TITLE: Ontario's Alcohol and Gaming Commission Penalizes Betty Gaming Ltd. $120,000 for Age-Verification Failures
BODY:
On August 6, 2026, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) ordered monetary penalties totaling $120,000 against Betty Gaming Ltd. after the operator failed to prevent underage individuals from creating and funding online gambling accounts on Betty.ca.
In November 2025, Betty Gaming identified a vulnerability in Betty.ca's age-restriction and player-eligibility controls. The defect allowed nine individuals under the age of 19 to create accounts, deposit funds, and gamble on the site. An additional 14 underage individuals created accounts but did not deposit money. The AGCO determined that Betty Gaming breached section 3.01, requirement 1(a) of the Registrar's Standards for Gaming, which requires operators to prevent underage individuals from creating accounts, logging in, or gambling online. The operator also violated section 3.04 of the Registrar's Standards for Gaming, which mandates that operators collect, save, and validate all relevant player information before creating a player account.
In Ontario, individuals must generally be 19 or older to gamble online, except for lottery tickets, which may be purchased by individuals aged 18 or older. Dr. Karin Schnarr, AGCO chief executive and Registrar, said: "The legal age requirement is one of the most basic and important safeguards in Ontario's regulated gaming market. Young people must not be able to create accounts, deposit money, or gamble online. Registered operators are responsible for making sure their systems work before those systems go live."
Betty Gaming has the right to appeal the monetary penalty to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), an independent adjudicative body within Tribunals Ontario, within 15 days of the order.