An offshore casino hidden in Quebec fortune cookies
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20 Sep 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes In several Quebec restaurants, an unexpected surprise awaited customers in their fortune biscuits: instead of the traditional maxims, some papers revealed an advertisement for an online casino registered in Kahnawà:ke.
A surprise in fortune biscuits
In several Quebec restaurants, customers recently opened their fortune cookies to discover not a traditional maxim, but an unexpected advertisement for an online casino site. The site in question is registered in Kahnawà:ke, a community renowned for hosting numerous online gaming platforms.
According to testimonies gathered by the Journal de Montréal, customers were not expecting such a find.
‘Free cookie was nice, but the deal inside wasn’t,’ said one Reddit user.
This communication strategy is of concern to marketers and regulators alike.
The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission: a key player in online gambling
Behind the casino revealed in the fortune biscuits lurks a well-known institution in the online gambling industry: the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC). Founded in 1996 by the Mohawk community of Kahnawà:ke, Quebec, the Commission’s mission is to regulate and supervise casinos and other online gaming operators registered within its territory.
The KGC is internationally recognised for its online gaming licences, which provide operators with a credible legal framework while requiring compliance with strict standards of security, fairness and player protection. These licences allow casinos to operate legally, even if they target customers located off-reserve, in jurisdictions where local online gambling laws may be more restrictive.
However, this system has its limitations. The KGC does not have the power to enforce its rules outside its territory, which can create grey areas when advertising campaigns, such as the fortune biscuit campaign, target the general public in Quebec. Experts point out that if the operator complies with Kahnawà:ke’s requirements, it may still be in conflict with Canadian provincial or federal legislation on gambling advertising.
A wider debate on gambling advertising
Beyond this anecdote, the case reopens the debate on the methods used to promote online casinos. In Quebec as elsewhere, gambling advertising regularly sparks controversy, particularly because of its effects on vulnerable people.
This fortune biscuit campaign could serve as a catalyst for a broader reflection on the supervision of gambling marketing. The provincial government has already tightened certain rules, but new strategies like this one test the ability of regulators to keep pace.