Evaluating Ontario’s Favorite Online Casino Games from 2023 Data
For decades, we’ve known that there are countless people in Ontario who enjoy casino gambling. What we didn’t know was just how many people fall into the category of iGamer. Thousands? Most definitely. Tens or even hundreds of thousands? Surely so. Millions? Apparently, yes.
According to iGaming Ontario (iGO), the official regulator of all internet gambling activities in the province, there are more than 1 million active player accounts in Ontario; (1.65 million, to be exact). These are individuals who actively participate in the province’s licensed and regulated iGaming market. That doesn’t even include those who prefer gambling in land casinos, or at international websites not regulated by iGO.
As someone who’s been researching this industry, not just in Ontario, but all of Canada and beyond, I find it fascinating that we finally have factual data with concrete numbers. You may not find it as interesting as I do, but what may pique your curiosity is what types of casino games Ontario’s masses are playing. If so, hang tight and scroll down, because we’ve got that information for you too.
Ontario’s Favorite Online Casino Games
This is the kind of information I’ve been studying for years. I’ve scoured public surveys and even gone out to conduct my own studies in actual casinos. Finally, thanks to Ontario’s modern movement toward the regulation of online gambling, I have factual evidence to share.
The following chart is based on an annual facts, figures, and revenue report published by iGO. It details the market’s status from the beginning of April 2022 (when iGaming officially launched in the province) to March 2023 (exactly one year later). As for most popular casino games, here’s the short of it:
Shocker! The Most Popular are Casino Table Games
The slots might make up the largest portion in blue, but both remaining sections in green and yellow cover types of table games. And that means – can I get a dramatic drum roll please? – table games actually beat out the slots!
It’s not by much, mind you. Live and computer-based (RNG) table games collectively top slots by just 51% to 48% (with an ostensible Other category capturing the last 1%). But this has to come as a shock to anyone who knows anything about casinos.
Think about every gambling hall you’ve ever been to, or seen on TV/in a movie. Wall to wall, aisles upon aisles – slot machines banks as far as the eye can see. And somewhere in the middle of it all, some table games. Whether it’s a small locals’ casino or a massive, integrated resort, doesn’t matter. The ratio of slots to tables is always crazy, whether it’s 7 tables to 600 slots, or 70 to 6,000.
Why the Shift from Slots to Tables?
There was obviously a time when the collective gamers’ love for slots was immensely higher than that of all other games. But the gamers themselves are making it unmistakably clear. That time is over. And we absolutely owe that to the introduction of online casinos.
These casino websites and software creators dissolve the distinct limitations brought on by physical gaming centres. The most notable is a limit in available seating. Then there’s the intimidation factor. Most novices find approaching a table full of hardened players awkward, to say the least. There are so many rules of etiquette to follow, the atmosphere is palpably overwhelming.
Online casinos remove this veil entirely. Unlimited seats on every game; no judgmental glances from neighboring players; lower (and higher) table limits are always available. And it’s no secret the average bankroll goes a lot farther on tables than on slots. Without all of these classic hindrances, the truth is finally clear. Table games are the most popular form of casino gambling.
Note: iGO does not release data for individual table games. We don’t know which tables are the most popular. We can only assume blackjack is the top performer, but there are surely high positions for roulette and baccarat, as well as the many live game shows present in most Ontario online casinos.
Live Dealer Tables Beat Out Online (RNG) Games
As the infographic shows, iGO separates “Live” casino games from traditional, RNG-based table games. If we split these up, then slot machines still win the race. But the truth is, these are the same games. It’s only how online casinos deliver them that differs.
A live casino game takes place just as it would in a land casino. There’s a real blackjack dealer, or real roulette croupier, at a real table. There are people, gathering in real time, placing real bets on real outcomes that are really happening. The only difference is that the players are conducting their bets on a computer or mobile device, rather than in a casino, at the table.
Computer-based games are software programs. They generate results based on a random number generator (RNG). The only live person involved is the player. These games are just as accurate and unpredictable as a live game. They’re just impersonal by comparison.
At a popularity ratio of 32% to 19%, it’s pretty obvious that people prefer genuinely realistic tables to software-engineered mock-ups. As far as entertainment goes, there’s something to be said for the liveliness and interactivity of a real dealer game.
Slots Continue to Draw Players in Droves
We mean no disrespect to slot machines. They are still extremely popular, attracting nearly half of all Ontario’s iGaming community. There’s a very good reason for it. They offer fast, in-your-face entertainment with the potential to reward extraordinary amounts of cash.
Over the years, slot machines evolved from ‘a way to occupy the ladies while the menfolk play poker‘, to fascinating works of art. They feature every theme imaginable, from fanciful to tropical, from science fiction to the macabre. Every major motion picture and television series seems to come with a brand-licensed slot.
Anything with a substantial fan base is worth converting to a game, and who can blame them? It’s been an incredibly successful marketing tactic for manufacturers. We as players enjoy interacting with what we love, and you simply can’t find that level of familiar imitation in table games. Game of Thrones makes a great full-feature video slot, but it does nothing for blackjack tables.
The Quickest Games – The Biggest PrizesJackpots, often of the progressive variety, are also big attractions in slot machines. The most you can win on a roulette wheel is 35 to 1. Slots promote payouts in the thousands-to-one, if not much more.
Progressive jackpots can be especially lucrative. Some of them even seed (start, or reset) as high as one million, rising exponentially until struck. And because a spin of the reels happens so fast (average 10 spins per minute), those jackpots experience rapid growth.
Sure, the odds of such a lucky strike are about as good as winning the lottery. But is it not better to play with that chance than without it? This is the mindset that keeps true slots lovers coming back for more, session after session, year after year, and the reason slots will always be high on the list of favorite online casino games in Ontario, Canada and beyond.
