The global pandemic was long and hard and unfortunately isn’t done yet. We still have this hanging over our heads ready to explode anytime, but the world’s best researchers, epidemiologists and virologists are working on this 24/7 and working on a thing that will reduce it to nothing more than just the flu.
The topic of the day isn’t the pandemic and the issues it brought down to all of us it is, believe it or not, gambling. Yes, this pandemic hit every pore of our society even gambling suffered, but not as much as we were all afraid of. When stuff like this happens some people have different mindsets and always think about how can they use the current situation to their advantage in the best way possible.
That solution was online gambling sites that allow you to gamble and enjoy yourself from the comfort of your home. You can play any game anywhere in the world and all of that on your PC, MAC or any smart device you have. Not that revolutionary but very handy for the times we had on our hands.
Today we will tell you about one type of online gambling – online poker and how it is panning out in Canada after this pandemic is easing significantly for the first time in two years. On this as well as other topics regarding online poker you can read more here and if you want to play, you will find reviews of top Canadian online poker sites there as well.
At the start of 2024, there were some stories and rumours that online poker might get regulated in Canada. By February or March, of the same year, the government of Canada came out with the official statement that they plan on forming a regulatory body for these purposes called iGaming. The idea behind this project is the same one they have behind any other online project – protecting the consumer that gambles through private gambling companies. For once this is the regulation all of us online gamblers stand for and should stand behind. With the global pandemic and the boom of online gambling sites, with the breakthrough of cryptocurrencies and markets, we started to become a lot less protected and safe on these online platforms and private companies. People tried to find any possible weak spot in the system and exploit it to their advantage. This is where we saw a bunch of online casinos with shady regulating bodies or worse – without any, racking up huge amounts of clients and then basically bleeding them dry without any responsibility at all. Some had rigged gambling systems and algorithms where you thought you were just out of luck but other things developed behind the scenes. This is where all the governments around the world started paying strict attention and heavily regulating this online industry to make sure that you are protected and that chain of responsibility is not broken.
Let’s not kid ourselves entirely and state that governments are doing these regulations just for the sake of their consumers, there is another side to this coin and it is called taxes. Governments and countries can’t live and function without tax income and if you have found a way to earn money and store it safely without anyone seeing it then you are a threat to that government and you are taking something that “rightfully isn’t yours”. This is where these regulating bodies will come in and save the day. Through different mechanisms, they will send data to the government where they can keep track of the number of accounts on a certain platform as well as the cash flow that happens there as well.
Now when you read this don’t instantly think that there is no way to access good online casinos in Canada. As far as access is considered you’re going to be able to log in to any casino you have been using so far and you should get notified of any terms and services changes. This is it. nothing is limited or changes that significantly impact your gaming experiences or a variety of games online. Some lists are being updated almost daily regarding the best online places you should pay attention to as well as the bad spots you should avoid heavily. Some users rate and comment on their experiences, and there are groups dedicated to finding the best places, with bonuses that are worth your time and money.
All in all, these changes haven’t changed many things at all. They gave you a layer of protection, the managed to get some of these online gambling places in line when regulation and taxation are considered and that is it. everything else stayed the same. You can still gamble online in Canada; you can access some online places outside your country and if you have and know how to use VPN and other geo-location changing apps you can probably access all other sites anywhere else in the world. The only thing you need to do is check if that is OK with the casino you are trying to visit and play at. Breaking their guidelines and TOS will make them withhold all your funds and possibly close your account, which is their full right.
With all said and done we hope you enjoyed this article. We tried to keep it informative and short. We pinpointed some changes that are effective from the end of March this year and we showed you that the changes being made do not affect you or your poker game at all. You got more protection and security as a user, the casino got to enhance their regulating bodies and online security and they will be more taxes from them in the future. Everything else is business as usual and your favourite poker game on your favourite online place is still there for you.
Some of the sites that are hosting tournaments may have also changed some of the terms due to that regulation changes so you should read carefully when you apply for these online tournaments, and try to read up if you are eligible to play and win the prize pool for any out of state online tournaments or international ones. We also heard that there will be some changes there so if you are the one that frequents online poker tournaments keep an eye on that.
