CanadianGamingBusiness

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) levied a serious fine against PointsBet after the operator was alleged to be negligent in complying with the province’s responsible gambling policies.

According to the statement from AGCO, PointsBet Canada repeatedly and severely violated policy regarding one specific customer who lost over $500,000 in the span of three months. The AGCO has levied a $150,000 fine against the operator.

Despite being flagged by PointsBet as high risk, at no point did the site intervene. The customer repeatedly canceled withdrawal requests and was not required to sit out from gambling for 24 hours after removing deposit limits on their account.

“In Ontario, iGaming operators have an obligation to proactively monitor their patrons’ play for signs of high-risk gambling, and to take appropriate actions to intervene and reduce the potential for gambling related harms. The AGCO will continue to focus on player protection by holding all registered operators..

The Prince Edward Island Lotteries Commission has unveiled its new responsible gambling strategy for Islanders, which acts as an update and replacement for the previous strategy created in 2008.

The strategy, which was developed by independent consultant MRSB – contracted by the PEI Lotteries Commission – was created using five guiding principles, which are:

harm reduction;
accountability;
informed and healthy play;
equity and inclusion;
and supporting vibrant communities.

Citing an “entirely new era” where digital and online activity has been growing at “warp speed”, the new strategy will “chart a new course for gambling” in the province, according to Minister of Finance Jill Burridge.

Burridge, who is also Chair of the PEI Lotteries Commission, explained: “The gambling landscape has shifted considerably in the last fifteen years. This new strategy responds to emerging demands and provides a balanced approach, by ensuring those who want to gamble can do so in a safe and positive w..

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has served Apollo Entertainment with a Notice of Monetary Penalty totalling $100,000 for failing to adhere to its responsible gambling standards.

Apollo entered the Ontario market last September, receiving licenses from the AGCO for seven igaming sites:

Zodiac Casino
Yukon Gold Casino
Luxury Casino
Grand Mondial Casino
Casino Classic
Captain-Cooks Casino
Golden Tiger Casino

However, the regulator announced last week that the firm has violated multiple responsible gaming provisions in the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, including:

Failing to conduct required interventions with players who may be experiencing gambling related harms. This included the case of a player experiencing over $2m in losses in under four months without receiving interventions from the gaming site operator during that period.
Failing to implement an adequate voluntary self-exclusion program, as well as providing insufficient tools for players to se..

The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) has today published its Annual Report for 2022-23, detailing the advancements in RG made across Canada.

Over the last year, the non-profit organization has bolstered its presence in the RG space with several key partnerships and new ventures.

The RGC’s public service announcement about the risks of igaming and sports betting – broadcast on networks throughout Canada in collaboration with thinktv – was a particularly powerful event, garnering over 100 million impressions.

Meanwhile, the launch of the regulated Ontario igaming market in March 2022 saw the Toronto-based organization utilize RG Check – ‘the most comprehensive responsible gambling accreditation program in the world’ – to conduct the first round of accreditations with 17 of Ontario’s newly licensed igaming operators.

Then, in February, the RGC released its Super Bowl survey, where it gathered insights into Ontarian’s plans to watch and bet on the NFL’s showpiece event, finding that ..

Kinectify has signed a deal with Kindbridge Behavioral Health to provide operators in the US and Canada with enhanced technology for people experiencing gambling harms.

The agreement will see the AML and risk management firm launch “an all-in-one RG platform that seamlessly integrates with its existing AML platform”.

This platform will provide specialized workspaces for AML and RG teams enabling them to handle player care, case management, reporting and monitoring.

Joseph Martin, CEO of Kinectify, said: “Applying our learnings from developing the most sophisticated transaction monitoring and case management system in the industry to problem gaming is exciting.

“We are thrilled to partner with Kindbridge, the first organization solely focused on building treatment infrastructure through telehealth.”

Martin, who will subsequently join the Board of Directors at the Kindbridge Research Institute (KRI), added: “We look forward to testing a variety of treatment modalities on those that ..

Personalizing technology is the crucial next step in managing player risk and decreasing the levels of problem gambling, according to experts at the Canadian Gaming Summit.

Moderated by Bill Pascrell III, Partner of Princeton Public Affairs Group, the ‘Managing player risk through tech’ panel held a wide-ranging discussion on the collection of data in gambling and how information can be best utilized to protect and empower consumers.

After captivating the audience with a personal, thought-provoking story of his own, Pascrell III invited Paul Foster, CEO of Crucial Compliance, to explain the cutting-edge technology that the industry is using to help with consumer protection.

“The actual cutting edge technology is data – that’s as good as it gets,” said Foster. “What we’ve been able to do over the last few years is collect huge amounts of data, analyse it, and actually create [player] behaviour models. If we then take that and apply the research that everybody else is doing, that crea..

Former NHL goaltender from Pickering, ON and the current Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association (NHLAA), Glenn Healy, is set to make a special appearance on a live episode of the ‘Safe Bet Show.’

The podcast, which is hosted by Martin Lycka, Entain’s Senior Vice President of American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling, will be featured at the Player Protection Symposium, a limited-capacity exclusive event taking place on June 13th at the Metro Toronto Convention Center (Rooms 205 & 206).

This pre-day conference is part of the Canadian Gaming Summit, Canada’s premier gaming and betting event. In its 26th edition, the Summit will be produced by SBC for the first time ever, with the core conference and exhibition also occurring at the same location on June 14-15.

Launched in collaboration with SBC in April 2021, the ‘Safe Bet Show’ is a podcast where Lycka examines how the industry is addressing player protection and social responsibility. Through interviews with lea..

Karl Subban, father of the former ice hockey star PK Subban, has vocalised his opposition to the level of sports betting advertisements in Canada.

It’s a topic that has set tongues wagging recently, particularly in light of the proposal announced by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) last month to ban the use of athletes as part of a significant reform of online gambling advertising standards.

The Ontario crown agency has been engaging with a ‘broad range of stakeholders’ on the topic, and has received approximately 40 submissions to aid its final decision.

The proposal looks to have gained further momentum after the formation of the Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising, a voluntary organization made up of major sports leagues like MLB and NFL, and leading broadcasters such as Fox and NBCUniversal.

Subban, meanwhile, has joined the Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling, which is calling for sports betting advertisements to be removed from all hockey broa..

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) is bolstering identification requirements at casinos in the province, a move designed to support people enrolled in its Game Break self-exclusion program.

Game Break underwent a rebrand earlier this year, with one of the key changes being the introduction of an active reinstatement process for individuals who choose to return to play, enabling better support for those that feel resuming gambling is right for them.

However, the BCLC has also retained a focus on its key principle – protecting players who have joined the self-exclusion program and are at a potentially vulnerable stage.

The new system will require all individuals entering a BC casino to present government-issued photo identification, which will then be scanned by security staff to automatically check whether the person is in the database of those restricted from setting foot in gambling facilities.

Underpinning the Canadian Crown corporation’s goal of having “the healthie..

In a bid to address the elephant in the room – sports and gambling – a host of major sports leagues and broadcasters have joined forces to set up a task force.

Named the ‘Coalition for Responsible Sports Betting Advertising’, the voluntary organization is made up of the following groups:

NFL
MLB
MLS
NASCAR
NBA
WBNA
NHL
NBCUniversal
FOX

The coalition maintains it is abiding by six key principles to help ensure a responsible approach to sports betting advertising:

Sports betting should be marketed only to adults of legal betting age
Sports betting advertising should not promote irresponsible or excessive gambling or degrade the consumer experience
Sports betting advertisements should not be misleading
Sports betting advertisements should be in good taste
Publishers should have appropriate internal reviews of sports betting advertising
Publishers should review consumer complaints pertaining to sports betting advertising

A joint statement from the Coalition for Responsible Sports Bet..