After a hard sell to GTA residents on the merits of a casino as part of a massive entertainment destination, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation could be - as they say in horse racing - tucking back into a hole instead of gunning for the front.

“There’s a very significant opportunity for the city of Toronto but, at the end of the day, city council will decide if it’s positive from a jobs and tourism perspective and if, from a revenue perspective, it makes sense for the city,” OLG President Rod Phillips told the Toronto Star on Tuesday. This tone marks a dramatic shift from earlier this year when the OLG decreed that Toronto would get a casino as part of its land-based modernization strategy.

While city staff compile a report on gaming expansion expected to be finalized and presented in October, Councillor Adam Vaughan told The Star that other communities are waiting to see if and how Toronto approaches expanded gaming.

"The province has pushed it hard and fast, and it looks like that could put their efforts to reform their gambling operation on hold,” said Vaughan.

Despite the less than enthusiastic response from the province and the cold hard facts presented by those inside and outside horse racing industry on how this modernization strategy will decimate thousands of jobs, OLG's Phillips noted that the process is "about where we expected to be" with interest from both municipalities and casino operators.

“We’re making good progress. We’re moving into the process of dealing with potential operators and specific locations.”

According to The Star, four major players have emerged thus far in the GTA casino race: MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands and Woodbine Entertainment Group. One of these four groups told The Star that this could be gambling’s “biggest opportunity in the world right now.”