Published by Programme B
Gambling is a thing in Canada. This country is on the top of the list of the most gambling countries on the global scale, and the excitement only seems to increase with time, and as the niche develops.
Many people are wondering why offline gambling and online casinos Canada are so incredibly popular? Is it the allowance of the government made gambling so available and, as a result, so popular? Is it something about the ecology that makes locals stay at home gambling online? Or is it a legacy of the Gold Rush?
H2 – History of Gambling in Canada
If we are to be objective, of course, it is fair to say that all the above-mentioned factors, and many other factors as well, have contributed to the Canadian habit and hobby to gamble. However, there is one specific reason that should definitely be mentioned as one of the most important factors.
The point is, in contrast to other countries, gambling has existed on the lands of Canada before European immigrants brought there their own variation of gambling. Before Canada started to enjoy classic land-based casinos of the time of the Klondike Gold Rush, or let alone the bright and sleek online casinos of today, Native tribes played games of chance on these lands.
For Natives, gambling played an important social, economic, and even religious role. They used games of chance not exactly to win valuable objects from each other. Rather, gambling was a way of socialization, a way to settle disputes, and even a method to make life-changing decisions. Unfortunately, after Europeans came to the lands of what is now Canada, and brought their own casino games, the gambles of Native tribes were almost forgotten, and in many places, this precious legacy was lost.
Then, the Klondike Gold Rush stimulated the popularity of gambling houses, because there was little else to do for the gold miners on evenings after the day of hard, exhausting work. And much later, when the Internet-enabled the development of online casinos, Canada immediately followed the trend.
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Why Online Casinos?
If the popularity of brick and mortar gambling facilities is pretty understandable – that is, they have been part of the local culture for decades, and the government collected impressive taxes from this niche – how come online casinos became so in demand?
One of the reasons is, again, the governmental policy about the thing. Canadian government quickly caught on to the fact that prohibition would, most probably, result in massive law violations. On the other hand, the efforts to make the niche of web gambling totally controlled and regulated means a lot of hard, tedious work, and even more such work ahead. So, the government took the only correct decision and allowed online casinos with a set of certain limitations.
The other main reason for online casinos’ popularity, in general, is hidden in the nature of the thing. Online casinos are more available than brick and mortar venues. One can play their favorite games sitting at home in their pajamas, without the need to dress up and drive anywhere. Web platforms are open 24/7, and the players can play as much as they want – five minutes or five hours.
Next, one does not need to tolerate additional, but in fact unnecessary expenses – like paying for food and drinks, tips to the dealers and waiters, etc. Moreover, changing a land-based casino in case you do not like the atmosphere is definitely harder than closing one website and opening another one.
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Another obvious difference is the choice of games and a variety of entertainment. Many web casinos, in contrast to land-based venues, combine classic casino games with sports betting, fantasy sports, Bitcoin games, lotteries, and other entertainments. Moreover, the majority of web casinos allow players to play their games for free, without depositing. However, this feature is unavailable in offline casinos.
The combination of all these reasons leads to the fact that online casinos are extremely popular in Canada, and this popularity continues to grow literally each year.
Final Thoughts
It is unlikely that Canadians will stop gambling so much in the nearest future. The business brings nice profit to the government in the form of taxes, and supports the economy a lot, creating jobs and stimulating the consumption. Even such thing as problem gambling is handled more or less successfully, as part of the taxes paid by casinos is spent on research and help centers for compulsive gamblers.