PlayNow.com

Last updated
PlayNow.com
PlayNow.com Logo - BCLC Online Casino.jpg
Type of site
Online casino
Owner British Columbia Lottery Corporation
URL www.playnow.com
Launched2004

PlayNow.com is an online gambling website owned and operated by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC). Launched in 2004, it first expanded into online casino games in 2010 offering online table games, slots, and sports betting. The site has since expanded into other provinces in Western Canada, as part of partnerships with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation and the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA).

Contents

History

PlayNow first launched in 2004, initially allowing users to purchase BCLC lottery products online. [1]

In July 2010, PlayNow added online blackjack, craps, and roulette, becoming the first legal online casino in Canada. BC Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman stated that the service aimed to provide a legal alternative to unregulated online gambling services, so revenue could stay within the province and support local causes. [2] [3] The service cost $7.3 million, and was developed with OpenBet. [4]

Shortly after launch, PlayNow was taken down for maintenance. The operators initially stated that its servers had crashed due to high demand, but later stated that the site had been taken down due to a security flaw caused by the load and a "defect in the error handling logic", which caused users to gain access to other users' accounts. The BCLC stated that 134 accounts had been affected by the issue. On July 27, Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham stated that the BCLC had agreed to keep PlayNow offline until an independent review is completed. [5] The service resumed operations in August 2010. [6]

In February 2011, PlayNow added online poker; via a platform operated by gaming vendor GTech, games would be linked with Loto-Québec's Espacejeux. [7]

In January 2013, PlayNow expanded to Manitoba via a partnership with the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation. [8]

In November 2022, PlayNow launched in Saskatchewan; it is operated in partnership between the BCLC and the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), as part of an agreement reached with the provincial government in 2022. [9] [10]

Player safety and security

Gambling education and resources are embedded into PlayNow.com, [11] including:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookmaker</span> Organization or person that takes bets on sporting events

A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.

A video lottery terminal (VLT), also sometimes known as a video gaming terminal (VGT), video slots, or the video lottery, is a type of electronic gambling machine. They are typically operated by a region's lottery, and situated at licensed establishments such as bars and restaurants.

Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communications services, including landline telephone, mobile networks, broadband internet, IPTV, and security services. Through a subsidiary, SaskTel International, the company has also worked on telecom infrastructure projects in countries such as Argentina and the Bahamas, as well as being the lead implementation company for the communication and control systems of the Channel Tunnel between England and France.

Online gambling is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for the Liechtenstein International Lottery in October 1994. Today the market is worth around $40 billion globally each year, according to various estimates.

Gambling in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Gambling Commission on behalf of the government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) under the Gambling Act 2005. This Act of Parliament significantly updated the UK's gambling laws, including the introduction of a new structure of protections for children and vulnerable adults, as well as bringing the burgeoning Internet gaming sector within British regulation for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambling in the United States</span>

Gambling in the United States is legally restricted. In 2008, gambling activities generated gross revenues of $92.27 billion in the United States.

Playtech plc is a gambling software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-odds arcade games online. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

bwin Austrian online betting brand

bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, formerly known as betandwin, is an Austrian online betting brand acquired by Entain PLC. The group operated under international and regional licences in countries like Gibraltar, the Amerindian reserve of Kahnawake (Canada), and Belize; and Germany, Italy, Mexico, Croatia, Austria, France, and the United Kingdom in Europe. bwin offered sports betting, poker, casino games, soft and skill games with most revenue coming from poker and sports betting. bwin had over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets. Competence centres were located in Vienna, Stockholm, and Gibraltar.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority is a Treasury Board crown corporation responsible for the distribution, control and regulation of alcoholic beverages, cannabis and most gambling in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Its head office is located in Regina.

Mobile gambling refers to playing games of chance or skill for money by using a remote device such as a tablet computer, smartphone or a mobile phone with a wireless internet connection. Over a hundred mobile casinos were operating as of December 2013, with most of the big casino operators in gambling now providing a mobile platform for their player base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Columbia Lottery Corporation</span>

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation is a Canadian Crown corporation offering a range of gambling products including lottery tickets, casinos and legal online gambling. It is based in Kamloops, with a secondary office in Vancouver. It consists of three business units, Lottery, Casino and eGaming; and five support divisions, Human Resources, Information Technology, Compliance & Security, Finance, and Communications. Its annual revenues exceed CDN $3.1 billion. It has 890 direct employees. Its service providers, who run casinos on its behalf under contract, have an additional 8,300 employees.

Gambling in India varies by state; states in India are entitled to formulate their own laws for gambling activities. Some states like Goa have legalised casinos. Common gambling activities like organized betting are restricted except for selective categories including lottery and horse racing.

Crown corporations in Canada are government organizations with a mixture of commercial and public-policy objectives. They are directly and wholly owned by the Crown.

Gambling in Pennsylvania includes casino gambling, the Pennsylvania Lottery, horse racing, Bingo, and small games of chance conducted by nonprofit organizations and taverns under limited circumstances. Although casino gaming has been legal for less than two decades, Pennsylvania is second only to Nevada in commercial casino revenues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambling in Australia</span>

Gambling is an activity undertaken by many Australians. Over 80% of Australian adults engage in gambling of some kind, which is the highest rate of gambling in the world. This number includes some 4% of the adult population who play the pokies once a week, accounting for some 62% of locals' annual gambling spend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambling in New Jersey</span>

Gambling in New Jersey includes casino gambling in Atlantic City, the New Jersey Lottery, horse racing, off-track betting, charity gambling, amusement games, and social gambling. New Jersey's gambling laws are among the least restrictive in the United States. In 2013, the state began to allow in-state online gambling. Five years later, the state won a lawsuit that dismantled Nevada's monopoly on legal sports betting.

Gambling in the Philippines has been present in the country since at least the sixteenth century. Various legal and illegal forms of gambling are found almost all over the archipelago. The government manages gambling through the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) a state-owned enterprise which both operates a number of individual casinos and in turn acts as a regulator to privately owned casino operators. Since 2016 PAGCOR has also granted operating licenses and overseen the regulation of growing online gambling sector serving offshore markets. Casino gambling and integrated resorts have become a key component of the Philippines appeal as a tourist destination with more than twenty casinos found in Metro Manila alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gambling in China</span>

Gambling in China is illegal under Chinese law and has been officially outlawed since the Communist Party took power in 1949. Any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling, gambling overseas, opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is considered illegal. In practice however, Chinese citizens participate in state-run lotteries, regularly travel to legal gambling centers overseas or in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and access gaming through offshore based proxy betting and online gambling companies.

The Cullen Commission is a money laundering inquiry established by the Canadian province of British Columbia. Currently all evidence has been presented, and the Commission was given an extension until May 20, 2022 to deliver its findings. The findings were delivered to the B.C.’s attorney general on June 2, 2022 and require a review from the Attorney general of British Columbia before they can be released. The findings are expected to be released on June 15, 2022.

References

  1. "BCLC to continue developing PlayNow.com under future growth plans". Gaming Intelligence. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  2. "PlayNow.com gamblers forced to play later". CTV News British Columbia. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  3. Wintonyk, Darcy (2010-07-15). "B.C. opens landmark legal online casino". British Columbia. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  4. "Failed gaming site cost $7.3 million: minister". CTV News British Columbia. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  5. "Privacy chief blocks PlayNow.com pending review". British Columbia. 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  6. Hunter, Justine (2010-08-19). "B.C. online gambling glitches fixed?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  7. "British Columbia launches online poker on PlayNow.com". Gaming Intelligence. 2011-02-21. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  8. Lambert, Steve (2013-01-23). "Manitoba online gambling, mini-casino, spark concerns about addiction and crime". CTV News Winnipeg. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  9. "Sask. online gambling site launches". Saskatoon. 2022-11-03. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  10. "FSIN, Sask. gov't sign first-in-Canada online gaming agreement with SIGA". SaskToday.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  11. "About PlayNow.com". BCLC. Retrieved 30 April 2014.