BCLC Exposed — Lotteries VS Casino and Sports Betting
BCLC Review
BCLC or British Columbia Lottery Corporation provides local online gaming and casino opportunities. Are these opportunities good or bad, however? That’s what we’re about to find out today.
The BC Lottery Corp. is an official entity, and as such, it should have a pretty reputable, well-oiled online gaming opportunity. If you’ve taken a look at the BCLC.com user reviews underneath this guide, you’ll see a completely different picture.
People are quite dissatisfied with the way the website works and what it has to offer. The BCLC app is often described as slow and bug-ridden, keeping people from enjoying their gaming and winning money.
In this review, we’ll take a look at the opportunities, the strengths, the weaknesses, and the validity of the complaints.
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Games at BCLC
Since BCLC is a regional entity, you can expect to find local lotteries there.
At the time of writing, the lottery games available for online purchasing through BCLC.com include Lotto Max and Extra, Lotto 6/49, BC/49, Daily Grand, Scratch and Win, Poker Lotto, Keno, and Keno Bonus, Pacific Hold ’em Poker, BC Lotto 50/50, and Pull Tabs.
Is there a difference if you decide to buy BC Lottery tickets online or through an actual neighborhood retailer? The good news is that there isn’t. BCLC.com does not charge an additional commission if you decide to acquire your tickets through the platform. The cost is the same, and you benefit from the convenience of not having to leave your home when you decide to purchase Lotto Max BC tickets or a payslip for any other local game.
Apart from British Columbia lotteries, the website also has a digital casino and a sports betting section.
BCLC and Getting Your Prizes
You can play British Columbia lotteries both through the website and the relatively new BCLC app.
The app comes with additional cool functionalities. For example, you can scan a ticket you bought offline to find out if you’ve won anything. If you purchased tickets online through BCLC.com, you would be alerted about winning a prize, and there’s no need to check.
The prize claim procedure is described in full detail on the BCLC FAQ page.
Prizes of up to 2,000 dollars are credited to a player’s account instantly. For more considerable sums, players will need to visit a regional prize payout location in BC.
Who Can Play at BCLC?
There is an intricate authentication process that you have to go through to sign up for a BCLC account.
As per the official terms and conditions, you need to be at least 19, and there’s also a BC residency requirement that is verified by a third party. Thus, if you live in another country and you’d like to test out British Columbia lotteries like BCLC Lotto 6/49, for example, you’ll have to seek another opportunity.
Keep in mind that even if you are a BC resident, you can only buy BCLC.com lottery tickets while you are physically within British Columbia. If you travel outside of BC, you will not enjoy the opportunities that the online platform offers.
BCLC.com Terms and Conditions
BCLC.com has pretty standard terms and conditions – nothing particularly worrisome there.
As already mentioned, there’s a pretty strict verification process to make sure you are of the age and residency to participate in BCLC games. If you somehow manage to bypass the safeguards, you’ll still experience problems at the time you decide to make a prize claim.
BCLC also provides various opportunities for responsible gaming. Setting weekly limits on deposits is one of those options.
Also, keep in mind that when signing up for an account, a player agrees to use it individually. This means you can’t lead your spouse or friends to play through your profile.
Who Is Behind BCLC?
As already mentioned, the online portal is developed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
BCLC has been around since 1985, and it operates under governmental regulations. It was incorporated under the Provincial Company Act. Initially, it offered lotteries solely. Eventually, the authority of the corporation was expanded to cover casino games and sports betting.
You can get in touch with their support team via phone, live chat, and email. Also, BCLC has numerous retail venues and customer centers throughout BC you can visit.
Other Bits and Pieces
While the BC Lottery Corp app is entirely legitimate, there are numerous complaints about its operation.
Most of these negative testimonials focus on the glitchiness of the website and the app.
People are also dissatisfied with the extensive verification procedures and the quality of customer service. Some had had to call multiple calls before someone picked up and took their complaint to heart.
So, in essence, there’s nothing wrong with the website itself. Issues stem from how BCLC is being operated and maintained.
Let’s sum up the biggest BCLC app’s pros and cons.
Why You Should Register With BCLC
Pros:
Run and operated by an official state entity under the BC regulatory framework
Offers both national and local British Columbia lotteries
Online casino and sports betting opportunities are available
Ticket prices are the same as within the BC retail network
There’s a BCLC app that can be used to play, scan tickets and check results
Why You Shouldn’t Register With BCLC
Cons:
Only available for BC residents
Even if you are a BC resident, you cannot play on the website when you’re out of the territory
A very strict, rigorous, and complex ID verification process
There have been multiple complaints about the quality of the customer service
Users also complained about the quality of the website and the fact that it tends to freeze up quite often
Is BCLC Legit?
BCLC.com isn’t the best, but it’s also not the worst online lottery platform out there. It’s a pretty niche product, and hence, the number of people who can benefit from it is limited by default.
Is BCLC the right platform to choose if you want to play Canadian lotteries? Unless you are in BC, the answer is no. Luckily, there are many other less restrictive online platforms out there to access your favorite Canadian games, as well as multiple other popular lottery games from all parts of the world.
Colin
BCLC are a monopoly. They push out all other companies and competitors in order to make you play on their casinos. I use to love sports betting with Betfair but they pushed them out. I also love to play Big time gaming slots, but slowly and surely they are one by one, banning online casinos from offering their slots to Canadian players. It’s also terribly difficult to fund any account and online wallets because they intervene and block all payment options. I hate BCLC with a passion. It’s my own money so let me do what I want with it. Jokers…..
Robert Petanic
Bclc are crooks! Their execs get 6 figure plus salaries and they rip the public off! I am waiting for the whistle blower with courage to confirm that keno is a scam! What is played affects what numbers will be drawn. Random is a myth! Please stop contributing to these thieves! Stop supporting the bclc scumbags!
Gethrow
BCLC online black jack not the live dealer.
I Find this to be a scam when bet 1$ I always win the hand as soon as I raise bet $25 I always loose. Seems to be something in the algorithm of their program that makes sure BCLC never loose big hands. I would play 5 consecutive hands at $25 and loose every one I would have two high cards 20 and the dealer pulls a seven card 21 I call bull shit! They try to maximize your loss any minimize there’s. Of course they would never admit that there black jack games do this but after playing at least a thousand hands I sure see a pattern. Do not play there online black jack total scam unless you want to play $1 hands all the time.
Mike Froehler
I have to say the thing that makes me agree about B.C.L.C is. After decades of buying tickets and for the most part loosing everything. I look at moneys lost and think about how much they took from me alone.
Now add up everyone else in my shoes and they can’t supply a simple ticket scanner free?? I put a lot into this outfit already, we all have. JUST A SCANNER/CHECKER for Android. How hard would that be for them to make happen???
Robert
I like straight forward online agents, and this seams like just another betting site. On the main page there is all about lottery, but when you look a little bit deeper it’s actually betting and casino games. Not my cup of tea.