Century Downs Racetrack and Casino Opens to Public

The new Century Downs Racetrack and Casino has finally opened to the public just north of Calgary, Alberta.

When the Century Downs Racetrack and Casino opened its doors, about 200 people were standing outside just waiting to see. This destination is at the intersection of CrossIron Drive and Dwight McLellan Trail east of CrossIron Mills, and it's looking like it could be a pretty big deal for people who are looking to get in on the action with both casino games and betting on horses.

Gambling in Alberta

The racetrack in particular is a pretty big deal. People all over Calgary and the surrounding area are very excited to be able to bet on local horses once again. Late April is going to see a whole day of harness racing for the beginning of the 2015 horse racing season, and 2016 is looking like it will have a full schedule of thoroughbred racing. This translates to lots of betting opportunities for people who will love the action.

This casino opening is a pretty big deal for the local area and for Alberta as a whole because gambling is a $1.5 billion industry in the province. A lot of this is in the form of revenues that the government uses for tons of public projects like hospitals, roads, playgrounds and tons of other programs. It's important that these funds are available not only so that players feel like they have somewhere safe and legal to gamble but also so that the proceeds can be used in part to fund projects that help everyone in the province.

Along these lines, it's good news that Alberta is looking to open up to online gambling as well. Under Canadian law, the operation of online gambling games can only be done by the provinces, and even though they can't bring in other companies to license, they can try to get a piece of the market themselves. Whether they will see success at this is yet to be seen, but it's good for them to get their foot in the door, so to speak, in case the laws on licensing changes so that they won't have to start from scratch when it comes to getting the games going online.