How online live dealer games work in Ontario

A real table, streamed to your screen

The AGCO, which regulates online gambling in Ontario, describes live dealer games as games played with live presenters or dealers that players connect to and play through a gaming site. They use physical equipment such as roulette wheels and playing cards.

You watch the dealer on a video stream and place your bets on screen. Jackpot City's Ontario site, for example, says its live blackjack starts with a betting period, typically 15 seconds, before the cards are dealt, and that you can chat with the dealer and other players.

Where the studios are

Live tables for Ontario players don't have to be streamed from Ontario. When the province's regulated online market opened on April 4, 2022, Evolution said Ontario sites would get its live games from its studios in Europe.

Some sites have studios of their own. Playtech built one in Riga, Latvia, for FanDuel Canada, and BetMGM announced a private studio built with Evolution two weeks after launch.

What the regulator checks

The AGCO added rules for live dealer games in 2022, after noting how popular they had become. Since October 31, 2022, access to live dealer gaming supplies has had to be limited to people with a business need, and operators have had to have controls so that dealers and presenters can't compromise a game's integrity.

Since April 4, 2023, certain equipment used in live dealer games has had to be approved by the AGCO's Registrar or certified by an approved independent testing lab before it's used.

Limits and breaks

The AGCO's standards require every regulated site to let you set deposit and loss limits, take a break of one day, one week, one month, two months or three months, and exclude yourself for six months, one year or five years. If you raise or remove a limit, the change has to wait at least 24 hours.

Every regulated site also has to take part in Ontario's centralized self-exclusion program.

Before you play

• You must be 19 or older and physically in Ontario.
• Check that the site is in iGaming Ontario's directory of regulated sites.
• Open the table's rules before you bet, so you know its limits and payouts.