Sports bettors forced to wait weeks for winnings from OLG

It's been four weeks since Carl Zhou first tried to withdraw his deposits and winnings onthe Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation sports betting platform, Proline, he says.

Since signing up during a promotion in November, the Mississauga resident says he's made successful bets on college basketball, hockey and football games. But despite submitting all the necessary paperwork and multiple chats with customer service, he says he isn't any closer to receiving his money.

"I'm a little bit disappointed atthe lack of response that I've been getting," said Zhou, adding he's on competing platforms and hasn't run into similar problems there.

"Usually if you have a problem with this type of issue, you report it to some like, government entity. But in this case, this is the government."

WATCH |These sports bettors have been waiting over a month to receive their winnings from OLG:

These sports bettors have been waiting over a month to receive their winnings from OLG

7 months ago

Duration 2:51

Two users of OLG's sports betting platform Proline say they have been waiting weeks to claim their earnings. In both cases, the bettors have no idea when they will receive their money. CBC's Lorenda Reddekopp has more.

Zhou is one of multiple OLG Proline gamblers waiting indefinitely since roughly last month to claim their winningsand who are now turned off of using it as their main digital gambling platformas a result. OLG says the delays are due to having toverify a wave of new accounts, but one expert says theyshowthe Crown corporation is failing to adapt and compete with private companies.

In an email to CBC News, OLG wouldn't confirm how many people are affected by the delays due to the "highly competitive nature of Ontario's open gaming market," according to OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti.

The corporation says it registered "a significant influx of new players" ahead of last month's Super Bowland is working through a backlog of bank account verification requests aprocess requiredby itsregulator, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

"We appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers while we work diligently to review and subsequently verify bank accounts as quickly as possible," Bitonti said."OLG prides itself on always paying its winners and also carefully complying with regulatory standards."

The Office of the Ombudsman of Ontario confirmed to CBC Toronto that the OLG falls within its jurisdiction, and said in an email that anyone affected can reach out.

OLG had notrouble accepting money, says bettor

OLGalso won't say how many people signed up as a result of the promotions it ran ahead of the Super Bowl, but Bitonti said the OLG is "pleased with customer response" to what itoffered.

One past promotion on its website suggested people couldget over $500 in bonusesafter betting $50.

That campaign was what ultimately convinced Waterloo, Ont., resident Val Strambu to make a Super Bowl bet. After hearing about sports betting from his daughter and her partner, he told CBC News he decided the return was "worth the gamble," particularly with a "trusted" brand like the OLG.

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But while Stramusays he won over $1,000 from his bet, he'sbeen waiting over a month to claim it. He says he doesn't understand why verifying his bank information is taking this long when OLGhad no trouble accepting his money.

"Opening the Proline account was a breeze,"he noted.

"You took my money. You should be able to pay me back the same way," said Stramu, addinghe never intends on betting again.

Delays partly due to lack of resources: expert

Michael Naraine, a sports management professor at Brock University, sayscompanies do need to verify banking information to ensure earnings aren'tgoing to organized crime or other nefarious activities.

Taking money from consumers isn't as much of a concern since it will ultimately be used for wagering purposes,he said.

"The probability is the consumer's going to lose that money and the money's going to stay within the ecosystem," he said. "It's once they're trying to withdraw that money out of the ecosystem ...the operators have todot their I's and cross their T'sas it relates to where'sthis money going."

But while the delays may be necessary particularly for a Crown corporation, which has less resources than private companiesthey willdrive customers away and ultimately risk pushing the OLG out of relevance, he said.

"The value proposition that OLG makes to the marketplace of why Proline needs to exist is because 100 per centof the profits go back into the community. That's not a good enough value proposition for the end consumer in 2024," he said.

"In this attention economy, it's a very instantaneous, synchronous, fast, expedited process and paradigm and the OLG cannot keep up with that."

Meanwhile, Zhousays he's hoping for more transparency and regular updates on when he can expect the problem to be resolved. And until hismoney arrives, he says, he's hesitant to use OLG's services.

"As of now, I don't have any confidence."