Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Suspends PointsBet’s License

• The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario today announced a five-day iGaming registration suspension for PointsBet Canada
• The suspension is due to PointsBet’s failure to monitor, detect, document and report suspicious betting patterns related to Jontay Porter scandal
• PointsBet failed to report suspicious behavior to AGCO

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario today announced a five-day iGaming registration suspension for PointsBet Canada for failure to properly monitor, detect, document, and report suspicious betting patterns related to the 2024 Jontay Porter NBA sports betting scandal.

According to the AGCO, in 2024 PointsBet Canada denied offering bets on Porter after details of an insider sports betting scandal began to emerge. However, in October 2025, after another inquiry as to whether operators offered such bets on Porter, PointsBet acknowledged for the first time it had indeed offered bets on the games in question.

“Safeguarding the integrity of sports and Ontario’s sports betting market is a top priority for the AGCO. We require all operators to have robust systems and comprehensive staff training in place to reliably detect and report suspicious activity. 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,” Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of the AGCO, said in a release.

Failed to Detect Suspicious Behavior

According to the commission, a notice was sent to Ontario-regulated sportsbooks in early 2024 to confirm whether they offered bets on Porter and if they had detected and/or reported suspicious betting activity. After a significant delay from the initial notice, PointsBet reported to the AGCO it had not offered any such bets on Porter markets.

In October 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice released an indictment showing the Porter case formed part of a larger broader insider sports betting scheme. The AGCO again reached out to Ontario operators, requiring license holders to reconfirm whether any suspicious betting had occurred on Porter markets.

In response to this new inquiry – 18 months after the commission’s initial request – PointsBet acknowledged it had indeed offered betting on Porter in those games.

PointsBet’s sports betting data confirmed to the AGCO the indications of suspicious betting central to the Porter sports betting scheme. PointsBet, the commission noted, failed to detect and report the suspicious activity at the time they occurred.

The AGCO noted the regulated iGaming operators should provide the first line of defense in protecting the integrity of Ontario’s sports betting market.

This is not the first time the commission has sanctioned PointsBet. In May 2022, the AGCO issued the operator a monetary penalty for advertising and inducement-related violations. In November 2023, the AGCO issued another monetary penalty for violations of Ontario’s responsible gambling standards.

PointsBet will be able to appeal the AGCO’s action within 15 days to the License Appeal Tribunal.

Suspension Due to Porter Scandal

During the 2023 NBA season, former two-way Toronto Raptors center Porter placed several bets on NBA games, including several against the Toronto Raptors while he was on the active team roster. He also purposefully removed himself from games so “under” bets placed by individuals he owed money to could win.

The NBA banned Porter for life in April 2024, after an investigation found the two-way backup forward/center provided a sports bettor with confidential information, limited his participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and bet on several NBA games. Porter was found to have bet against the Raptors in a parlay while he traveled, but did not play, with the team earlier this year.

Porter faked at least two injuries so he could leave games early. He informed several individuals that he owed large gambling debts to about his plan so they could place several large “under” bets on his performance.

Porter eventually pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.