Limits & controls

What BetGuard is

BetGuard is Ontario’s self-exclusion program for the regulated internet gaming market, operated for iGaming Ontario (iGO). One request excludes you from every iGO-registered operator — heScore Casino, heScore Bet and every other casino and sportsbook that operates under an iGO agreement — not just from the site you asked on. You do not have to contact operators one by one, and no operator can accept you back before your term ends.

BetGuard covers the regulated online market. It does not cover land-based casinos, charitable gaming or OLG products; for those, ask the venue or OLG about their own programs. Nor does it cover unregulated grey-market sites, which is one more reason not to use them.

How to activate it

1. From your account. Go to Account › Responsible gaming or use the button in this module, choose a length, read the summary and confirm twice. We ask a second time on purpose: the first confirmation cannot be undone by accident.
2. Through BetGuard directly. Register at betguard.ca with the same identity details you use here. This route is best if you want to exclude yourself from several operators at once, or if you cannot sign in.
3. With help. Support can start the request with you on chat or by phone, and ConnexOntario can walk you through it if you would rather not do it alone.

You need your name, date of birth and the email on your account. Identity is verified so that nobody can exclude someone else, and so that the exclusion follows you across operators.

Available lengths

Choose the length carefully. A term cannot be shortened, cancelled or swapped once it is confirmed, and a permanent exclusion can never be lifted.

When it starts

Immediately. As soon as you confirm, the exclusion is in force: any open session ends, and you cannot sign in, deposit or place a bet at any iGO operator. This is required by AGCO Registrar’s Standard 2.3 for internet gaming, which obliges an operator to give effect to a self-exclusion request without delay. Rounds already completed still settle normally.

What happens to your account, balance and bonuses

• Account. Closed to play and to deposits for the whole term. You keep read-only access to your history and statements so you can download them.
• Balance. Any withdrawable balance is paid back to you through your verified payment method, normally within 3 business days. You do not need to ask.
• Bonuses. Active bonuses, unfinished wagering, free spins, loyalty points and leaderboard positions are forfeited when the exclusion starts. They are not restored if you come back.
• Pending withdrawals. Continue and are paid as normal.
• Marketing. Stops at once, on every channel, and your details go on a suppression list for the full term. Only messages we are required to send — a security alert, a payment confirmation, a regulatory notice — still reach you.
• New accounts. Cannot be opened. If one is opened, it is closed on detection, bets are voided and stakes are returned.

Coming back after a fixed term

A fixed term does not expire by itself and your account does not reopen on its own. When the term is over you must ask to be reinstated — through betguard.ca or with our support team. The request is verified, a 24-hour cooling-off period runs before anything reopens, and we ask you to set a deposit limit and a reality-check interval as part of coming back. You may also extend the exclusion instead, at any point, without waiting for it to end.

A permanent exclusion cannot be reversed. There is no reinstatement request, no cooling-off period and no appeal. Choose it only if that is what you want.

If you need to talk to someone

Self-exclusion is a tool, not treatment. ConnexOntario is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day, by phone, text or chat, and is not run by us: 1-866-531-2600 or connexontario.ca. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.