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On Thursday, the playnow.com platform went live in Saskatchewan, bringing legal online gambling to the province for the first time.
The website, operated by the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), is touted as the first legal option in the province. That means it has been, and is now, illegal to use another site to gamble in Saskatchewan.
Many people in the province, whether they knew or not, have been using illegal sites — including several out of Ontario, where online gambling has exploded recently.
But there appears to be still be a grey area over it because it’s unclear who’s responsible for investigating illegal online gambling.
While SIGA is the operator, a spokesperson said it isn’t responsible for enforcement and said that would fall under the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA).
A spokesperson for the SLGA said it only regulates licensed gaming in the province, so if there were an issue with someone who had a licence, then it could investigate and issue sanctions if warranted. But the authority doesn’t have regulatory authority for unlicensed gaming.
“Gaming activities that are not regulated by SLGA are a matter for the police,” the SLGA said in a statement.
However, when asked, the Regina Police Service said it does not regulate or investigate online gaming.
A spokesperson said the service has had a long partnership with the SLGA and usually the SLGA will investigate any allegation of illegal activity in liquor and gaming. The Regina police will work with the SLGA when and if there are “enforcement activities” such as arrests that need to be carried out from its investigation.
Meanwhile, the province’s Ministry of Justice also put the onus of investigation on the police. It said if police arrested someone, the case would be reviewed and prosecuted if it met the standard — that charges are reviewed on whether there’s a reasonable likelihood of conviction and whether the prosecution is in the public interest.
Website launches in Saskatchewan
The new playnow site has a really good set of offerings for those who want to gamble online, according to Zane Hansen, the president and CEO of SIGA.
He said it has a full platform of traditional casino games and keno.
“And a very good offering for sports betting, including the single-event betting that was approved through the federal legislation last year,” explained Hansen.
The site is only offered through a browser online right now; there aren’t apps yet.
The proceeds from the site will be split the same as other gambling proceeds in the province: A 50-50 split between the province and the First Nations Trust set up under the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
“And that goes out and benefits all the First Nations communities across the province,” said Hansen.
The site also has GameSense advisers, whom Hansen called a safety feature for inline gaming.
“All of the customers, as well, must register and have an account with the site. And then you can have a number of limits and you can set your spend limit and time that you play, so it’s really well set up that way for a good, responsible experience,” he explained.
Hansen said that was something which really appealed to SIGA officials about playnow when they were looking for a vendor.
“They were the only online gaming site in North America that had live, on-site advisers that you could access at any time, so that was a really good feature,” said Hansen.
In December, Hansen said SIGA is going to launch table games where you play against an actual live dealer online.
“We’re really looking forward to what we can bring forward to our customers,” said Hansen.