Before the weekend I wrote a post on why governments should regulate casinos but why they shouldn’t actually be the folks running the casino. The basic reason being summed up in the old saying “it’s like the fox guarding the hen house.”
Well, it seems there is another reason why government agencies shouldn’t run online gambling slots — they just aren’t very good at it. Canadians in British Columbia had been eagerly awaiting the launch of the new government endorsed and run online casino “PlayNow.com.” The site would be open for play only to residents in Canada but would offer fully licensed and regulated online games. Would — may — might get there eventually.
The site hasn’t been declared illegal or outlawed or shut down by a concerned government or public opinion or anything like. Actually, it proved to be entirely too popular for its own good. The intense traffic to the site caused it to crash within a couple of hours of going live.
Of course because the crash was due to high traffic, it’s convinced some people that Canada is filled with gambling addicts rather than just making them wonder if the British Columbia Lottery Corporation was prepared to run a full scale online casino.
But interviews with eager players have also revealed the other problem with the government running the casino itself. One player said: “I have been waiting a long time to play real money casino games on my computer – it is nice to know there is a place where rules are going to be followed and my money is safe.”
Alas, no, you’re money isn’t any safer at a government run casino. House odds are still house odds and they aren’t going to run the site at a loss. In fact, the point of a casino is to make sure your money isn’t your money at the end of the night.