Alberta, Ca Revises Its Regulations To Allow Recordings

The province of Alberta, Canada has made a revision its gaming regulations with respect to recording poker tournaments held in the state. The Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission (AGLC) released the revised guidelines on its website last week that allows filming to take place under stipulated conditions.

The earlier guidelines stated clearly that poker tournaments could not be recorded. The revised guidelines state that events can be filmed or recorded for broadcast after the licensed casino operator submits a media plan for the event.

The media plan must include key information such as the name and responsibilities of the media company, summary related to game integrity protection, the proposed plan for intimating players regarding the filming, time periods during which the filming will be done, the portions of event that will be covered during filming and the purpose for filming the event.

Tournament recordings and television coverage are vital for enhancing the appeal, reach and popularity of live poker tournaments held in Alberta, Canada.

Steve Lipscomb’s television coverage of the popular World Poker Tour brought poker into households for the first time and is credited with expanding the reach and popularity of the game. The next event that gave a boost to the poker industry was the televised win of Chris Moneymaker during the 2003 World Series of Poker. The win led to a dramatic jump in the number of people playing poker online and offline. Television programs have played a critical role in popularizing the game of poker and building a global poker fan base.

The lack of filming rights has held back the growth of poker tournaments in Alberta. The province plays host to a number of poker tournaments which take place in some of Alberta’s popular casinos which include the Deerfoot Inn & Casino, Edmonton’s Pure Canadian Gaming, DeepStacks Poker Tour and Grey Eagle Resort & Casino. However none of these casinos have so far been able to capitalize on the exposure and publicity a televised broadcast would have brought them but that can all be changed with the new laws.

The province has also never had either the World Poker Tour or the World Series of Poker Circuit make a stop at its casinos. The inability to film such events could be one of the main reasons as to why one of the major tours have not yet stopped at Alberta.However, with this revision, the exposure for the tournaments held in the province is likely to see an increase.