Gambling at online casinos is a major attraction and industry for Canadians. The legal age to gamble in an online casino is 19, with the exception of Alberta, Quebec, and Manitoba, How Popular Are Online Casino Games but that leaves around 30 million eligible gamblers. And according to statistics, over half, roughly 19.3 million, are active online gamblers.
In fact, Canada ranks 39th in the world’s population overall, but Canadian gamblers come in at number 8 worldwide when it comes to the most money spent on online gambling. How Popular Are Online Casino Games
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Three kinds of casinos
There are three types of casinos where you as a player can gamble at. How Popular Are Online Casino Games
The first is a physical, brick-and-mortar casino, of which there are more than 200 in Canada. A few provinces do not have any brick-and-mortar casinos, but revenues are down sharply in physical casinos. On average, revenues are down roughly 24 percent from previous years.
Then there are online casinos regulated by the individual provinces. Seeing the writing on the wall with drops in brick-and-mortar casino revenue, the vast majority of provinces have now made it legal for physical casinos to operate online.
Finally, there are offshore casinos, of which are perfectly legal for Canadian gamblers to play. So which of the casino types are favored?
By a margin of 4 to 1, if you are a Canadian gambler, you are most likely to gamble at a Canadian, province-licensed online casino.
According to the Canadian Gaming Industry Report, Canadians spent $16 billion dollars last year on online gaming within Canada. At the same time, offshore online casinos attracted $4 billion in gambling revenues.
Why are Canadian online Casinos preferred?
If you are asking yourself why do Canadians generally prefer to gamble online at Canadian casinos, there are two answers.
One is that Canadian online casinos are closely regulated, which may make a difference to many online gamblers.
However, a deeper answer is found in what kind of gambling do you, as a bettor, favor online?
Canadians, by a far margin, prefer to bet on sports, and since online casinos in Canada concentrate on Canadian sports, whether it be football, NBA basketball, National Hockey League hockey, or Major League Baseball, they have an advantage over sports betting in offshore online casinos.
Yes, offshore sports betting sites offer to bet on Canadian sports too, but by betting with a Canadian online casino, you can be assured the betting establishment will concentrate on Canadian sports first. If you are looking for the best canadian casinos then you must check out the list by Hindustan Times
Do women gamble as well?
Yes indeed. And although women definitely do bet on blackjack games or roulette games, or bet on sports, some studies show the vast majority of female gamblers love to bet on
bingo and other luck-based games.
An interesting side note is that while males make up 56% of the gambling population and women come in at 44 percent, women, far more than women than men gamble online using a mobile device.
Over 55 percent of all female gamblers went online with their mobile device. It is conjecture of course, but a lot of women seemingly like to play a game of bingo or a hand or two of blackjack during their lunch hour.
How are online gamblers spread out by age?
Of course, those of the legal gambling age participate in online casinos across the board, but the biggest gamblers are those between the ages of 30 to 50.
This makes sense when you consider that for the vast majority of gamblers, gambling is just an extension of their entertainment budget and those who are 30 to 50 have the most discretionary income.
Not that those who are 18 or 19 to 29 do not gamble in significant numbers, you do, but with less discretionary income, generally, they have less money to spend on gambling.
This may change substantially in the future, however, as online casinos are seeing a huge amount of esports betting.
In all likelihood, most 30 to 50-year-old bettors do not really understand and comprehend esports video gaming, so as esports becomes more and more popular, the demographics may shift dramatically.
Are there other trends popping up on the online gambling horizon?
Yes, And one of those trends you should be aware of is the acceptance of cryptocurrency.
Many casinos now accept payment and payout winnings in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. In fact, a few online casinos in Canada have gone to dealing only with cryptocurrency.
Since cryptocurrency payments are backed by blockchain technology, what it means for you, the online gambler, is that there are no middlemen to go through.
Say you are lucky to wind $10,000 on a slot machine or even $100,000. If you accept payment in cryptocurrency, it’s entirely possible that your payment would be transferred almost instantly.
One of the major barriers to total acceptance of online casinos is the fact that sometimes you have to wait for 3 to 5 days or even more for a payout, unlike a physical casino where you are paid instantly.
This is particularly true for offshore online casinos, most of which are based in Europe. Sometimes, payment is frustratingly slow.
In addition, sometimes payment companies such as MasterCard and Visa refuse to cooperate at all with online gambling, so sometimes there is a real song and dance as to how you get paid.
So by using cryptocurrency, you can be sure of a swift payout.
In addition, cryptocurrency payments are virtually private. So as a result, you have total control over who sees your payout information.
Another trend is more live dealer games.
As the competition increases virtually, more and more Canadian Casinos are offering live dealer games such as blackjack and poker.
For you the social gambler, this means that participating in gambling is more of a social experience than if you were just playing games such as slots, or betting online on a hockey game.
Finally, there is the backlash by legislators to problem gambling.
As online gambling becomes more popular, legislators worry about problem gambling. As a result, the social gambler can expect to receive more and more messages from the casino itself cautioning you not to play with money you cannot afford, and that they have now come up with an app to keep track of your gambling.
Although gambling is favored by the majority of Canadians, nobody wants to see an uptick in problem gambling.
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