Betty Casino is sending a free street tour through Calgary and Edmonton this month, with pop-up activations that promise interactive games, prizes and giveaways, plus a chance to meet the team behind what it bills as Canada’s newest online casino in Alberta.
Daily Hive’s Calgary roundup says the tour runs in that city on July 13, 14 and 15, from 12 p.m. until supplies last, with stops on 17th Avenue, Stephen Avenue and 9th Avenue. Its Edmonton roundup says the campaign moves north on July 16, 17 and 18, again from 12 p.m. until supplies last, with activations on Whyte Avenue, at Churchill Square and in the ICE District.
The Alberta backdrop is a newly opened regulated online gambling market. A June 19 Radar report said July 13 makes Alberta the second Canadian province to open its online gambling market to private operators and allow multiple licensed casino brands.
Radar said nearly 50 operators are getting licences, including FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars and bet365. It also said online sports gambling in Alberta had until this year been exclusive to PlayAlberta, the province’s government-run platform, while more than 70% of online gambling activity was happening through unregulated offshore sites.
In a separate report, RotoWire said 54 operators had been approved for Alberta’s online casino launch as of publication, though it noted that the figure reflected registration rather than confirmed day-one availability. RotoWire also said the province’s move started with Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, which ended the old government-run monopoly on online gambling and created the legal basis for private operators.
Radar said the new regime borrows from Ontario’s open, multi-operator model. It said the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission handles registration, compliance and enforcement, while the Alberta iGaming Corporation oversees day-to-day operations and commercial matters.
The report said operators must clear a two-step entry process, with regulatory approval first and a commercial agreement second. It also said each operator paid a $50,000 application fee and a $150,000 annual per-site fee, and that recent amendments tightened rules on advertising, responsible gambling, account screening and location controls.
Operators must identify when a single account is being used by more than one person, screen continuously against self-exclusion registries and sanctions lists, and ensure every wager is placed within Alberta’s borders. Radar said the regime requires real-time location checks, geofencing at the provincial boundary and fraud detection designed to catch VPN use and device spoofing.
