Stake will go live in Alberta on 11 October after securing a licence from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC), making the province the brand’s first regulated market in Canada.
The company announced the date this week. Launch lands two days before Alberta’s grace period for unlicensed operators runs out on 13 October.
What Stake is launching
The operating entity is Stake Canada Ltd, which appeared on the AGLC’s list of gaming registrants as an iGaming operator in September. Stake Canada is part of Easygo, the Australian group behind Stake.
The initial offer covers online casino and sportsbook. Online poker and fantasy sports are not part of the first release, according to Pokerfuse.
Stake framed Alberta’s long history with gaming and its sports audience as the reason for choosing the province first. Kris Abbott, Country Manager at Stake Canada, set out the brand’s intent:
“We are not here to blend in. We are here to raise the bar and bring the distinctive Stake experience to Alberta’s highly engaged player audience.”
Stake has not named its game suppliers or said whether Alberta players will see the same sports markets as on Stake.com.
From offshore to licensed
Stake has been known to Canadian players for years through Stake.com, its Curaçao-licensed site, which operates outside provincial licensing.
Stake has not said whether Stake.com will block players located in Alberta once the licensed site goes live. Running both side by side after 13 October would put the offshore domain inside the scope of the province’s enforcement plans.
The Alberta licence puts a version of the brand under provincial rules for the first time. It means local KYC and AML checks, the province’s responsible gambling requirements and its advertising rules, which ban bonus and inducement messaging in public advertising.
Ontario is next on Stake’s list. The company has filed its documents with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and is building an in-house platform for that market, with a launch targeted before the end of 2026, Pokerfuse reported.
Alberta’s market so far
Alberta opened its competitive iGaming market on 13 July, becoming the second Canadian province after Ontario to license private operators.
Operators sign commercial agreements with the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC), which runs the revenue-sharing model. Under that model, 3% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) comes off the top, then operators keep 80% of the remainder and the province takes 20%, according to Covers.
Offshore operators were given a 3-month window to get licensed or leave. That window closes on 13 October.
Dale Nally, Alberta’s Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, said at G2E that about 35 operators held licences in late September, with 60 expected by the deadline. He also said the province will pursue unlicensed operators after 13 October, targeting payment processors, app stores and social media platforms.
Who Stake is up against
Stake arrives three months after the first wave of licensees. PENN Entertainment launched theScore Bet and two casino apps in the first week, and Entain went live with three brands by the end of July.
PlayAlberta, the government-run site that was the only legal online casino in the province before July, remains in the market alongside the private operators.
That leaves Stake entering a market where the large North American and European brands have already spent a quarter acquiring players, under advertising rules that limit how loudly any new entrant can announce itself.
What comes next
Alberta’s stated goal is 75% channelization by the market’s second year. Ontario sits at around 90%.
A brand with Stake’s existing Canadian player base moving inside the regulated system is the kind of migration that target depends on. Whether those players follow the brand onto a licensed site, with its tighter bonus rules and verification checks, will show up in Alberta’s first channelization figures.
The next test for Stake is Ontario, where the AGCO has not yet approved its application.
Source: Stake
