Betty Gaming has been handed a C$120,000 fine by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario following the discovery of 23 underage accounts on its platform.
The AGCO told NEXT.io that the underage accounts went undetected by Betty for a period of two years before the regulator became aware of the issue in November 2025.
Nine of the 23 underage individuals were able to deposit funds and actively gamble on Betty’s site, representing the most serious aspect of the violations identified.
The remaining 14 account holders did not deposit funds, though it remains unclear whether this resulted from platform safeguards or the individuals choosing not to deposit.
Under Ontario law, operators are required to have robust systems in place to prevent underage individuals from creating accounts in the first instance.
The AGCO confirmed the penalties arose from two separate violations, including failing to prevent underage individuals from accessing the gaming site and failing to validate player information before accounts were created.
Section 3.04 of the regulator’s standards for gaming states that “relevant player information shall be collected and saved upon registration and shall be demonstrated to be complete, accurate and validated before a player account is created for the player.”
Dr Karin Schnarr, CEO and registrar of the AGCO, stated: “The legal age requirement is one of the most basic and important safeguards in Ontario’s regulated gaming market.”
Schnarr went further, adding: “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. When those responsibilities are not met, we will take action to protect young people and uphold confidence in Ontario’s regulated market.”
An AGCO spokesperson explained how the penalty figure was calculated, saying: “The AGCO considers factors such as the nature of the contravention and the importance of the safeguards involved when determining an appropriate enforcement response.”
The minimum gambling age in Ontario is 19 under section 3.01 of the regulator’s gaming standards, though residents aged 18 and over are permitted to purchase lottery tickets.
This is not the first significant underage-related fine issued in Ontario, with Great Canadian Entertainment receiving a C$151,000 penalty in May 2025 for allowing minors into three Toronto casinos on four separate occasions.
Betty retains the right to appeal the monetary penalty order within 15 days to the licence appeal tribunal, though neither the company nor the AGCO has confirmed whether an appeal is planned.
Ontario remains Betty’s core market, with the operator having originated in Canada and generating C$8.4m in profit in Q2 from its Canadian operations.
The company has been pushing for international growth, launching its UK site in June 2026, with co-founder and group CEO Justin Park telling NEXT.io the venture will be “some flavour of success,” adding: “It’s really just a question of scale.”
