British Columbia looked like a pioneer when the government launched Play now, an online Casino gambling site back in mid-July. The site, however, had to be shut down just hours after going live. On Thursday, the site was again back up and running. The British Columbia Lottery Corp. made history when they launched PlayNow last month. The province became the first place in North America to offer regulated online casinos to their residents, and hundreds of players signed up in the first couple of hours.

A security breach caused the site to shut down, and it has taken over a month for the government to correct the security issues. A flaw in the software was determined to be the problem, and with the software fixed, the site again went live, much to the satisfaction of online gamblers. "This is going to be great and I cannot wait to sign up,' said Warren Beldum. "I wish it could have happened sooner, but I am glad that they got all their issues straightened out and they no longer are putting all my information at risk. I can't wait to play."

That is a sentiment shared not only by B.C. residents, but many Canadians. Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan residents may soon get to experience the same online games that B.C. residents are privileged to. All of those other provinces have either already committed to launching online gaming sites, or are in the process of examining the possibility. The US is considered to be the largest online gambling market in the world even though the government currently has laws that are geared towards stopping online gaming transactions. That may soon change as well with Representative Barney Frank pushing legislation that would allow for regulated Internet gambling.

Robert Williams, Coordinator of the Alberta Gaming Research Institute, is disputing the claim that millions of dollars are currently leaving Canadian provinces and heading towards offshore online gambling sites. Williams also believes that even when provinces offer their own form of gambling, change may not occur. "This is a fairly saturated and mature market for new online companies to try and break into," said Williams, as reported by The Montreal Gazette. "Existing offshore jurisdictions will always retain a strong competitive advantage."

Others opposed to online gaming in Canada have played the crime card. As is the case with most land-based casinos, online gambling does present some dangers. These dangers, however, are no more dangerous that those associated with other activities, according to some analysts. "Online gambling does create an opportunity for gamblers to play in their own homes and that could lead to non-stop play," said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. "If the site is regulated correctly, however, Canadian residents should be protected against losing large amounts in short periods of time."

In recent months, British Columbia, Quebec, Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan have all expressed interest in starting online casinos. B.C. has already launched their site, but had to pull it down just hours after the launch do to security issues. It is estimated that during the time that PlayNow was shut down in B.C., $150,000 a day in revenue was lost. The government will now look to not only recoup that lost revenue, but the $5 million it took to correct the security breach issue.