With legal gambling surging nearly 5 percent in the last year, Alberta online betting experts says the new government needs to reconsider the former Tory regime’s plan to add an online casino to the province’s betting mix.

New numbers from the province’s gaming and liquor commission show bettors stuffed nearly $25 billion into video slot and lottery machines during the last 12 months and contributed over $1.2 billion after expenses to government coffers after expenses.

While the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission is now looking at proposals to create an Internet betting site that could add an estimated $150 million more in revenues each year, Garry Smith said the NDP government should be looking instead at limiting the availability of gambling in the province.

“The data shows that 3 or 4 per cent of the people who play these machines are problem gamblers and they generate upwards of 40 per cent of the revenues,” said Smith, a professor emeritus at the University of Alberta who researches the social and economic aspects of gambling.

More on Alberta online betting at Calgary Herald