Loto Quebec has plans to introduce online poker in September this year. This is part of a broader plan to introduce online gambling, and will eventually include online sports betting.

Minister Raymond Bachand, the Quebec Minister of Finance, announced the move, and noted that revenue for the first three years of Loto Quebec’s online poker operations is projected to be around $50 million. There are hopes that revenue could be higher than that if Quebec manages to tap into the greater online gambling market in Canada.

Even though Loto Quebec has plans to use various security and safety measures for players, especially for problem gamblers, there has still been opposition to the idea. The lottery group, however, explained that public health studies have shown that the proportion of problem gamblers is not necessarily raised when the number of gambling venues is increased.

The new online poker site will have age verification requirements to be filled, the ability for players to exclude themselves from the online poker site at any time they feel the need to do so, and to add to that, the need to limit weekly account funding has also been recognized.

After noting that the residents of Quebec already have access to thousands of online gambling sites, Alain Cousineau, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Loto Quebec, said: “This is a way for us to channel the gaming offering in a controlled circuit and environment whose integrity will be beyond reproach.”