Article by:Nathan Villania
Nathan is an experienced gamer that enjoys testing and reviewing casinos. He always seeks out the best deals, and guides players on all the benefits and advantages of hundreds of casinos across the world.
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Being one of the leading casino reviewers in Canada, our team has been keeping track of casinos and the gambling industry in Manitoba since 2016. As such, we are very familiar with the gambling regulations in the province and give accurate and up to date info on Manitoba casinos and other venues.
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries is mainly responsible for enacting responsible gambling measures across the industry, and works to both inform players of the dangers of problem gambling and guide them towards services to help them and those close to them. To this end, the MLL maintains the province’s Voluntary Self-Exclusion program or VSE, which allows players suffering from problem gambling habits to ban themselves from all gambling establishments in the province.
In addition to this, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries also works closely with other government offices and non-profit organisations to give players additional services to help deal with their gambling-related problems. These services include Community Financial Counseling Services or CFCS, which assists with financial management, and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba or AFM, which provides professional counselling for gambling addiction and other issues). It is important to seek help, as soon as you notice that you might have a problem with gambling.
If you are already familiar with the major gambling laws in Canada, understanding Manitoba gambling regulations shouldn’t be too hard.
In general, Manitoba’s gambling industry is built on the “charitable gambling” model. This model requires all gambling activities to be for a charitable purpose to be considered legal. As such, all revenue from licenced casinos, lotteries, sports betting outlets and other areas go back to the provincial government, which uses the revenue to fund government projects.
The key thing to note about the charitable gambling model is that it only applies to licensed gambling outlets such as PlayNow.com, which is Manitoba’s only officially licensed online casino. Any of the hundreds of online casinos you can play in Manitoba but are based overseas operate outside of this model.
Manitoba has two main government offices responsible for running the province’s licensed gambling industry, which are the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba (LGCA) and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation (abbreviated as MBLL).
The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba handles most of the legal aspects of the gambling industry in Manitoba. It is responsible for enforcing the province’s gambling laws and handling licencing for operators of casinos and other gambling establishments.
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, meanwhile, is the Crown corporation that operates most of the major gambling outlets you can find in Manitoba. This includes Manitoba’s network of video lottery terminals, two of the province’s largest land-based casino venues, and the PlayNow.com online casino site. The MLL is also the provincial distributor of lottery tickets as part of the Western Canada Lottery Corporation network.
All of the regulatory actions that the LGCA makes are done in accordance with Manitoba’s Liquor and Gaming Control Act, passed in 2014. This law builds on the rules established in the Criminal Code of Canada, which allows gambling operations when done for charitable causes and gives provincial governments full control over the gambling industry within their jurisdiction.
The LGCA is responsible for licensing gambling activities in Manitoba. This applies to both gambling service providers, that is, the ones that run casinos, VLTs, horse racing facilities and others. It also covers individuals or groups that want to raise money through gambling activities like bingo, poker tournaments and others.
Notably, the Manitoba government has recently moved to ban the establishment and opening of any new casinos within the province, after passing the Liquor, Gaming, and Cannabis Act in 2018. As far as the legislation is concerned, however, online gambling outlets are not part of this ban; while this does make it theoretically possible to have an online casino in the province, it is very unlikely.
It should be noted, however, that this situation is expected to change in the coming years. With the successful 2022 launch of regulated online gambling in Ontario, it is likely that other provinces will follow suit. This means that we might see a proper Manitoba online gambling scene in the future with even more options for online gambling in the province.
All licensed service providers are audited by the LGCA both during the application process as well as regularly during full operation to ensure that the casino’s games are all operating within their fair and intended RNG models.
The minimum gambling age in Manitoba is 18 years old, which makes Manitoba one of the three provinces in Canada that don’t have a minimum gambling age of 19.
As it is in the rest of Canada, players are not taxed on any winnings they get from gambling in Manitoba. The stands regardless of whether you are gambling in Manitoba on a local website or one located offshore.
Manitoban players should expect a decent range of casino banking methods to choose from, regardless of whether they play offline or online. Land-based gambling outlets accept transactions from all of the major banks and credit cards in Canada on top of straight-up cash.
Naturally, playing at online casinos like Manitoba’s PlayNow.com will let you add funds through a wider variety of services on top of traditional banking. For one, the Gigadat casino payments service allows players to use instant banking services like Interac and Instadebit.
Although this is not supported by PlayNow.com, a growing number of offshore casino sites have been accepting cryptocurrency for both deposits and withdrawals. The likes of Bitcoin casinos in Canada, Ethereum casinos and other digital coins are well liked by casino players for their general lack of regulation which allows for easy transactions with just about anyone with a crypto wallet.
Ethereum casinos and other digital coins are well liked by casino players for their general lack of regulation which allows for easy transactions with just about anyone with a crypto wallet.
The gambling market in Manitoba is not as large as that of other provinces, but Manitobans can still find a decent range of gambling options here to not need to travel across the border to play at Ontario casinos. Our team of reviewers at InsideCasino have gone through the gauntlet to bring all the best gambling in Manitoba
Manitoba is one of the four provinces that banded together to form the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, or WCLC. For this reason, all of the lotteries distributed by Manitoba Liquor & Lottery are part of the WCLC network, and some of the larger draws like Western Max and Western 6/49 get their prize pools from all four Western Canadian provinces.
WCLC tickets and scratch cards can be bought from convenience stores and lottery kiosks across Manitoba, but you can also purchase them online through the WCLC.ca online portal. Video lottery terminals or VLTs are also available at casinos, bars and some hotels.
As of 2023, Manitoba has 8 land-based casino venues across the province, all of which feature slot machines, table games like blackjack and roulette, as well as poker rooms at some of the larger establishments. Here are our top 3 most trusted casinos in Manitoba
Sands Hill Casino, which is located in a little village approximately 30 minutes from Brandon, Manitoba’s second biggest city and a significant hub for trade and business, has quickly become a favorite destination for residents and tourists alike.
Rating: 4.5/5
Games: Slots, Blackjack (electronic), Roulette (electronic), Craps (electronic), Big Six (electronic)
Location: 777 Sand Hills Drive, Carberry, MB R0K 0H0
Website: www.sandhillscasino.com
The Aseneskak Casino, which is owned in partnership by six First Nations and is located in the northern wilderness of Manitoba, is the ideal location for a gaming holiday. You won’t find a finer place to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life than this remote location near the Saskatchewan River and the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.
Rating: 4.3/5
Games: Slots, Blackjack, Poker, Pai Gow, Roulette
Location: Highway 10 North, Opaskwayak, MB R0B 2J0
Website: www.bestlittlecasino.ca
Besides its peculiar name for a casino that is set so far up north, South Beach Casino has a lot of fun surprises in its halls. Built on prime land overlooking Lake Winnipeg, it provides outstanding gambling with over 600 slot machines, including 563 penny slots, live poker, black jack and roulette tables, as well as Midi Baccarat and Fortune Pai Gow, among other games.
Rating: 4.6/5
Games: Slots, Poker, Blackjack
Location: 1 Ocean Dr, Scanterbury, MB R0E 1W0
Website: www.southbeachcasino.ca
Manitoba’s government defines the legal age in the province as 18 years old, which applies to all of the province’s gambling options that include casino games, lotteries and VLTs, sports betting, and bingo.
Gambling is regulated in Manitoba under the "charitable gambling" model, which means that all legal and licenced gambling activities give their revenue back to the Manitoban government to fund projects.
Like the rest of Canada, any casino winnings you get from gambling in Manitoba are not taxed. However, playing at online casinos that are based offshore will be subject to fees and deductions from the casino operator.
Yes, online casinos in Manitoba are legal, although the PlayNow online casino site is currently the only casino site that is legally allowed to operate in the province. You can still play at offshore casino sites that serve gamblers in Manitoba; however, they are technically in a legal grey area.
Yes, you can gamble online in Manitoba. Depending on the site that you go to, you can expect to find slot games, live casinos, sports betting, horse races, and classic card and table games.
The PlayNow online casino (which is operated by the provincial government) is technically the best online casino in Manitoba, but only for the fact that they are the only Manitoba casino online that is licensed within the province.
You may win real money at Manitoba online casinos, with jackpots ranging in size from a few hundred to a million dollars or even more depending on the game you play.
Manitoba is currently home to 8 land-based casinos across the province. Being the city metro center, a large chunk of these venues are based in Winnipeg, which should be your place to start when you plan to play at a land-based casino.
The biggest casino venue in Manitoba is Club Regent Casino in Winnipeg. With 24 hour operations on weekends and holidays, this casino venue houses over 800 slot machines, table games and a dedicated poker room.