AGCO Proposes 5-Day Suspension for PointsBet Canada

In a first for Ontario’s regulated online gambling market, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has decided to temporarily suspend PointsBet Canada’s iGaming registration for the duration of five days.

The proposed suspension follows what the regulator described as a systemic failure to properly monitor and report suspicious betting tied to a 2024 match-fixing scheme involving former NBA player Jontay Porter.

Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the NBA after it emerged he had manipulated his performance to help a member of the Gambino crime family win prop bets. The case is now part of a major criminal investigation in the United States.

Signs of Suspicious Betting

According to the AGCO, concerns first surfaced in early 2024. At that point, the regulator asked all licensed Ontario sportsbooks to confirm whether they had offered bets on Porter and whether any unusual betting activity had been flagged and reported.

The AGCO says PointsBet initially responded, after what it described as a significant delay, that it had not offered any bets on Porter.

That changed after a US Department of Justice indictment laid out details of the insider betting scheme. The regulator says it again asked PointsBet the same question, and this time the operator acknowledged that it had, in fact, taken bets on Porter.

After reviewing the operator’s data, the AGCO said it confirmed signs of suspicious betting activity that, in its view, should have been identified and reported at the time.

Dr. Karin Schnarr, the AGCO’s chief executive, said: “Safeguarding the integrity of sports and Ontario’s sports betting market is a top priority for the AGCO. We require all operators to have robust systems and comprehensive staff training in place to reliably detect and report suspicious activity.”

PointsBet, “Disappointed” by the “Disproportionate” Decision

PointsBet Canada pushed back on the proposed sanction, expressing disappointment in a statement.

The company argued that “an initial inaccurate response in March 2024” was responsible for the “human error during an organisational transition”, reiterating that the withholding of information that occurred was something intentional.

“Upon discovering the correct data, we immediately disclosed it, cooperated fully with the investigation, and engaged proactively with the regulator,” they added. 

“We respectfully believe the proposed sanction is disproportionate”, they added, saying thy are “carefully reviewing all options”, including their right to a hearing before the independent Licence Appeal Tribunal. The AGCO previously fined the operator in 2022 over advertising breaches and again in November 2023 for responsible gambling violations.