Canada
The Future of Play: New Horizons Conference 2021
The last twelve months has seen the way we work, live and play change dramatically in light of the global pandemic. At BCLC, we’ve pivoted our approach to business and accelerated our player health response to meet our players’ needs in a quickly changing societal context and entertainment landscape.
For some individuals, the rapid pace of change, combined with increased isolation, has been difficult. To make it easier for our players to access resources and to keep gambling fun and safe during these challenging times, BCLC has made GameSense Advisors available to players by phone and by online chat through PlayNow.com. GameSense Advisors have experience in areas such as mental health, cultural sensitivity and appropriate-response training to support players in a variety of situations. They also assist players by providing information that is essential to making informed decisions and connecting players to appropriate support resources where needed.
Now is the time to look at ways to move from the “new normal” to a “new future”. At this year’s Ninth Annual New Horizons in Responsible Gambling Conference, our theme, Player Health Reboot: Resetting the Future, embodies both reflection and imagination – with the clear purpose of inspiring success now and in the future.
Joining us as our keynote speaker is Futurist Sanjay Khanna, an expert in strategic foresight, who will kick-off two days of exciting dialogue by sharing his insights into global change and its implications for cultures of play and innovation in a post-pandemic era.
I had the opportunity to chat with Sanjay recently and ask him some tough questions about the future of the gambling industry and how the concept of play will evolve along with technological innovations and a drive towards greater sustainability. Here’s a preview into my discussion with him, and what he will he talk about at New Horizons.
Q: New Horizons connects industry-leading experts, specialists, and researchers from around the world to find solutions to keep gambling safer and reduce harms. If you could give one piece of advice to the gambling industry, what would it be?
A: Focus on keeping gambling safer and reducing harms by taking an innovation-led approach to developing new gambling experiences. These should involve a wider array of considerations about experience design, social engagement and evidence-based risk mitigation. There’s massive space for really exciting kinds of innovation that are considerate of people, are thoughtful, and use evidence and research effectively.
Q: You write that climate change defines us more than we realize by leading to lower earnings, uncertain employment prospects and mental-health burdens. What does the gambling industry need to do today to build resilience?
A: There are five important climate crisis stakeholders: Customers, employees, communities, allied businesses, and governments. For customers and employees, the industry could strive, for example, to attract socially responsible gamblers, who desire digitally and architecturally compelling gambling environments with a mix of exciting engagement and serenity. For communities, allied businesses, and governments, the industry could use social innovation to foster cooperation to address climate risks and build resilience. The industry will also need to take steps to mitigate physical risks of extreme weather and climate change to digital and physical infrastructure assets. From this perspective, two keys to resilience building include developing new physical infrastructures to higher engineering standards, as well as powering operations with renewable and redundant energy systems.
Q: Do you think our concept of play will change?
A: The concept of play won’t change, but where and how the instinct of play is harnessed will expand with further gamification of apps, services, and work, too. I’m concerned, for example, that play will continue to be monetized at scale with competitive rather than cooperative play impulses utterly dominant. Competitive elements of play can be more problematic if chronic economic stressors after the pandemic make people feel more desperate and therefore contribute to increasing individuals’ stress levels. That’s why one pertinent question for gambling innovators is: How might digital and physical gambling experiences be fortified with more creative and cooperative play instincts?
Q: With your future perspective, when it comes to the gambling industry ten years from now, what would be the three trends you would predict based on current conditions?
A: Deeper digitization, more innovative use of virtual reality, augmented reality and Internet of Things technologies to support the development of really interesting and compelling experiences that are part of the gambling experience. Underlining that is what I hope will be a focus on ways the gambling industry might enrich society by emphasizing player health, sustainability and resilience within purpose.
To learn more, join us at New Horizons where Sanjay will further explore concepts of play and innovation as well as the risks associated with data and technological advancements. He will also highlight the need to explore plausible scenarios within which play may occur, while inspiring conference participants to reboot player health by harnessing values of responsible gambling and breakthrough innovation.
New Horizons in Responsible Gambling takes place March 9 and 10, 2021 virtually. Sanjay Khanna’s keynote address kicks things off on March 9.
LuckyStart Casino has announced the addition of a new payment method – Interac – available for all players in Canada, in order to make it easier for their customers to fund their account balance and cash out their winnings quickly.
The brand is aware of the popularity of this payment method amongst Canadian players, and hence, it has decided to add it and enable flexible deposit and withdrawal limits, in order to be considered as the best Interac casino in Canada, especially since the brand is also releasing Interac-exclusive bonuses and promotions.
Furthermore, LuckyStart has announced flexible limits for deposits and withdrawals, to make it easier for players to fund their account balance and cash out their winnings, offering instant approval and same-day processing, which are traits that LuckyStart believes are going to position it as the best Interac casino in Canada.
LuckyStart now supports Interac on the desktop and mobile website, offers exclusive bonuses for Interac bonuses, as well as instant withdrawals, and unrestricted access to their catalog of 5000+ real money games.
LuckyStart believes there is no better way to celebrate an accomplishment in the online gambling world than by launching new bonuses and promotions. That’s why the brand has released a new welcome bonus package for all players who deposit via Interac, as LuckyStart envisions becoming the best Interac casino in Canada.
This new welcome bonus package available for all Interact deposits rewards players with up to $4800 in free bonus money across their first 4 deposits, along with 400 Free Spins. When compared to the welcome packages offered by other Interact casinos, LuckyStart stands out with the biggest offer currently available.
Titanplay, a fully licensed and regulated online gaming platform by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO), announced its official re-launch in the Canadian province. This strategic re-entry introduces a refreshed experience tailored to Ontario’s dynamic audience of online casino players and sports bettors.
The re-launch marks a new chapter for Titanplay, with significant upgrades to its casino and sportsbook. Designed for Ontario residents, the new platform delivers a secure and compliant online gaming environment to casual players, strategic bettors, and high rollers alike.
Titanplay now offers an expanded library of certified casino games, including popular slots, live dealer tables, and exclusive titles from leading industry providers. The integrated sportsbook provides real-time odds and wide-ranging markets – from NHL and NBA to international soccer, tennis, and more. Players can enjoy faster performance, improved mobile access, and responsible gaming tools aligned with Ontario’s regulations, whether they prefer placing bets or spinning the reels.
The Titanplay’s platform is optimized for both desktop and mobile devices, offering seamless navigation and secure transactions. The 24/7 customer support, intuitive account management, and localized payment options round out the updated user experience.
Operating within Ontario’s regulated iGaming framework, Titanplay adheres strictly to all AGCO and iGO compliance requirements. This re-launch is more than just a platform update; it’s a commitment to local Ontario players who deserve fairness, choice, responsible gaming environment, data protection, and accountability from their gaming provider.
Titanplay is now live and accepting registrations across Ontario. Players must be 19 years of age or older and reside within the province to access the platform.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is continuing its efforts to combat unregulated gambling and protect the public. As part of these efforts, the AGCO took steps this week to revoke the lottery seller registrations of a number of retailers in the GTA that were found to be offering unapproved electronic gambling machines under the Prime Slot brand.
The AGCO regulates all gambling in the province of Ontario to ensure gambling products and gaming sites are held to high standards of game integrity, player safety, and the protection of minors and vulnerable individuals.
Over the past decade, unregulated gaming machines have increasingly proliferated across North America. While they largely rely on chance like traditional slot machines, manufacturers have claimed they are games of skill and have installed terminals in convenience stores and other locations where gaming machines would otherwise be prohibited.
The AGCO will continue to take every action within its authority to protect the public against the risks that these unregulated machines pose – particularly in locations easily accessible to children and youth.
A registered lottery seller served with a Notice of Proposed Order to revoke their registration has the right to appeal the AGCO’s action within 15 days to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), an adjudicative tribunal that is part of Tribunals Ontario and independent of the AGCO.
“Unapproved gambling machines have no business being in convenience stores or other locations, particularly those that are available to children and youth. ” – Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar, AGCO
Background:
Under Section 10(b) of the Gaming Control Act, the Registrar shall refuse to register an applicant as a supplier or to renew the registration of an applicant as a supplier if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant will not act as a supplier in accordance with law, or with integrity, honesty, or in the public interest.
Under Section 12 of the Gaming Control Act, the Registrar may propose to suspend or to revoke a registration for any reason that would disentitle the registrant to registration or renewal of registration under section 10 if the registrant were an applicant.
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