Ontario's iGaming regulator the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has fined Booming Games for allowing auto-play functionality on online slots in the province. The AGCO fined the company $70,000.
Booming Games Receives $70k Penalty from AGCO
The latest fine to be handed down by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario came last week. This time Booming Games was penalized for allowing auto-play functionality on its online slots. This featured is prohibited at Ontario online casinos.
The AGCO said it ordered $70,000 in monetary penalties to be paid after finding that the gaming supplier allowed the banned auto-play feature on slots. The feature had been available to Ontario players for several months on multiple online slots games hosted on a platform of a licensed operator.
The AGCO did not release the name of the operator involved in the auto-play violation.
The compliance investigation held by the AGCO found that Booming Games had failed to properly configure, test, and monitor certain games before and after it launched as a licensed supplier in Ontario.
All registered gaming suppliers are responsible for configuring and testing their games.
The operator was notified of the infraction by the AGCO and the auto-play feature was disabled.
Booming Games will not be appealing the fine. Dani Paleu, Booming Games COO, said, "We accept the AGCO's ruling and take full responsibility for the breach."
He said, "We acted immediately once the issue was identified, and we have since strengthened how market-specific game options are verified against each regulator's requirements, both before a site goes live and on an ongoing basis afterwards."
Booming Games at Ontario Online Casinos
Booming Games received a license from the AGCO in early 2024 and has since been supplying games to some of the licensed Ontario casinos. Some of the games it offers include Cash Pigs and Buffalo Hold and Win.
Some of the operator's include popular brands like Casino Days and LeoVegas Ontario.
Ontario iGaming Standards and the Ban on Auto-Play Features
Booming Games was charged with two violations of the Ontario iGaming standards. These were:
- Offering games that include auto-play features for slots
- Failing to carry out sufficient monitoring and testing, resulting in the games not operating as approved.
The auto-play feature allows players to play several rounds on an online slot game without manually initiating each separate spin. The AGCO's regulations ban this feature. The regulations also have a minimum time requirement between spins.
According to the regulator, the ban on auto-play is to ensure players have the opportunity to pause and assess their play and decide whether or not they wish to continue gambling. It is also to reduce the potential for excessive play and support informed player decision making within online casino games.
The AGCO has stated, "Requiring players to manually start each spin creates a deliberate pause between wagers. This pause can help maintain player awareness and control, reduce prolonged and uninterrupted play, and reduce the risk of gambling-related harm."
There are some exclusions. Online slots in Ontario can implement auto-play functionality during bonus rounds when no additional money is being wagered.
AGCO Fines and Penalties Hold Suppliers and Operators to Account
Booming Games is the second registered iGaming company to be fined by the AGCO in the space of two weeks.
On August 6, Betty Casino was fined $120,000 for failures in age-verification. Several underage people were able to create accounts with Betty Casino. The province's legal gambling age is 19.
There have been other AGCO fines and penalties over the last 12 months including fines for Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions for offering games at unlicensed iGaming sites, and a $350,000 fine for FanDuel in January for suspicious betting activity.
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