• Canadian government decides to establish competitive market for iGaming
• Playtech and Ontario Lottery expand their collaboration in the region
• BetBuddy – gambling data analytics technology – to be implemented in OLG’s iGaming platform

Playtech – one of the best known names in iGaming development and solutions – has expanded its relationship with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. While in April the Canadian government revealed plans to work against the current state of monopoly of online gambling and to promote single sports event betting, in its 2019 provincial budget, the government pointed out that they do intend on working towards a competitive market for legal online gambling. This decision is intended towards serving consumer interests, while at the same time protecting the users, active in this field.

Playtech has been supplying the OLG with a range of iGaming solutions ever since 2014 and now, in order to work towards this goal, they’vehave revealed their plans to incorporate BetBuddy in the Ontario Lottery gaming platform.

Smarter solutions to risk

BetBuddy was acquired by Playtech in October 2017 with the aim of raising the standards of betting safety, manage risk behavior and offer adequate monitoring to the variety of platforms they work with. Since then, BetBuddy has been fully integrated within Playtech’s IMS player management platform. The service gives users the ability to access insights on risk, allows them to configure targeted interactions vie the use of real-time Engagement 360 tools, and also works towards the incentive of safer gambling by means of “gamification” and tailored customer journeys.

In a way this should resonate with the intentions of the Canadian government, providing users with a customizable service to take good care of risk management. Nevertheless, the position of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation – which is currently the only operator allowed to provide iGaming services in the Canadian province – could be under threat by some of the governments’ plans, revealed in April this year.

Shimon Akad, Playtech’s COO, expressed his confidence in the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, as well as in the benefits of their growing relationship. “Our partnership, including the use of BetBuddy, will help to keep OLG at the forefront of the industry when it comes to promoting safer play.”

Furthermore, he strengthened his argument stressing on Playtech’s position as a leading specialist in the iGaming industry and their goals to raise the standards of safer gambling in order to protect the end users.

The risks of online gambling

Taking concern with the behavioral issues, stemming from the legalization of online gambling is a matter to be dealt with both by the government and the providers themselves. For that reason the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is seeking the assistance of the world’s leading developer of iGaming solutions.

On the other hand, the maintenance of a healthy approach towards the problem in question could be to the benefit of both the consumer and the government. That being the case, Playtech and OLG are in a good position to find a better and more liberal solution.