In a first for the province, Ontario’s gaming regulator wants to temporarily suspend an online sportsbook, alleging it failed to flag suspicious bets tied to a 2024 game-fixing scandal involving a former Toronto Raptors player.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued a notice proposing a five-day suspension of PointsBet Canada’s online gaming registration.
The regulator says the company failed to properly monitor, detect, document and report unusual betting activity connected to the case.
In July 2024, former Raptor Jontay Porter admitted he took himself out of games, claiming illness or injury, so a group of bettors could cash in on wagers that depended on him underperforming. He pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in a U.S. court after receiving a lifetime ban from the NBA.
After reports of insider betting surfaced in early 2024, the AGCO asked all provincially regulated sportsbooks whether they had offered bets on Porter and whether they had spotted or reported anything suspicious. PointsBet replied — after what the AGCO described as a “significant delay” — that it had not offered those types of bets.
In October, a U.S. Department of Justice indictment revealed the Porter case was part of a larger insider betting scheme and the AGCO contacted sportsbooks again. This time, PointsBet told the regulator that Porter-related bets had in fact been available on its site, 18 months after its original response.
The AGCO said there were suspicious bets placed on PointsBet that were central to the scheme and should have been reported.
“Regulated igaming operators act as a critical first line of defence in protecting the integrity of sport and Ontario’s sports betting market,” the AGCO wrote in a media release, adding that by reporting suspicious betting activity, sports betting sites help warn sports leagues, integrity monitors, regulators and law enforcement around the world.
“Safeguarding the integrity of sports and Ontario’s sports betting market is a top priority for the AGCO,” the regulator’s CEO Karin Schnarr said. “Our regulatory framework is clear — operators must be equipped to detect and effectively respond to integrity risks, and we will take appropriate action when these standards are not met.”
The AGCO also noted this isn’t the first time PointsBet has faced penalties since it began operations in Ontario in 2022. It was fined for advertising and inducement-related violations in May 2022 and again in November 2023 for violations of Ontario’s responsible gambling standards.
“Ontario has strict requirements for protecting the integrity of the betting market and will step in to act if those requirements are not being upheld,” an AGCO spokesperson told the Star.
PointsBet Canada said it’s failure to report the Porter-related bets was caused by “an initial inaccurate response in March 2024, caused by human error during an organizational transition — not any intent to withhold information.”
A spokesperson added that once the betting data was discovered, it was immediately disclosed to the AGCO and PointsBet cooperated with the investigation, working proactively with the regulator.
“PointsBet Canada is disappointed by the AGCO’s decision to propose a five-day suspension of our operator registration,” they said.
“We respectfully believe the proposed sanction is disproportionate given the circumstances, our subsequent corrective actions, and our strong compliance record, and we are carefully reviewing all options, including our right to a hearing before the independent Licence Appeal Tribunal.”
PointsBet has 15 days to appeal the proposed suspension to an independent body within Tribunals Ontario.
