In a first for Ontario’s regulated iGaming market, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued a Notice of Proposed Order to suspend PointsBet Canada’s iGaming registration for five days. The proposed suspension stems from what the AGCO describes as a systemic failure by PointsBet to properly monitor, detect, document, and report suspicious wagering patterns tied to the 2024 bet‑rigging scheme involving NBA player Jontay Porter—now the subject of a major U.S. criminal investigation.
In early 2024, following allegations that Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter was involved in insider betting, the AGCO directed all Ontario‑registered sportsbooks to confirm whether they had offered wagering on Porter and whether any suspicious activity had been detected or reported. After a significant delay, PointsBet informed the regulator that it had not offered any Porter‑related markets.
That assertion unraveled in October 2025, when a U.S. Department of Justice indictment revealed that the Porter case was part of a broader insider betting conspiracy. The AGCO again required all operators to reconfirm whether they had taken bets on Porter. In its second response—eighteen months after its initial statement—PointsBet acknowledged for the first time that it had, in fact, offered Porter markets during the period in question.
Upon reviewing PointsBet’s wagering data, the AGCO identified clear indicators of suspicious betting activity consistent with the scheme uncovered in 2024. According to the regulator, these red flags should have been detected and reported at the time the bets were placed.
Ontario’s regulated operators serve as a critical first line of defense in safeguarding sports integrity and the province’s betting ecosystem.
They are required to actively monitor for unusual or suspicious wagering patterns and immediately report such activity to integrity monitors. Timely reporting alerts sports leagues, regulators, law enforcement, and other operators worldwide to potential integrity threats and helps protect bettors from compromised markets.
This is not the first enforcement action taken against PointsBet by the AGCO. The operator was fined in May 2022 for advertising and inducement violations, and again in November 2023 for breaches of Ontario’s responsible gambling standards.
Operators served with a Notice of Proposed Order to suspend their registration have the right to appeal to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT)—an independent adjudicative body within Tribunals Ontario—within 15 days.
