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What’s Hot in Gaming in Alberta

Published

2 years ago

5 minute read

Alberta is known for a lot of things, most notably for being home to a huge oil industry with vast reserves in the Athabasca Oil Sands. Agriculture is another big part of the province, as is the giant municipal park in Edmonton nicknamed the “ribbon of green”.

If you’re looking for entertainment in Alberta, you won’t be disappointed either. The province has the largest mall in North America. Known as the West Edmonton Mall, it’s home to 800 stores, a giant waterpark, an ice rink, an aquarium, an escape room, a bowling alley, and an indoor karting track.

But this one-stop shop of fun doesn’t have a monopoly over excitement in the province. There are plenty of outdoor activities too, such as the outdoor rinks in Red Deer. Many Albertans also turn to video games to get their kicks, with around 55% of them enjoying the pastime regularly.

Like almost everything else in life, games come in and out of fashion regularly, making it hard sometimes to keep up with what’s trendy. So, to get you up to speed, here’s what’s hot in Albertan gaming right now.

Casino Games

Casino games are some of the oldest titles played today. Even modern video slots with their flashy graphics and exciting animations have their roots in 19th-century California.

Their age doesn’t put Albertans off though. Casino games continue to be popular in the province and across the rest of Canada. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that online casinos now offer many ways to play, including from your computer, smartphone, or tablet. They’ve also expanded their selection of games, creating unique variants of traditional titles like Single Deck Blackjack and Perfect Strategy Blackjack.

Another key driver of their popularity among Albertans is the live casino format which combines the convenience of playing online with the realism of visiting a land-based establishment.

Players can choose from a wide collection of games, such as Live Mega Fire Blaze Roulette, Live Football Studio Dice, and Live 9 Pots Of Gold. Each one offers an exciting experience that can’t be found anywhere else.

Battle Royales

The battle royale genre of video games is a relatively new one. Its name comes from the 2000 movie, Battle Royale, as the premise of these games is similar to the plot of the film.

While there are some small differences between each game, they all share several key similarities. A match starts with a large number of players (usually 100) being dropped onto a map with no (or few) tools available to them.

They must then scavenge for resources, construct defences, and hunt down their opponents. Unlike more traditional shooting games, there is no re-spawning, so once you’ve been killed, that’s it for that match. The winner is the last player standing.

They’ve become huge hits right around the world, including here in Alberta thanks to the novel concept and huge variety in gameplay. Many of the most popular titles, such as Fortnite, PUBG, and Call of Duty: Warzone, are also free to play, which makes them considerably more attractive than many paid-for alternatives.

Hyper-Casual

The term “casual game” only entered common parlance in recent years, helped by social networks and smartphones. It refers to games that are designed to appeal to a wider audience and that have simpler rules and mechanics.

Hyper-casual games are an extension of this. As their names suggest they are more casual than traditional casual games, often requiring just a couple of minutes of commitment to play at a time. This is a sharp contrast to most other games which would require players to set aside a considerable chunk of time.

They are usually free and available on mobile, making them more accessible than almost any other genre of game on the market. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why they’re incredibly popular among Albertan gamers.

Some of the most popular hyper-casual titles right now include Bridge Race, Tall Man Run, Going Balls, Race Master 3D – Car Racing, and Fill the Fridge.

 

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The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

Published on March 28, 2025

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

  • the draft dragged on for hours;
  • there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
  • frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

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60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

Published on March 26, 2025

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When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

 

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.

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