After much debate and conjecture, Alberta finally announced that it would be going in the same direction as Ontario and opening up its iGaming market to commercial operators, putting an end to the public monopoly that used to be the only option for online casino action in the province. So, how will online poker players impacted by this major news?
The Regional Restriction Issue
Like Ontario, Alberta’s commercial online casino market will be geofenced, meaning players will need to be physically within the borders of the province in order to access the iGaming sites available there. With sites like this online casino, Alberta residents can already begin enjoying virtual slots and table games aplenty.
Things are a little different when it comes to poker play, for the specific reason that regional player restrictions put a hard limit on the number of people in the pool of potential competitors. Because poker is about taking on other gamblers, as opposed to trying to beat the house, it’s important to have a decent number of active players available. With a population under 5 million and a very new iGaming market, Alberta will take some time to gather the momentum needed to support high-level, high-stakes online poker play seen elsewhere, as there simply won’t be the liquidity.
This could change relatively quickly, as Alberta’s gambling regulator is in talks with its equivalent in Ontario to participate in a shared liquidity agreement, effectively enabling cross-border play between the two provinces. Such a boost to online poker would be welcome, and there’s also the potential for integration with the international online poker community down the line, pending federal-level approval of such a move.
The End of the Grey Market
It’s typical for iGaming grey markets to crop up in any part of the world where no commercial licensing is available, or outright bans on running gambling platforms are in place. That’s certainly true of Alberta, where poker players would previously be on murky ground when accessing sites operated overseas.
Now, the influx of well-known poker brands to the fledgling Alberta market will effectively kill off the grey market altogether. At least, that’s what could happen, so long as concerns around liquidity and player counts touched on earlier are addressed. There’s also the licensing process to go through, and other commercial decisions to make, so whether this is a flood or a trickle remains to be seen.
Local Benefits
Aside from being freed from reliance on grey market play, Alberta’s online poker players can expect a raft of upsides to the commercial licensing of iGaming in the province, including improved protections and safety, with full consumer rights and privileges upheld in the case of disputes with platform operators.
In turn, being able to deposit and withdraw in CAD rather than having to wrangle with overseas conversions and crypto transactions will be another boon. It’s just a case of having the patience to see poker services launch in Alberta, and playing other types of iGaming experiences in the interim.
