Finally! Single-Game Betting Is Coming… Or Is It?

“Hello, my name is Dale… and I enjoy gambling.”  It’s true, I do.  So when I heard that we may soon have new options offered, I was intrigued.

Wagering on individual sporting events will finally be legalized by the federal government.  But hold on, don’t be taking Green Bay and laying 6 just yet! While the feds have legalized the possibilty to wager on one single game, rather than the current “parlay mandate”, the final decision on this will come from each of the provinces and territories.  “Canadians will have the opportunity to participate in single-event sport betting in a regulated and safe environment, at the discretion of the provinces and territories,” Attorney General David Lametti said at a press briefing in Niagara Falls on Thursday.  It’s estimated that close to $10-billion a year is being wagered on single sporting events with black market operations and an additional $4-billion is shipping offshore to so called, grey market operations.

So while the federal government has given August 27th (in time for the start of the NFL season) as the “good to go” date, what Ontario will do remains to be seen. Until then, I guess I’ll have to keep making my “legal” single event wagers in Las Vegas or other jurisdictions I’m visiting. But you’d think, as my above previous bets demonstrate, there is money that may as well be in the Ontario government coffers, rather than someone else’s.