Online Poker Coming to Canada Sooner than Expected

April 22 - The minister responsible for gambling in the Canadian province of  British Columbia has confirmed that it is all systems go to introduce legalized and regulated online poker to the province by September.

The timeline given by Rich Coleman in an article run over the weekend by the Times Colonist publication, will bring online poker games to Canada sooner than anticipated.

The framework for similar plans are being set up in Quebec, as well as the Maritimes, as governments realize the revenue potential that there is to be had by allowing players to play over the internet through local sites.

Coleman said that in order to make these poker sites feasible, local governments have arrangements in place to "do peer to peer online poker because we'd need the number of players."

The new online poker site being planned in British Columbia will not be setting wagering limits for users.

"With regard to spending limits, they're set by the individual - how much they feel they can spend," he said.

Coleman went on to say that all research points to the fact that the best responsible gaming mechanism is if people set their own limits, so that the range allows players to set their limits within what they think they can afford and what they're going to play."

This lack of limit was slammed by opposition politicians who already up in arms over the fact that the BC Lottery Corp has scrapped its limit of $120 a week and now allows users to wager as much as $10,000 per week.

Coleman said that the new poker room would be monitored "so that we can make sure that people aren't getting themselves into difficulty the way they do on most other internet sites."