Canadian Online Debut more generous than planned

After years of living in an online gambling desert, the Canadian province of British Columbia launched its first government-sanctioned online casino earlier this week. It is well known as the normal practice, especially among startup operations, for internet gaming sites to extend generous bonuses to their newly registered players. However, the level of the generosity extended to players at PlayNow.com surprised not only the punters but the operators as well!

In the first few hours of operation, players at the newly launched casino enjoyed free play, not as a result of bonuses from the operators but, thanks to an inexplicable software glitch, as a result of gaining access to the cash in some of the other player’s accounts!

It is not at all clear how this unfortunate incident could have occurred and, at this stage, it appears that it’s not yet certain how many punters may have benefitted from this unplanned windfall and, conversely, how many may have lost by it.

To give them their due, the British Columbia Lottery Commission (BCLC) stepped in promptly and suspended operations as soon as they became aware of the problem and the site remains closed while the software developers attempt to determine exactly what went wrong and rectify it. Although, at first, they believed that an overload of gamblers may have caused the anomaly, it has since been attributed to “data crossover” during which players login credentials directed them to the wrong accounts. The glitch meant that some players were able to view the sensitive personal and financial details of others as well as utilizing the cash in their online accounts.

Despite the potentially serious repercussions of this somewhat unique technical problem, it seems that only around $8 000 was involved and that the said amount was quickly re-distributed. Nevertheless, the incident seems bound to have an adverse effect on the confidence of Canada’s gamblers as well as, perhaps, re-mobilising some of those who rigorously opposed the legalization of online gaming.

As the only legal online gambling operation on the continent of North America, there is a lot at stake and the success or failure of this first internet casino could determine the future of an entire new industry, at least, in Canada.

In the meantime, and amidst rumours of possible 6-figure fines to be levied by the Federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) for improper reporting, the BCLC has made clear its intention to re-open the site but has also given firm assurances that it will not do so until thoroughly convinced that this type of security breach could never recur in the future.