Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs beat Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII almost 2 months ago — and quite a few things have happened in the sports world since then.
The NBA All-Star Game, the Daytona 500, the NCAA Tournament, MLB’s Opening Day, The Masters, UFC 300, and the 2024 Kentucky Derby have all come and gone. Yet, at least some of the Canadian sports bettors who used OLG Proline+ to place wagers on this year’s Super Bowl and won money are still waiting for their payouts to hit their bank accounts.
So, what gives? At this point, it has become difficult to decipher what in the world is actually going on with the Proline+ situation. So before we dive headfirst into it, let’s begin by providing you with a brief recap.
What Is the OLG Super Bowl Promo Story All About?
In the weeks leading up to the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory, the OLG’s Proline+ — which is billed as “Ontario’s original sportsbook” on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.’s website — ran a special OLG Super Bowl promotion just like so many other sportsbooks did at that time. The promo offered anyone who bet $50 on the big game a $500 sports bonus and a $50 casino credit. It appears the Super Bowl promo worked wonders for Proline+ by motivating more than a few sports bettors to sign up for the OLG sports betting website. But it also seems as though the promo may have been more effective than OLG anticipated, with Proline+ now struggling to keep up with all the withdrawals that bettors requested following the big game.
One of the first signs of trouble came in the form of a Reddit post that was published roughly three weeks after the Super Bowl. In the post, an angry sports bettor revealed he had spent 18 days talking to eight different agents from OLG and Proline+ about cashing out the money he won by betting on the Super Bowl. He was told by the gaming corporation that his bank account was pending verification and that he wouldn’t receive the $1,000 he withdrew from his Proline+ account until OLG could verify ownership of his bank account.
The sports bettor, who goes by the name InJayWeTrust27 on Reddit, returned to his post about a month later with an update. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any good OLG news to share. He claimed OLG was still giving him the runaround and said he was still awaiting verification. He also referred to those running OLG as “idiots” and accused them of blaming OLG bank verification time for the backlog of overdue withdrawals. “They’re doing it on purpose imo,” the bettor wrote. “I just want my money so I can delete the [Proline+] app.”
Why Is OLG Holding So Many Sports Bettors’ Payouts Hostage?
Soon after InJayWeTrust27’s Reddit update, it became clear that he wasn’t the only sports bettor wondering, “How long does it take OLG to verify a bank account?” Global News published the story, “Some Super Bowl bettors in Ontario who won still haven’t been paid. Here’s why,” exactly one month after Super Bowl LVIII. It highlighted the fact that many other sports bettors were also waiting on Super Bowl-related payouts from Proline+ and getting hit with nothing but “OLG bank account pending verification” messages when they logged into their accounts to check on the status of their withdrawals. This was happening even though OLG’s own website says that the bank account verification process before processing withdrawals — a practice mandated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario — should only take about five business days on average.
OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti downplayed the OLG news story, saying that a “significant influx” in the number of sports bettors who signed up for Proline+ accounts and not any nefarious behavior on the part of OLG was at the heart of this problem. The spokesperson claimed payout delays were caused by “higher than usual number of bank account verification requests” and said OLG was working through this one-time process as quickly as it could.
But in early April, CityNews published another story about the OLG and Proline+ fiasco that featured more sports bettors coming out and saying they still hadn’t been paid. One, in particular, talked about how his OLG cashout for over $1,000 was still pending and that it was proving to be “nearly impossible” to get straight answers from OLG about what was going on with his money and the money owed to other sports bettors who participated in the OLG Super Bowl promotion that was now held almost three months ago.
In the meantime, there have also been stories popping up about people having their OLG accounts suspended while all of this is going on, seemingly for no obvious reasons. Reddit user Dirtycarlisnotdirty is one of the many people who took to social media platforms to talk about how he had his account suspended and couldn’t get any answers from OLG as to why it had happened.
There doesn’t appear to be a connection between accounts being randomly suspended and sports bettors not receiving OLG Super Bowl promo payouts. But the simple fact that people have more questions than answers when it comes to OLG right now tells you everything you need to know about the trust that the public has — or, better yet, doesn’t have — in OLG at the moment.
Shouldn’t OLG Have Seen Trouble Coming With the OLG Super Bowl Promotion?
In a best-case scenario here, OLG badly miscalculated how much interest there would be in the OLG Super Bowl promotion and didn’t have the resources in place to subsequently verify bank accounts of so many new members at once. In a worst-case scenario, the OLG Super Bowl promo was a colossal failure that resulted in Proline+ dishing out more sports bonuses and casino credits than it could afford to and putting itself in a position where it couldn’t pay out all of its winning customers at once.
Either way, taking this long to verify players’ banking information and send payouts to new customers is an absolutely awful way to do business. When so many other online sportsbooks in Canada are working around the clock to approve withdrawals within just days and even hours in some cases, it’s hard to believe “Ontario’s original sportsbook” is taking months to do the same thing.
It should be enough to make anyone who is thinking about signing up for a Proline+ account think twice. With so many other options out there today, why settle for a sportsbook that’s going to treat you like OLG and Proline+ have treated sports bettors over the last few months?
How Long Does It Take OLG To Verify a Bank Account?
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. might not be able to answer many questions about all the recent negative OLG news, but we don’t mind doing it one bit. To start, how long does it take OLG to verify bank account information?
In OLG’s own words, it should take “less than 5 business days.” That’s exactly what OLG says about its OLG bank verification time on its website. It also adds that it “may take longer depending on [the] volume of requests” it receives at any given time. But even still, taking as long as it has to verify banking accounts in the aftermath of Super Bowl LVIII is outrageous.
What To Do If Your OLG Account Is Suspended?
We can answer some of the questions you might have about OLG and Proline+, but we aren’t sure what to tell you if you’re asking this one right now. If you have your OLG account suspended and you aren’t sure why, just know you’re not alone. More than a few sports bettors have reported having their accounts suspended since taking part in OLG Super Bowl promotion. And guess what? They haven’t had much luck figuring out what led to these suspensions.
The running theory — (isn’t it a little crazy that we’re at the point where we’re all making up theories for why this is happening at what is supposed to be a legit Ontario sportsbook?) — is that some people who signed up for Proline+ accounts for the Super Bowl promo may have told others and even let them sign up for accounts on their computers, smartphones, and devices. That may have triggered OLG and Proline+ to shut down their accounts pending an investigation into how many accounts they have.
But for now, all you can do if you’ve had your OLG account suspended is reach out to Proline+ to see if you’re able to get an explanation. Chances are, you’ll get “no answer or updates” like other sports bettors have reported, but it could be worth a shot if something as simple as a request for additional documents led to your account getting suspended. Find OLG’s contact information and see if you can get to the bottom of things.
OLG Sports Betting: Are There Alternatives?
Not sure if you can put trust into Proline+ or OLG in its entirety? We can’t even blame you. If we had an OLG cash out for over $1,000 just sitting in our account gathering dust and OLG didn’t have any answers, we wouldn’t be too quick to want to wager with them, either.
If you’d like a good alternative, there are plenty of legal books out there that you can use. Single-game sports betting was legalized in Canada in 2021 and that means you don’t have to bet with sportsbooks like Proline+ — there are over 30 legal Ontario sportsbooks now available to choose from.
Top OLG Proline+ Betting Alternatives
If you’re tired of sitting around wondering, “How long does it take OLG to verify a bank account?”, and you want to make the move to another sportsbook, we have some excellent choices for you to consider. They’ll provide a quicker verification process and a great sports betting platform to boot.
bet365 Ontario
bet365 has been around since the turn of the century, and over the last nearly 25 years, the sportsbook has solidified itself as one of the best online sports betting options around. You can bet on just about any sport you want on bet365, and you can also take advantage of more than a dozen deposit methods and about half a dozen withdrawal methods. Bet365 has a wonderful customer service department as well that will actually respond to your phone calls and emails without taking weeks to do it.
Sports Interaction Ontario
Sports Interaction Ontario is another sportsbook that has been around for a lot longer than people realize, as it was founded in 1997. It offers a large selection of betting options, including more live betting options than you can count. The sportsbook also provides a plethora of deposit and withdrawal methods and an easy-to-navigate website and app that’ll help you put in last-minute sports bets without any problems.
Bet99 Ontario
Even though Bet99 Ontario has only been around for about five years now as opposed to 25-plus years like Sports Interaction Ontario and bet365, it has quickly turned into a favourite among Canadian sports bettors. It goes heavy on NHL-related prop bets, and it has plenty of Canadian-friendly deposit and withdrawal methods, like Interac and MuchBetter. It also offers a 24/7 live chat so you can get the support you need at any time.
Pinnacle Ontario
Pinnacle is another great betting option that stands out for their competitive lines, and large selection of Esports betting. They boast a “Winner’s Welcome” mantra, which means they accept high stakes and higher cash outs. Pinnacle also offers a website that’s simple to navigate, tons of sports betting options, and even live betting odds that are competitive compared to most other Ontario books.
NorthStar Bets Ontario
NorthStar Bets is the new kid on the block when it comes to internet gaming, as it was only established in 2022. It has already started to make a name for itself in sports betting circles, though, thanks in large part to its Ontario-centric focus. If you live in Ontario and love sports betting but need a new spot to bet, we suggest you get familiar with what NorthStar Bets brings to the table.
Final Thoughts
Here’s the bottom line: Canadian sports bettors deserve better than what they have received from OLG and Proline+ over the last three months. They’ve waited too long for sports betting to be legalized in Canada to sit around wondering, “How long does OLG take to verify a bank account?”. While Proline+ offers an excellent betting platform — they may not have capacity to host an influx of bettors at peak times. There are numerous, other terrific options that will work diligently to get you your payouts.
