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Two major rulings coming out of Ontario over the past couple of weeks have attracted the attention of regulators of online casinos in Alberta.
The two provinces are the only ones in Canada to have regulated iGaming markets, and Alberta’s is just a little more than three months old.
But two casino operators in Ontario received penalties in October. One is theScore.bet, which is one of 51 sites that have been greenlit and approved to operate by the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AIGC). The other is PointsBet, which has yet to go live in Alberta, but is still taking pre-registrations from prospective players in the province ahead of an anticipated launch.
While the AGCO made two major rulings in October, these were for offences committed long before Alberta opened its market.
Still, the fact that these two sites ended up on the naughty list drew attention.
The AIGC made this statement:
“AIGC actively monitors iGaming operator news and activity from Ontario. Strong oversight is exactly why Alberta established a regulated iGaming market, and the existence of regulatory action demonstrates how operators are expected to meet high standards of accountability.”
The AIGC said its practices will ensure that any operators who breach the rules “will be addressed quickly and transparently.”
TheScore.bet was fined $200,000 CAD by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) after an investigation into a bet placed in March of 2025. The bettor made a parlay combining NHL, NBA, and NCAA games. If all of the bets were won, the payout would have been in excess of $1 million.
As is the case when longshot, high-yield bets get close to paying off, an offer was made to the bettor. With one game left to hit the parlay, theScore.bet offered a $380,000 payout. The bettor, not wanting to lose it all on the final game, accepted. But the site then rejected the payout because the odds had changed.
TheScore.bet then offered $100,000; the terms were accepted, but the payout was again rejected. The bettor eventually lost the last bet and ended up with nothing.
The AGCO ruled that neither cashout represented a realistic offer. This violated the rules that “information provided to players before and during gameplay does not mislead players or misrepresent games, including by describing outcomes, prizes or features that are not achievable.”
As well, PointsBet Canada and the AGCO reached a settlement; PointsBet agreed to turn off its Ontario site for two days and undergo an independent audit. This came after the AGCO proposed the site go dark for five days after PointsBet failed to monitor, detect, or report irregular betting activity surrounding 2024 NBA games involving Jontay Porter.
A middle ground was found between the AGCO and PointsBet.
Porter was banned for life from the NBA for aiding gamblers in hitting prop bets on his performance. He was a member of the Toronto Raptors at the time and was a little-used rotation player. Porter pulled himself out of games in order for some prop bets to be hit.
