Online betting very popular among Canadians
Published by Giselle
June 10, 2019 7:25 am
The USA showed the way last year by declaring a law carved in stone, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992, null and void.
Until then, the PASPA had dictated a ban on sports betting across national borders but had recently received immense headwinds. After this was finally declared unconstitutional, the US states were able to begin liberalizing the sports betting market.
Canada could already follow the same path as its southern neighbours this year. More and more voices from politics, sport and business are advocating the legalisation of sports betting.
In theory, sports betting is currently illegal in Canada without exception. However, the corresponding articles in the Canadian Criminal Code have not been modernized since the 1980s.
It states that the operation of a common gaming house or common betting house is prohibited and can be punished with a prison sentence of up to two years.
However, the terminology used when the law was passed referred specifically to land-based gaming venues and betting offices. The applicability to online gambling is therefore hardly possible today. Since the boom of online casinos and bookmakers, there has been no criminal prosecution throughout the country.
For this reason, thousands of Canadians place their bets on the websites of well-known online bookmakers on a daily basis without much concern. Particularly popular are tips on game results from the Major League Soccer or the National Hockey League.