A single analyst, tracking Alberta's AGLC registry honestly.

Who I am

I'm Aleksandr Vakoliuk — an independent analyst with a background in e-commerce and data work, now focused on newly-regulated betting markets. AlbertaBookies is a one-person project. There is no editorial team; every status update, every operator review, and every changelog entry on this site comes from me.

I'm based in Germany. That's worth disclosing rather than hiding: I don't claim to be on the ground in Calgary or to have inside contacts at AGLC. What I do have is the time to track AGLC's official registrant database on every update cycle, source it precisely, and write it up in a way that's faster to use and easier to cite than the official source.

By background I'm an e-commerce operator. I built and ran online retail businesses from 2016, and today I run the IT and e-commerce function of a German B2B parts distributor as an external product owner: pricing systems, catalog data, ERP integrations. I'm also a published author — a Russian-language guide to selling on eBay, written for fellow emigrants. AlbertaBookies.com is my own independent project and gets the same working discipline: every fact sourced, every gap marked.

Why this site exists

Alberta's iGaming market opened to private operators on July 13, 2026. AGLC publishes the registrant list — a weekly PDF until July 2026, a searchable database since — and it is the definitive source. But the official formats aren't easy to cite, embed, or check on a mobile, and the database no longer shows most operating brand names. So I built a faster, embeddable mirror with sources and timestamps on every row (plus the brand-to-entity map the official source dropped), then wrote research-based reviews of each operator on the list. That's the whole thing.

I'm not first and I'm not the only one tracking this — AGLC's own list is the registry of record. What this site adds is execution: faster updates, plain HTML that journalists can cite, a public JSON endpoint, a changelog with timestamps, and editorial that explains what each status badge means without trying to sell you a bonus.

My methodology, in short

• AGLC is the source of truth. Every status badge is verified against the AGLC registrant list and dated on the page; live status is verified against the AiGC approved-sites directory. Each row links back to the official source (archived AGLC PDFs for older snapshots).
• Research, not real-money play. I do not open accounts or place real bets at the operators reviewed. Where a source exists for a feature, market or payment detail, it is named on the page it appears on. Where none exists, the item is recorded as not verified rather than estimated. Not every claim on this site meets that standard yet — closing the gap is work in progress, and the gaps are marked, not hidden.
• No retroactive edits. If I get something wrong I fix it and log the change in the changelog with a date.

How I make money (affiliate disclosure)

If you sign up at an operator through one of my outbound links I may receive a referral fee from that operator. It costs you nothing and never changes the ranking. Operators with weaker AGLC standing, payout issues, or unclear compliance get ranked low regardless of what they pay.

Per AGLC affiliate rules, I do not advertise welcome bonuses, promo codes, or sign-up offers to Alberta residents. The reviews on this site cover regulatory status, license authority, payment methods, customer service, and responsible-gambling features — not promotional offers.

Responsible gambling

Sports betting is for adults (18+ in Alberta) and should never be sold as a way to make money. If you or someone you know is struggling, please contact the Addiction Helpline (Alberta Health Services) at 1-866-332-2322 (24/7, free, confidential) or visit GameSense (AGLC).

Contact

Spotted an error, want to embed the registry, or want to verify something for a story? Email info@albertabookies.com. I read every message myself.