"They just don't have the desire to have another confrontation," Soxenbaum said.

Governments elsewhere have been poring over ways to stop online gambling, claiming it's rife with credit-card fraud and underage betting.

Industry-appointed watchdogs, like eCOGRA, already exist to ensure online casinos are trustworthy and accountable.

Raatgever said this self-regulating trend can both stem government encroachment and build a strong industry reputation by shedding light on its nature.

"This is an incredibly complex business," Raatgever said. "You have e-commerce, cross-border issues and gaming all rolled into one."

Online gambling is expected to double by 2010. The industry sees it as a matter of time until governments give in and accept online gambling as a reality. Britain has, Raatgever said, and is set to legalize gambling next year.

The American Gaming Association, a casino trade lobby, called for a study to see if online gambling can be legalized and regulated for that country's estimated 8 million online gamblers.

Canada has no shortage of government-run sites where people can place bets. In British Columbia, Soxenbaum said, shoppers at drugstores and supermarkets can play keno every five minutes.

"Our government is addicted to revenue and an addict never cares about the consequences," he said.

rocha@thegazette.canwest.com

Monday Apr 17, 2006 nyt Is Poker Losing Its First Flush?Three years into the poker boom, TV executives are betting that the game has real legs, even as some viewers are folding.

Monday Apr 3, 2006 nyt Puzzles, Origami and Other Mind-Twisters A recent puzzle makers' gathering allowed mathematicians, game-players and magicians to revel in life's paradoxes.

nyt The Math Whiz vs. the Media Moguls in a Battle for Millions Henry C. Yuen is in a protracted legal struggle with Rupert Murdoch over Mr. Yuen's management of Gemstar and its troubled accounting.

Tuesday Mar 14, 2006 rci SAN JOSE: COSTA RICAN POLICE ERR IN RAID ON CANADIAN BILLIONAIRE
Costa Rican police appeared to have made an error when they searched the home of Canadian billionaire, Calvin Ayre, near San Jose. They suspected that Mr. Ayre, the operator of an online gambling website, was actually holding a poker tournament in the house. Mr. Ayre denied that there was any gambling going on in his home. Police seized a laptop computer and some computer discs during the search on Friday. The incident might have hinged on confusion between real and Internet gambling. They found a television crew filming a reality show segment featuring a party at the house. The party scenes were to be used as scenes depicting the tournament. Casino gambling is illegal in Costa Rica. Mr. Ayre was recently the subject of a feature story in the American business magazine, Forbes.

Saturday Mar 11, 2006 ts Cyber bookie joins billionaires' club
What are the odds? If anyone would know, it would surely be Calvin Ayre, the lad from Lloydminster, Sask., who is Canada's newest billionaire. Tim Harper reports.
PDF Internet Gambling

Monday Feb 6, 2006 nyt Seeking New Sources of Money, Charities Get in on Poker Craze
By JODI RUDOREN
Rushing to cash in on the Texas hold 'em craze, charities are using poker events to raise money, in some cases ignoring state laws that outlaw such gambling.

Monday Feb 6, 2006 nyt Wave of Video Game Fatigue Afflicts Sales, Not Thumbs
By ROBERT LEVINE
There is a concern that the video game business is not growing beyond the subculture of hard-core gamers.

2005

Tuesday Nov 22, 2005 nyt Celebrities Taking a Gamble
By MATT RICHTEL
Online casinos are signing endorsement deals with celebrities, but the stars could be putting themselves in legal jeopardy.

Sunday Oct 2, 2005 nyt LAS VEGAS BETS THE HOUSE
Perched in a Gilded Cage, Singing for Supper
By FRANK BRUNI
Who needs jet lag? Stars like Celine Dion and Barry Manilow learn to leave the grind of the road to become a tourist attraction.

LAS VEGAS BETS THE HOUSE
Live on the Strip: Broadway's Second City
By JESSE GREEN
Vegas is becoming more and more a Broadway town while Broadway is becoming more and more a gamble.

Thursday Sep 29, 2005 ts Tighter controls urged for gambling
The provincial government needs to up the ante in dealing with problem gambling, including new laws and more education programs, says a wide-ranging report.

Thursday Sep 15, 2005globe Lawmakers OK Control of Video Game Sales
California lawmakers have approved a bill that would ban the sale of violent video game to minors, but Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position on the legislation.

Friday Aug 19, 2005 ts Lotto spends $400,000 to fight $100,000 claim
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. spent more than $400,000 of taxpayers` money in a court battle over a $100,000 claim that ended up being settled at the last minute.

Thursday june 23, 2005 gaz
"New casino? No dice!" Quebecers, on average, lose $462 a year each on everything from roulette to lottery tickets. That's a pittance compared with the $886 oil-rich Albertans gamble away, but it's still way too much.

Thursday Jun 23, 2005 rci MONTREAL CASINO COULD BE RELOCATED AS PART OF 1G$ PLAN
The Montreal Casino could be relocated and expanded as part of a 1-Billion dollar project put forward by Loto-Québec, a state corporation that has jurisdiction over all gambling activities in the mainly French-speaking province. World-renowned Cirque du Soleil is also involved in the project. The Casino's new home would be closer to downtown Montreal and would feature a permanent show by Cirque artists. A 300-room hotel and 2,500-seat theatre are also planned. The project would create some 6,000 jobs. Loto-Quebec is now waiting for the go ahead from the provincial government, but a decision is not expected until next year.

Thursday Jun 23, 2005 rci OTTAWA: CANADIAN GOVERNMENTS GET 13G$ ANNUALLY FROM GAMBLING
The gambling industry in Canada has been a financial bonanza for provincial governments. That's according to a study by the Canada West Foundation, which says governments depends on the annual 13-Billion dollar industry for additional revenues. The report says profits from gambling in Canada are approaching those from taxes on fuel, liquor and alcohol. Critics of the booming gambling industry in Canada have called on governments to stop further expansion until the social impact of gambling can be better assessed.

Monday Jun 6, 2005 rci The province of Manitoba, in central Canada, is going ahead with plans to expand gambling facilities on its territory, even though a recent study shows that, along with the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan, it has the highest rate of gambling addiction in Canada. Experts point out that the two provinces already have very high concentrations of permanent casinos and video lottery terminals (VLTs). Still, last year, Manitoba installed more than 5,000 new VLTs while a new casino will open on a native reserve by the end of the month. Critics of the government are condemning the move, but Manitoba claims the positives continue to outweigh the negatives. Meanwhile, several other Canadian provinces such as Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland, have taken steps to reduce the numbers of VLTs they operate by up to 30%, or to restrict their availability.

Thursday Apr 21, 2005 globe
On-line gambling sector is cashing in Burgeoning business has piqued investment community's interest

Thursday Apr 14, 2005 ec
Online gambling Jokers wild
Who was really the winner from the WTO's gambling decision?
GAMBLING is not prohibited by the Ten Commandments, nor is it one of the seven deadly sins. Still, America bans almost all forms of wagering when it happens by phone or internet, on the grounds of protecting “public morals”. That ban violates free-trade rules for services, complained the islands state of Antigua and Barbuda to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). On April 7th, a WTO appeals panel reached a decision that both sides have claimed as a victory.

Saturday Mar 19, 2005 ts
Poker deals its new face
For some, the game conjures images of underground basement clubs and all-night sessions. Others think about glamorous women in evening gowns hanging over the shoulders of tuxedoed men, pondering the platinum baubles those winnings will buy.

Monday Mar 7, 2005 rci OTTAWA: MAJORITY OF CANADIANS OPPOSE CARD GAMBLING ON INTERNET An opinion poll shows that 56 per cent of Canadians think that offering poker gambling for money on the Internet is unacceptable. About 25 per cent approved it. The poll by the Decima agency indicated that Canadians were quite uneasy about Internet casinos, expressing worry about the possibility of addiction and poor regulation of video lottery terminals. Among those who described gambling regulation as very poor were those in Atlantic Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where video lottery terminals are widely found outside casinos and racetracks. Internet casino games can only be operated in Canada by provincial governments. About half of Canadians polled said that they thought that addictive gambling was a serious issue.

Sunday Oct 24, 2004 ec In A Spin
The British government's sensible plan to liberalise gambling is being vilified from all sidesMbr>LOCKING up foreign terror suspects indefinitely without trial causes barely a stir. Breaking a promise to replace the House of Lords with a democratically-elected second chamber leads to a few mutterings from civil libertarians. But let the British government suggest that people should be able to gamble a little more freely and the wrath of the nation's press descends on it in equal measure from both right and left.
Britain's gambling laws date from the 1960s. Things have changed a little since then, which is one reason why the government thought the existing laws could do with a little updating. Another is that they are silly. Casinos, for instance, are for members only; and punters must join up 24 hours before they are allowed to place a bet.

Sunday Jul 18, 2004 MONTREAL: QUEBEC VIDEO LOTTERIES EARN RECORD PROFITS
Quebec's provincially operated video lottery terminals, VLTs, had record profits in 2003-2004. VLT's made CDN$1.128 billion, an increase of 4.8 per cent over the previous year. The increase came despite the reduction of one thousand VLT's across the province. The provincial government requested the reduction in an effort to reduce the number of cases of compulsive gambling that were being widely reported in the media. The increase in profits was explained by the fact that almost all of the VLTs in use are new. Two months ago, the provincial lottery agency, Loto-Quebec, announced that it would reduce the number of VLTs in bars and in poor areas by one third within three years.

Sunday 25 Apr 2004 cbc
MANITOBA MOVES TO RATE VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES Manitoba could become the first province to rate all video games, making it illegal to rent or sell adult-rated games to people under 18.

2003

Monday Dec 15, 2003 OTTAWA:
ADDICTIVE GAMBLING WORSENING
There's a report that the problem of addictive gambling is Canada is getting worse. It comes from the federal collector of data, Statistics Canada. The agency's report says that one gambler in four playing at video lottery terminals is either addicted to them or is at risk of becoming so. StatsCan says that men, natives and the poorly educated are most likely to play compulsively at VLTs. The report says that the western provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, where there are numerous natives, have the highest numbers of addicted gamblers. The document estimates the numbers of Canadians who have problems with gambling at 1.2 million. The supervision of legal gambling is a provincial jurisdiction, but both provincial and federal government profit from its proceeds. The study says that 19 million Canadian wagered $11.3 billion last year, four times the figure for a decade ago. In Quebec, the provincial government has revealed that one problem gambler commits suicide every two weeks.

Jan 30, 2003 nyt TOP COURT BACKS TOWNS IN FIGHT WITH VLTS The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed a Manitoba law that gives communities the right to decide whether to allow electronic gambling machines in their towns.

Friday, 3 January

Strike it lucky People can be taught how to improve their luck, a psycholoigist says

2002

Tuesday Dec 31, 2002

I'm Mark, frag me Online multiplayer gaming is more than enough fun for anyone

Sunday Dec 1, 2002 cbc
AD PULLED FOR MAKING GAMBLING LOOK LIKE A VIRTUE Loto-Quebec has pulled a television ad after critics accused it of making gambling look like a social virtue.

Monday Nov 11, 2002 MONTREAL: LOTO-QUEBEC TO EXPAND MONTREAL CASINO The government agency that administers gaming activities in Canada's second largest province wants to change the way Quebeckers gamble. Loto-Quebec wants to reduce the number of video lottery terminals in bars and restaurants from 3,200 to 1,900 over the next six months. It plans to limit the number of V.L.T. machines to ten per establishment and to move the rest into the province's four horse racing tracks. Loto-Quebec chairman Claude Fregon says the move will reduce accessibility and compulsive gambling and give Quebec the lowest number of V.L.T.s per capita in Canada. At the same time, Loto-Quebec plans to spend $470 million redeveloping Montreal's casino. New facilities would target so-called high rollers or big spending gambler from outside the province. Mr. Fregon wants Loto-Quebec to depend less on local gamblers for its revenues and to generate more money from other Canadians and Americans.

Sunday Nov 10, 2002 QUEBEC TO BUILD NEW CASINO, REMOVE SOME VLTS Loto-Quebec says it is going to reduce the number of video lottery terminals in the province and build a new casino.

1/Sep/2001 PROVINCES RAKING IN BILLIONS FROM GAMBLERS
Provincial governments are bringing in almost as much money from gambling as they are from cigarettes and alcohol combined. That's the finding of a report released Thursday by the Canada West Foundation.
/gambling

Wed 7/25/01 6:18 AM Strategy First chief loves gaming sites By: MARK STACHIEW
Don McFatridge is president and co-founder of StrategyFirst.com, a Montreal computer gaming company.
Some of its titles include Waterloo, Clans and Man of War II. He notes that the computer gaming industry is very competitive and online feedback is essential to his company's success.

Click Here for all 53 Screenshots of games -

Go Back | Go Forward