Braid: Alberta bets on dubious deal with internet gambling giants

Ontario, the first province into the online gambling pot, faces a rise in gambling addiction and even suicides

Welcome to “Thrillberta.” That’s gambling giant Fanduel’s joyous nickname for Alberta, flashed on its website the first day of unlimited internet betting in the province. Fanduel, BetMGM and 20 other private gambling sites are now legal.

Their ads are already everywhere on TV during hockey games and other sports events. The massive international pressure campaign is winning. These companies have been sucking fortunes out of jurisdictions via the so-called grey market.

After that starts to hurt, the next step is to buy their way in. It worked in Ontario, and now, here they are in Alberta. How far we’ve fallen since the innocent days when video lottery terminals were wildly controversial.

In return for access to the lush Alberta market, the UCP government gets 20 per cent of the companies’ provincial revenue. The government says up to 70 per cent of Alberta gambling money went to these companies before regulation. Play Alberta, the government’s official, un-flashy gambling site, got the leavings.

Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally says the provincial take will be $76 million per year. The money goes into general revenue. It will be distributed by cabinet as ministers see fit.

Ontario, the first province into the pot, faces a rise in gambling addiction and even suicides . Nally and Dan Keene, the CEO of Alberta iGaming Corp (AIGC) both focused on new protections and aids for problem gamblers, none of which was possible without provincial regulations. Nally said any company that fails to follow strict protections will be kicked out of the Alberta market.

He’s obviously sincere, but there’s a certain amount of wishful thinking in this project. “Online gambling should be fun,” said Keene. “It’s a form of entertainment, not seen as an opportunity to make money.”

To test that odd notion, we could change the stakes from cash to, say, quality time with a politician, and see what happens. As teenagers my buddies and I played poker for fun. The pot could rise to an entire dollar.

We fought like wildcats. The gambling companies always try to make placing a bet look like a happier party than your wedding. One TV ad shows a young woman, surrounded by cheering revellers, place a bet on her phone.

She immediately looks self-satisfied. The crowd goes wild. But most people bet in private.

Cellphones are a magic portal to endless betting. People who once got hooked at a casino or bar can now do it all by themselves at 4 a.m. Every bettor is always playing against the house, whether it’s a company or government.

An old saying holds true: the house always wins. Nally urged people with gambling problems to phone 211 for supports. The number calls itself “your connection to community navigation.”

Addictions help is only one service. I asked for that option and an AI voice said, “please wait for a navigator.” This is a typical government call centre, not something newly dedicated to gambling.

The government’s move does not change on-site casino nights that benefit non-profits. About three per cent of internet gambling revenue will still go to Indigenous causes and wider social issues. Nally and the UCP are trying to contain a phenomenon that appears unstoppable.

A monster under government regulation is probably better than one running wild. But oh my, how far we’ve come in Alberta since the 1990s and 2000s, when communities fought over allowing video lottery terminals in bars and lounges. After the province approved VLTs, many small communities held referendums to keep them out.

Rocky Mountain House voted against VLTs not once, but twice. In 2020, the local council quietly lifted the ban without a vote. That slippery slope was already vertical.

On Monday, Alberta fell right in. Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald. X and Bluesky: @DonBraid