Ontario regulator triggers review of self-exclusion amid loophole fears
Report suggests that Ontario bettors are looking to self-exclude to back out of losing bets without financial penalty
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is reportedly conducting a review of province-wide self-exclusion standards after the exposure of a loophole relating to losing bets.
The loophole centers on players’ ability to self-exclude from sportsbook websites, and the abuse of this system to avoid paying out on losing bets by bettors as all self-excluded monies are automatically refunded.
Individuals are reportedly choosing to self-exclude with one sportsbook in order to refund those monies and then bet them on the other team with a rival sportsbook.
The aim is to allow a bettor to collect refunds from one operator, while also collecting winnings from the other half of the bet from another.
Under AGCO sportsbook standards, operators are required to provide voluntary self-exclusion functionality to bettors through their respective website and app.
The self-exclusion program must cancel all pending bets and future game transactions, returning the balance of unused funds to the player.
In order to stave off any potential misuse of the system, many sportsbook operators have included withholding functionality in the event of any fraud being suspected.
There is currently no centralized database through which players in Ontario can self-exclude from all licensed websites in the province, however, according to reports on Yahoo Finance Canada, this could be introduced in the near future.
In comments reported by the site, AGCO spokesperson Raymond Kahnert suggested the regulator was aware of the exploitation of this loophole by players and was “gathering information” on the size of the issue before moving forward.
A unified self-exclusion database would potentially negate this loophole and is something that is definitely on AGCO’s radar.
“The launch of a centralized self-exclusion registry is a priority for AGCO and iGaming Ontario,” Kahnert said.
After a whirlwind run up to the launch of regulated igaming and sports betting in Ontario on April 4, AGCO has been largely quiet, licensing individual operators and issuing three fines to companies including DraftKings, PointsBet, and BetMGM for breaches of advertizing standards.
Elsewhere, Bally’s has become the latest operator to receive a license to operate in the Ontario market from AGCO, with the license covering four domains – ballybet.ca, ballycasino.ca, ballysbet.ca, and ballyscasino.ca, as well as the BallyBet mobile app.