iGaming Glossary

AGCO is the Ontario regulator responsible for licensing and overseeing the province’s online gaming market. It enforces the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, which all operators serving Ontario players must follow. AGCO is the authority behind Ontario’s "AGCO-registered" operator list.

An AGCO-registered operator is an online casino or sportsbook holding a current operating licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and a commercial agreement with iGaming Ontario (iGO). Only registered operators can legally accept bets from Ontario residents. The full list is published at agco.ca.

AGLC is the Alberta provincial regulator and operator of PlayAlberta.ca, currently the only legal online casino in Alberta. Alberta has announced a competitive online-gaming market modelled on Ontario’s, but as of mid-2026 the regulatory framework is still being finalized and no third-party operators are licensed yet.

Free spins are promotional spins on a designated slot game at a fixed stake (usually $0.10–$0.50 per spin), with any winnings credited as bonus funds subject to wagering. They are the most common promotional unit in regulated Canadian casinos.

A futures bet is a wager on an event that resolves at the end of a season or tournament — e.g., Stanley Cup winner, Super Bowl champion, MVP, division winner. Futures lock your stake until the bet settles, which can be months.

Geolocation is the technical process by which online gambling operators confirm a player is physically located within a jurisdiction where they are licensed to operate. AGCO-registered Ontario operators must verify the player is inside Ontario at the time of each bet; PlayAlberta does the same for Alberta.

The house edge is the mathematical advantage the casino holds over the player on a given game, expressed as a percentage of each wager. A 2% house edge means the casino expects to keep $2 of every $100 wagered, on average, over the long run.

Interac e-Transfer is Canada’s domestic bank-to-bank payment rail, operated by Interac Corp. It moves money between Canadian bank accounts using only an email address or mobile number — no card numbers or third-party processors involved. It is the dominant deposit and withdrawal method at AGCO-licensed online casinos and sportsbooks.

KYC (Know Your Customer) is the regulatory process operators use to verify the identity, age, and residency of every account holder before processing deposits and withdrawals. In Canada, AGCO (Ontario) and AGLC (Alberta) require KYC under FINTRAC anti-money-laundering rules and provincial gaming regulations.

Live betting is wagering on a sporting event after it has started, with odds updating in real time as the game unfolds. Markets typically include next-goal, total-points-by-quarter, and live moneyline — each closing the moment the underlying event resolves.

A max cashout (or win cap) is the maximum amount you can withdraw from a bonus, regardless of how much you win. A 50 free-spin offer with a $100 max cashout pays out $100 even if your spins generate $500 in winnings — the surplus is forfeited.

Megaways is a slot mechanic licensed from Big Time Gaming that varies the number of symbols on each reel every spin, producing up to 117,649 ways to win on a single 6-reel game. It became one of the dominant slot formats in the late 2010s and remains a top category on most Canadian casino lobbies.

A moneyline bet is a wager on which team or player wins straight up, regardless of margin. Odds are expressed as negative (favourite) or positive (underdog) American odds: -150 means you risk $150 to win $100; +130 means a $100 bet returns $130 in profit.

A no-deposit bonus is a small promotional credit (cash or free spins) an online casino gives new players without requiring a deposit first. Typical values range from $10 to $50 in bonus cash, or 10–50 free spins on a specific slot.

A parlay is a single bet that combines two or more individual wagers (legs). All legs need to win for the parlay to pay out — one losing leg voids the entire bet. Payouts multiply across legs, so parlays offer high potential return at low probability.

A point spread is a sportsbook handicap that levels the playing field between two unevenly matched teams. The favourite "gives" points (e.g., -6.5); the underdog "gets" them (+6.5). Your bet wins if the favourite covers the spread or the underdog stays within it.

Problem gambling is a clinically recognized behavioural disorder (DSM-5: gambling disorder) characterized by continued gambling despite negative consequences. Estimated prevalence in Canada is 0.6–2% of adults, with another 3–5% at moderate risk. Help is free and confidential.

A progressive jackpot is a casino jackpot that grows with every bet placed across a network of linked machines or sites until someone wins it. Headline progressive slots like Mega Moolah and Divine Fortune have paid out single jackpots exceeding $20 million.

PROLINE+ is the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG)’s online sportsbook, launched in 2021 to offer single-game betting after Bill C-218. It is the provincial-government-owned alternative to AGCO-registered commercial sportsbooks like BetMGM and DraftKings, available exclusively to Ontario residents.

A prop bet is a wager on an outcome inside a game that is not the final score — e.g., "Will Auston Matthews score in the first period?" or "Will the game go to overtime?" Props can be player-specific, team-specific, or game-specific.

Responsible gambling is the framework of operator-side tools and player-side practices designed to keep gambling a recreational activity rather than a harm. In Canada, every AGCO-registered Ontario operator and PlayAlberta must offer deposit limits, time limits, loss limits, self-exclusion, and easy access to support resources.

RTP (Return to Player) is the long-run percentage of wagered money a slot or casino game is programmed to return to players. A slot with 96% RTP is designed to return $96 for every $100 wagered, on average, over millions of spins — not over a single session.

Self-exclusion is a responsible-gambling tool that lets a player voluntarily block their own access to gambling accounts for a fixed period (commonly 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, or 5 years). In Ontario, AGCO operates a centralized self-exclusion registry that applies across all registered operators.

Single-game betting is wagering on the outcome of one sporting event — a single game, match, or fight — rather than a multi-event parlay. Canada legalized single-game sports betting federally in August 2021 via Bill C-218, ending a decades-old parlay-only restriction.

A sticky bonus is a casino bonus you can wager with but never withdraw. When you cash out, the original bonus amount is subtracted from your balance — only the winnings generated on top of it are paid. Compare with non-sticky bonuses, which separate bonus and real-money balances.

A totals bet is a wager on whether the combined score of both teams will go over or under a sportsbook-set number. If the line is 6.5 goals in an NHL game and the final is 4–3 (7 total), the over wins.

The vig (short for "vigorish") is the sportsbook’s built-in margin on a wager — the difference between true probability and the offered odds. On standard -110/-110 markets, the vig is about 4.5%, meaning the book expects to keep $4.50 of every $100 wagered, on average.

Volatility (also called variance) measures how often and how large a slot’s payouts are. A low-volatility slot pays small wins frequently; a high-volatility slot pays rarely but with much larger hits. Volatility is independent of RTP — two slots with the same RTP can feel completely different.

A wagering requirement is the number of times a bonus (and sometimes the deposit) must be wagered before any winnings can be withdrawn. A 35x wagering requirement on a $100 bonus means you must place $3,500 in qualifying bets before cashing out bonus-derived winnings.

A welcome bonus is the promotional offer an online casino or sportsbook gives new accounts on their first deposit, typically structured as a percentage match up to a maximum amount (e.g., "100% match up to $500"). It is the single largest acquisition cost for operators and the noisiest part of comparison shopping.