Alberta One Month In: AiGC Hails 'Encouraging' Start, Vows to 'Keep Listening and Keep Improving'

^{In a blog post published on the AiGC website, CEO Dan Keene has framed responsible gambling, not industry growth, as the real success metric for Alberta's new iGaming market.}

Four weeks since Alberta officially opened the doors to its legal iGaming market, one of the province's industry leaders is pleased with its start and optimistic for its future.

Dan Keene, CEO of the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC), the Crown corporation that conducts and manages Alberta's new online gambling market, says it's made an "encouraging" start but also wants to "keep listening and keep improving".

In a blog post published on the AiGC website, Keene, who spoke exclusively to Casinos.com in the lead-up to the market's launch, reiterated the province's commitment to responsible gambling, as well as its goal to move 75% of grey market gamblers to regulated sites within two years.

Pre-market launch, it was estimated that as much as 70% of all online gambling in Alberta took place at offshore and unregulated sites, with the remaining 30% playing at the provincial government-owned Play Alberta, a site that now competes against private operators.

"We're not here to grow iGaming in Alberta. We're here to provide protection for Albertans who choose to participate as a form of entertainment." Keene said in his thought leadership piece.

Something Borrowed

Closely modelled on Ontario's iGaming market launch back in April 2022, Alberta's rules and regulations for its own market came somewhat readymade, and even went a step or two further in certain cases.

In terms of responsible gambling, Alberta launched with a centralized self-exclusion (CSE) tool on day one.

In contrast, Ontario only managed to finally launch its own CSE tool back in May.

Similarly, athletes and celebrities are explicitly banned from appearing in gambling adverts, unless they are promoting responsible gambling, another measure it took Ontario nearly two years to adopt.

In Keene's review of the first month of legal online gambling in Alberta, he indicated that rather than remaining static, Alberta's iGaming rules and regulations may change over time if they need to.

"Our job is to conduct and manage a strong regulated market. The foundation has been laid. Now, we must uphold it and continually improve upon it."

Only the second Canadian province after Ontario to offer local licences to private online casino and sports betting companies, Alberta's market opened on Monday, July 13 with 22 different iGaming websites open for business on day one.

In total, over 50 different sports and gaming brands were registered with Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC) by launch day, meaning the majority of AGLC-registered sites are still inactive, though are expected to launch over the coming weeks and months.

Currently, the AiGC's official directory lists 23 different brands as live in Alberta, across 27 different websites, as some brands have separate portals for online casino and sports betting.

For an operator to launch an online casino or sports betting site in Alberta, it must first register with AGLC and then enter into a commercial agreement with AiGC.

Brands now active and accepting bets in Alberta include the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings Alberta, BetMGM Alberta, DAZN Bet and Caesars Palace Alberta.

The likes of Betway, Jackpot City and Tooniebet were all AGLC-registered pre-July 13 but have not chosen to open their Alberta-specific sites just yet.

Missing From the Table: Poker

Since July 13, additional operators have also expressed interest in entering Alberta, with Videoslots, Mr Vegas, and GGPoker having all been recently added to the regulator's online registry.

Most notable in that list is GGPoker, as currently, no online poker brand is active within Alberta's regulated market.

With a population of over 16 million people, Ontario's much larger iGaming market has so far sustained a handful of poker brands, including GGPoker, but Alberta's much smaller population of around five million may make entry into its ring-fenced market less appealing for poker brands.

Currently, Ontario and Alberta poker sites can only accept players located within their own province and nowhere else, which greatly affects player pools, known as liquidity in the poker world.

However, this could all change in the not-so-distant future if the Supreme Court of Canada sides with the Ontario government in an upcoming case where it's arguing that peer-to-peer games in the province, such as poker and daily fantasy sports (DFS), should be allowed to accept players from other regulated markets.

This would potentially include several US states, as well as Alberta, making the prospect of launching online poker and DFS within Alberta more commercially appealing for operators, and an all round better experience for players.

In the interim, Alberta players can at least expect more online casinos and sports betting brands to go live in the province, with its regulators promising to keep a close eye on proceedings.

"This first month has been encouraging. We won't get everything perfect right away. But each step forward, no matter how small, will be taken with the utmost pride and intent, keeping the betterment of Alberta in mind—now and into the future."