Introduction and a question!

[han_solo82]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to online gambling (and this site) and I live in Canada (Quebec).

I've started playing online for fun (no money involved) but soon I would like to start gambling real money online (mostly BJ, maybe roulette and slots).

I'm not sure this is the right forum to ask this, but since I'm already here to introduce myself, why not! My question is, is it legal to gamble money online in Canada. Also, If I win considerable amounts (1000+$), do I have to declare it (federal or provincial or both). I plan to use Ecocard to transfer money to the online casino.

I've search and it seems that online gambling here is still in a legal "grey zone". So I think there's no problem playing right now, but it might not be like that forever!

So fellow Canadian gambler, does any of you had any trouble for playing money (and winning!) online? Do you have any tips for me?

thank you!

 

[LaurieJim]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to online gambling (and this site) and I live in Canada (Quebec).

I've started playing online for fun (no money involved) but soon I would like to start gambling real money online (mostly BJ, maybe roulette and slots).

I'm not sure this is the right forum to ask this, but since I'm already here to introduce myself, why not! My question is, is it legal to gamble money online in Canada. Also, If I win considerable amounts (1000+$), do I have to declare it (federal or provincial or both). I plan to use Ecocard to transfer money to the online casino.

I've search and it seems that online gambling here is still in a legal "grey zone". So I think there's no problem playing right now, but it might not be like that forever!

So fellow Canadian gambler, does any of you had any trouble for playing money (and winning!) online? Do you have any tips for me?

thank you!

hello and welcome to the forum, im sure one of your fellow canadian's will be along to answer those questions, i just wanted to say welcome to c/m...................laurie

 

[Luigi810]

I'm not sure either, I just wanted to welcome you and to suggest you read alot of these threads before you start playing for real money, it is so important that you read about the good/bad casinos before you spend any of your harding working money, we'd hate to see you being taken advantage of
and right now you have the upper hand...
I'm sure someone will be here to help you with your question..good luck to you

 

[han_solo82]

thanks both of you for your kind words, and don't worry, I won't trow my hard earned money through the window! I am searching really hard before playing real money, that's why I registered to this forum!

Any Canadian with experience that could help me out here?

 

[patrina]

Hello and welcome!! Yep I'm in Canada too and happy to answer any questions that I can for you. For gaming I use a pre paid mastercard, you load it at your convenience, and can pay a monthly fee $15 and with that you get all loads free, and more, if you pay the 7.95 monthly fee, then you will have to pay a $2.50 charge everytime you load your card, and there are some other things too that you have to pay where you wouldn't have to pay with the $15 monthly fee. It's entirely up to you but you can also make bill payments at no extra charge with you card as well. As far as withdrawing, I prefer courier cheque, that is if I win enough, courier costs $35, but you can get a cheque sent free too but it will take anywhere from 6-11 days. I actually posted some information in another thread here just recently about this and I copied the fee chart too, oh ok I still have it here it is; btw these cards are available anywhere you cash cheques etc. such as Money mart.
If you need anymore info feel free to pm me or post here ok? Also, it's a really good idea to only play at the accredited casinos the meister has listed here and also read the t&c's for this site, it's good to know the rules here. Good Luck!!
Patrina
Old Attachment (Invalid)

 

[Jasminebed]

Welcome to a fellow Canuck

Hi. I use the same prepaid MC as Patrina. I also have had cheques couriered, but prefer a bank wire, which you can get at some casinos.

As far as winnings go, gambling winnings, including casinos, lotteries, bingos, gameshows and racetracks are not taxable in Canada. Many years ago (late 70's) Revenue Canada brought a suit against a racetrack gambler who had won $45,000. It went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, who ruled that Revenue Canada could indeed tax gambling winnings, but if they did so they would have to allow all gambling losses as legitimate deductions. Revenue Canada backed down, knowing that there are more losers than winners.

 

[Pinababy69]

Like Patrina and Jazzy, I also use the Titanium Plus prepaid Mastercard. Never had a problem nor a denial with it anywhere.

Yes, it is legal here...or to put it more precisely I guess, it's not illegal.

Jaz already answered the tax question. No taxes on gambling winnings here.

For withdrawals, I use Moneybookers myself. Once a casino processes a cashout and sends it through to MB, it is instantly available in your MB account, as it works in real time. From there you can use those funds to redeposit (Moneybookers is accepted at almost every online casino)....or you can withdraw your funds via two different methods. If I've won a large enough amount, I generally leave a small part to play with, and withdraw the rest. I use their cheque service, which I believe costs $4.95 maximum. From the time I request a cheque from them, it generally takes 5-7 business days to arrive in the mail. They also offer wire transfer withdrawal to your bank. I'm sure this is faster than cheque, but I prefer to not tie a bank account into any ewallet.

Be prepared to verify your identity with Moneybookers, either through sending them proper scanned identification (driver's license, passport, SIN, etc) OR...I believe again, you can do this by verifying your bank account with them. They will make a small microdeposit into your bank account, and you will have to verify the amount through your account on their website. They may also require some documentation even if this method is used, I'm not entirely sure.

Best of luck to you and please make sure you choose wisely when it comes to which casino(s) you are going to play at. If you have any questions about a casino, or need advice, make a post in the Online Casinos forum slightly below this one.

 

[han_solo82]

thanks all for your suggestion, but now I have another question!

Why not choose something like ecocard? It seems that most casinos accept it for both deposit and withdrawal. Is it less secure to use this than a prepaid credit card (and check for withdrawal)?

 

[Pinababy69]

thanks all for your suggestion, but now I have another question!

Why not choose something like ecocard? It seems that most casinos accept it for both deposit and withdrawal. Is it less secure to use this than a prepaid credit card (and check for withdrawal)?

As to EcoCard, I've never used them, so can't really comment. I do have an account, but never activated it. I just didn't like the funding options they had, too much hassle. I find the prepaid card that we've mentioned is great as it is easy to load funds onto....and for myself, it is how I keep my gambling "budget" in check. You can only spend what you put on there. If you want to spend more, you have to physically go out and load more funds. Anything tied into a bank account is far too convenient to overspend when the gambling bug bites.

Also, I don't believe their transactions are "instant" and in real time. In other words, if a casino sends payment to your Eco account, it may not show up for 24-48 hrs. And the same with funding it...you used to be able to use Western Union, but they would only credit your deposit during "their" working hours and no weekends.

And with this prepaid card, it also tracks all your purchases and categorizes them. It even has a category of "gaming", and it will tell you to the penny how much you've spent in any given period. To me, that's handy.

As to withdrawals, cheque from a casino would be my last option and a last resort. There have been many problems over the last two years (because of the UIGEA) with processors pulling out or dumping casinos, and in turn the cheques they have sent to players have then bounced. Even though the UIGEA (and the U.S. situation in general), does not affect us here in Canada, it has affected processing in general. If a processor dumps a casino with no warning, all players are affected by that, not just the U.S. ones. I'd rather not have to worry about a cheque being returned NSF, or having to wait a week or two for it to properly clear. When I get a cheque from Moneybookers, I know it's good.

It all comes down to personal preference....all we have tried to do is suggest to you what works for us. In the end, you should use what you are comfortable with, and what works best for you.

EDIT: And again, I forgot to mention that Moneybookers (supposedly) is coming out with an ATM card in January. This will enable you to go to any ATM and withdraw your funds immediately. When I win, I want my money as quickly as possible...and the ATM cards are definitely the way to go. No more paper cheques and waiting. Let's hope they are on track with that.

 

[han_solo82]

Ok after checking both ecocard and moneybookers, I think I'll go with the latter, since ecocard only offer wire transfer withdrawal and actually charge 30$ for every transaction!

thanks!

 

[Jasminebed]

Hans, I see for myself you found the answer to why I do not use Ecocard