Alberta Moves Toward Launching a Regulated Online Poker Market

Alberta Takes a Step Toward Regulating Online Poker

Alberta is moving closer to launching a legal online poker market:

On January 13, 2026, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) published Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming document. This comprehensive regulatory framework defines how online casinos, sports betting, andpeer-to-peer offerings, including online poker, will operate in the province.

While the iGaming Alberta Act was passed in May 2025, the publication of these standards marked a real turning point. It moves the legislation from theory to practice and effectively launches the process of creating a fully regulated online poker market in Alberta.

Today, online poker Canadian has already been legalized in another province, Ontario, where a regulated market has been operating since April 2022. Ontario’s experience now serves as a reference point for other provinces.

The creation of a new regulated market can be broken down into several stages:

1. Adoption of the legislative framework and publication of standards and requirements for operators (already completed).
2. Company registration and licensing (started in January 2026).
3. Technical integration of platforms.
4. Shutting down the gray market and transitioning players to licensed platforms.
5. Full launch of poker rooms.
6. Potential liquidity consolidation with Ontario.

Alberta is currently between the licensing and technical preparation stages.

What Will This Mean for Players?

A regulated market comes with much stricter oversight of operators. For players, it means:

• measures against fraud, collusion, and bot use;
• a centralized self-exclusion system;
• advertising restrictions and protection for minors;
• mandatory account verification;
• responsible gaming requirements.

Alberta plans to set the minimum age for online gambling at 18, while Ontario’s minimum age is 19.

Liquidity and a Shared Player Pool: The Key Question

The main intrigue of the future market is the unification of liquidity with Ontario. Alberta legislation allows for this possibility, and this option is considered the most promising.

Without a common player pool, the market risks limited traffic. This is critical for online poker: a small number of active tables and tournaments reduces interest from both players and operators.

To assess the real prospects of the future online poker market in Alberta, it is important to look at demographics. Ontario has a population of over 14 million, while Alberta's population is less than 5 million.Ontario’s population is nearly three times larger, which directly affects potential poker liquidity.

For online poker, this gap is crucial. Without a common player pool, Alberta's autonomous market will have significantly less traffic, especially in cash games and tournaments outside of peak hours. As a result, this could lead to limited traffic, and some large operators focused on high liquidity may well adopt a may choose to adopt a wait-and-see approach

Which Poker Rooms Could Enter the Alberta Market?

If Alberta establishes a regulated model, the same major brands already operating in Ontario could enter its market.

In a regulated market, players can only access licensed platforms, and most well-known operators have received regulatory approval. These include:

• GGPoker,
• PokerStars,
• 888poker,
• PartyPoker,
• BetMGM Poker.

These brands are known worldwide and have experience working with large poker communities, so they may well be interested in the new Alberta market, especially if players from the two provinces can play against each other in the same liquidity pool.

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