Alberta close to passing its iGaming act
Bill 48 just needs to be approved by the Committee of the Whole and then pass third reading in the legislature as the province looks to follow Ontario with an open, legal marketplace.
Several media outlets reported this week that Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, is close to passing.
Both Geoff Zochonde, writing for Covers, and Tom Nightingale, writing for Canadian Gaming Business, said the bill is undergoing a committee review, but is sure to pass due to the United Conservative Party (UCP) having a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
On Tuesday, the Committee of the Whole voted 38-16 against adopting some tweaks to the bill as proposed by the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).
As Zochonde wrote: “The rejection of the amendment now tees up approval of the bill by the Committee of the Whole. That would then send the government-backed legislation back to the full assembly for its third and final reading, bringing an overhaul of Alberta sports betting and iGaming one step closer.”
Alberta’s open online gambling sector is expected to launch early in 2026. It would become the second Canadian province to offer more than just the lone online gambling platform operated by the provincial lottery corporation. Ontario launched an open online gambling sector in April 2022. Three years in, Ontario is a top gambling jurisdiction in North America by revenue.
As for the NDP’s proposed amendments to Bill 48, Nightingale reported that they mostly involved responsible gambling initiatives.
“NDP MLA Gurinder Brar, one of the most vocal critics in the earlier session, proposed a set of amendments that would require the province to set up a dedicated online responsible gambling program based on harm reduction principles,” Nightingale wrote. “The Alberta iGaming Corporation would have to carry out mandatory independent evaluations of its effectiveness as well as annual public reporting.
Bill sponsor Dale Nally - the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction - said responsible gambling programs will be the responsibility of the regulator.
“We don’t want to put player safety in legislation,” Nally said. “We want to put it in regulation so that if we see something we want to turn around on a dime, we’re able to do it through an order in council, not a new piece of legislation.”
BetVictor: Mark Carney, Liberals overcame 12.5% probability to win Canadian election
Gaming News Canada reported a few times (most recently here) about Ontario sportsbooks taking bets on the Canadian federal election won Monday by Mark Carney and the Liberals.
One of those sportsbooks, BetVictor, sent out a press release on Tuesday saying the Liberals overcame a probability of 12.5% to win when compared with their fortunes in January, before Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as party leader and Prime Minister.
“When markets opened last November, the opposing Conservatives were initially priced at 1/7 (-700) before going as short as 1/20 (-2000) in January – a staggering 95.2% estimated chance of victory,” said the press release. “The Liberals opened at 7/1 (+700) – a 12.5% chance of success – but odds started to shift in February, when US President Donald Trump ramped up talk of Canada becoming a 51st state.
“By April, Mark Carney’s Liberals had stormed into 4/11 favouritism (-275), with the Conservatives drifting to 7/4 (+175).
“All in all, the historic turnaround signals a strong period of betting activity for BetVictor Canada, with 73.53% of all bets in the outright market placed on either a Conservative majority or minority outcome.”
Toronto World Series of Poker event had total prize pool of $7.56 million
Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto is reporting that its recent World Series of Poker® (WSOP) Circuit Event in partnership with GGPoker, held April 10-22, saw 8,203 total entries across 11 WSOP Circuit Ring Events, marking a 35.9% increase from 2024. The total prize pool soared to a $7.56 million, up 35.4% year-over-year, as 3,150 unique players participated and 11 WSOP rings were awarded.
The $2,000 Main Event drew 2,139 entries and generated a record-setting $3.74 million prize pool, up from $2.8 million last year.
Thornhill, ON, resident Pengxiang Ruan won the Main Event title and collected a $510,245 first-place prize. Ruan has been a passionate poker player for 10 years. He said he plans to use his winnings to fulfill a lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant.
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