Canada

GONZAGA THE BETTING FAVORITE AS MARCH MADNESS BEGINS Overall top seed Bulldogs favored to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, with Arizona, Duke and Kentucky also getting top odds, according to TheLines

Published

4 years ago

March 14, 2022

Oddsmakers have installed the Gonzaga Bulldogs as the favorite to win the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, according to TheLines, which tracks odds in the U.S. regulated sports betting market.

Gonzaga, which has reached the championship game twice in the last four tournaments, is favored to win the Washington school’s first national championship, according to a consensus of the nation’s largest legal online sportsbooks — including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, BetRivers, Caesars, and PointsBet. Gonzaga, the No. 1 overall seed for the tourney, is listed at +350, which means bettors would win $350 for each $100 wagered on the Bulldogs.

A quartet of college basketball bluebloods are next on the favorites list. The Arizona Wildcats have the second-best odds at +650. The Kentucky Wildcats are next at +750, followed by the Duke Blue Devils and Kansas Jayhawks, both listed at +1100. The Baylor Bears, which won last year’s title by beating Gonzaga, are listed at +1200.

Duke, which has won five national championships under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, will get considerable media attention the longer it stays alive in the tournament. This will be the last tournament for Krzyzewski, who is retiring after the season. He is the winningest coach in men’s basketball history and only legendary UCLA coach John Wooden has more NCAA championships.

“The NCAA Tournament is one of the most captivating events in sports, and the single-most bet-on sporting event in the U.S.,” said Brett Collson, lead analyst for TheLines. “But the buzz about March Madness also comes from the nature of the tournament and brackets. From million-dollar contests to office pools, the number of people with interest in the games escalates year after year.”

There has never been a verifiable perfect bracket logged in the history of March Madness and the odds of doing so are astronomical. According to the NCAA, the odds of picking a perfect bracket with knowledge of the game are more than 120 billion to 1, and the odds of a perfect bracket by flipping a coin for each game are 9.2 quintillion to one.

So while Bally’s offers $100 million for a perfect bracket, one has better odds of becoming president of the United States, being killed by a shark or winning an Oscar, according to PlayUSA.com.

Consensus odds for the top-15 favorites to win this year’s men’s college basketball national championship, as of Sunday, March 13:

Gonzaga Bulldogs, +350
Arizona Wildcats, +650
Kentucky Wildcats, +750
Kansas Jayhawks, +1100
Duke Blue Devils, +1100
Baylor Bears, +1200
Purdue Boilermakers, +1500
Auburn Tigers, +1500
Texas Tech Red Raiders, +2200
Villanova Wildcats, +2200
UCLA Bruins, +2500
Tennessee Volunteers, +2200
Houston Cougars, +3000
Iowa Hawkeyes, +3500
Illinois Fighting Illini, +4000

To access updated March Madness odds, and for more analysis, visit www.thelines.com/odds/march-madness/

Canada

St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

st8-expands-octoplay-aggregation-deal-to-ontario-and-the-uk

St8 has extended its content partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK, expanding distribution of Octoplay’s casino games in two regulated markets. The companies announced the move on 2 July, 2026.

Under the expanded agreement, St8 will make Octoplay’s full portfolio available to operators in both jurisdictions through St8’s single API integration.

David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said:

“Expanding our partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK is another important milestone as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with premium content from leading suppliers.

“Octoplay has built an excellent reputation for developing engaging, high-performing games, and we’re delighted to extend this collaboration into two highly strategic regulated markets. This agreement enables our operator partners to access even more quality content through a single integration while supporting their growth in competitive jurisdictions.”

Ralitsa Georgieva, CEO at Octoplay added:

“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with St8 into Ontario and the UK, making our full portfolio available to even more operators through its aggregation platform. St8 has established itself as a trusted technology partner for regulated markets, and we look forward to building on our successful collaboration together.”

The post St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Canada

St8 extends Octoplay partnership into Ontario and the UK

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

st8-extends-octoplay-partnership-into-ontario-and-the-uk

Casino games aggregator and full-service technology provider St8 has expanded its partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK, further strengthening its premium content offering across two of the industry’s most important regulated markets.

Through the extended agreement, St8 will make Octoplay’s full portfolio of casino games available to operators in both jurisdictions, providing partners with seamless access to the supplier’s high-quality content through its single API integration.

The expansion builds on the successful relationship between the two companies and reflects St8’s continued commitment to providing operators with access to leading game providers across regulated markets. By broadening the availability of Octoplay’s portfolio, St8 further enhances the depth and diversity of content available to its operator network.

Octoplay has quickly established itself as one of the industry’s most innovative and fastest growing game studios, recognised for delivering engaging titles that combine premium gameplay with strong player appeal which are now available across 17 jurisdictions. The supplier’s focus on quality and performance aligns closely with St8’s mission to simplify content aggregation while helping operators deliver exceptional gaming experiences.

The latest agreement reinforces St8’s strategy of expanding its premium content portfolio while helping operators simplify integration, accelerate market entry and deliver engaging gaming experiences across multiple regulated jurisdictions.

David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said: “Expanding our partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK is another important milestone as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with premium content from leading suppliers.

Ralitsa Georgieva, CEO at Octoplay added: “We’re pleased to expand our partnership with St8 into Ontario and the UK, making our full portfolio available to even more operators through its aggregation platform. St8 has established itself as a trusted technology partner for regulated markets, and we look forward to building on our successful collaboration together.”

The post St8 extends Octoplay partnership into Ontario and the UK appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

AGCO

AGCO Fines Great Canadian Entertainment $120,000 for Using Unauthorised Gaming System Software at Four Casinos

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

agco-fines-great-canadian-entertainment-$120,000-for-using-unauthorised-gaming-system-software-at-four-casinos

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has ordered monetary penalties totalling $120,000 against Great Canadian Entertainment (GCE) for using unauthorided gaming system software at multiple Ontario casino sites, a serious compliance failure that bypassed requirements designed to protect the integrity of casino gaming.

Gaming equipment and systems are central to casino operations. They process payments and wagers, support slot-game play and help maintain controls that protect the integrity, safety and security of the gaming environment. When these systems are used or operated without required testing, monitoring and approval, it weakens safeguards designed to detect and prevent unlawful conduct, including money laundering, and can undermine public confidence in Ontario’s regulated casino sector.

The AGCO reviewed 40 instances in which revoked or unapproved bill validator software had been installed across four casino sites between February 20 and March 15, 2025. Bill validators are components within gaming machines that accept and process cash and help support anti-money laundering controls.

The AGCO’s Standards for Gaming require gaming equipment and software to be tested and approved before being deployed in casinos. Bill validators verify the authenticity and value of cash inserted into electronic gaming machines and are an important safeguard. That is why these systems must undergo rigorous testing and approval to confirm they operate as intended, perform critical functions reliably and are authorised before being introduced into a live casino environment.

Casino operators are responsible for ensuring that changes to gaming systems are properly reviewed, tested and authorised before implementation. Using unapproved software in a live casino environment is a serious compliance failure.

A casino operator served with an Order of Monetary Penalty has the right to appeal the Registrar’s action within 15 days to the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), an adjudicative body that is part of Tribunals Ontario and independent of the AGCO.

“The AGCO requires casino operators to protect the integrity of their gaming systems by making sure they are independently tested, approved and operating as intended. When unauthorised software is used in a live casino environment, it bypasses critical safeguards that are meant to uphold the integrity of gaming and the public’s confidence in the system. The AGCO will continue to hold all casino operators accountable for meeting Ontario’s high standards of gaming system integrity,” said Dr. Karin Schnarr, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer at AGCO.

The post AGCO Fines Great Canadian Entertainment $120,000 for Using Unauthorised Gaming System Software at Four Casinos appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.