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Top Online Poker Sites for Canadian Players 2025
Canada is one of the largest and most developed countries in the world, although its population barely exceeds 40 million. It is divided into provinces and territories, its capital being Ottawa, although almost 40% of its population lives in Ontario. It is the birthplace of some of the best poker players in the world, headed by Daniel Negreanu. In this article, we will study everything you need to know to play online poker sites in Canada.
Best online poker sites in Canada
These are the top-rated online poker rooms in Canada. They have passed our filters and have our seal of approval from Worldpokerdeals:
A quick overview of the top online poker sites for Canadians to check out:
| Category | Poker site | Welcome bonus | Rakeback |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⭐ Top poker site in Canada | GGPoker | 100% up to $600 | up to 60% via Fish Buffet |
| ✅ NLH and PLO ring games action | BetOnline | 100% up to $1000 | up to 30% |
| ✅ Best tournaments | WPT Global Poker | 100% up to $777 | VIP |
| ✅ Bitcoin & crypto | CoinPoker | 150% up to $2,000 | 33% |
| ✅ Most reputable | 888poker | 100% up to $1,000 | up to 12% |
Reach our team to find out more information:
GGPoker
Thanks to GGPoker, Canadian poker players can access a globally unmatched selection of cash tables and tournaments. The site even holds the world record for the highest number of simultaneous connections of 600,000 players.
GGPoker’s traffic is notable not just for its size but also for the variety of games available. In the poker room’s app, you can find:
- Cash tables. 6- and 9-max Hold'em, 4-, 5-, and 6-card Omaha, Rush&Cash, Short Deck, All-in or Fold.
- SnG tournaments. Spin & Gold formats including 6-player, AoF, Flip & Go, Mystery Buttle.
- MTTs. Mystery Bounty, PKOs, Poker Masters freezeouts, freerolls with prize pools up to $100,000, tournaments with buy-ins in yuan, and WSOP series offering guarantees of up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
GGPoker also provides a wide variety of bonuses. New players can earn up to $350 by completing missions within the first 30 days after registration. Following their first deposit, they can select one of two bonuses: 100% up to $600 or $100 in tickets.
The poker room runs millionaire monthly promotions that can significantly boost earnings for regular players. The Fish Buffet loyalty program offers up to 60% rakeback. Daily races are available for nearly all formats except MTTs. Additionally, cash tables feature jackpots, and Rush & Cash games include cash drop prizes.
GGPoker Ontario
GGPoker Ontario (WSOP.ca) is a poker site with a closed player pool, available exclusively to players in Ontario. The site has been operating since 2022 under an iGaming Ontario (iGO) license.
Key differences from GGPoker’s global pool include the use of Canadian Dollars (CAD) as the platform’s currency and a limit of 400 cash game players during the peak hours.
New players can claim a first deposit bonus of 100% up to $777 or $200 in tickets. Fish Buffet rakeback up to 70%. Each cash game format and Spin & Gold feature their own daily races.
WPT Global
WPT Global is one of the fastest-growing online poker rooms. Thanks to the WPT team's experience, the platform has quickly evolved from a small new platform into a top-tier poker room within a few years.
Operating under an offshore license, WPT Global does not accept players from Ontario in compliance with local gambling regulations. The poker room is represented by two Canadian ambassadors: Patrick «Egption» Tardif and Jordan Banfield.
The most popular cash games are 8-max Hold’em with Bomb Pot and antes, while other available formats include Flash (Fast Poker), PLO, PLO5, and Short Deck.
The tournament lobby features Global Spins, guaranteed MTTs, and satellites to WPT series worldwide, including events in Canada.
888poker CA
888poker CA is the Ontario branch of the well-known 888 gaming brand. The poker room obtained its Ontario license in April 2022.
The site offers a standard range of games and tournaments, including Hold’em and Omaha cash tables, Spins Blasts with buy-ins up to $50, and MTTs featuring guarantees of up to $20,000. Among the poker rooms reviewed, 888poker Ontario has the smallest number of players, with peak traffic reaching only 200 connections.
This platform is the only Ontario poker room to offer a $20 no-deposit bonus in tickets upon registration. The 888Poker Club rewards players for activity across poker, casino, and sports betting. Payouts are granted for completing missions.
Other promotions include a series of missions with prizes awarded in tickets for freerolls.
Pokerstars
PokerStars has long been one of the most popular poker rooms for Canadian players, ever since Daniel Negreanu was its ambassador. Currently, Parker «Tonkaaaa» Talbot represents Canada on Team PokerStars.com.
The site stands out for its steady traffic in classic limit games such as 7-card Stud, Badugi, Stud Hi/Lo, Razz, 5-Card Draw, while also attracting thousands of players to 6-max Hold’em and Omaha tables, including Zoom-format.
PokerStars tournament series set the standard for events offering millions in guaranteed prizes and a wide variety of formats across diverse buy-ins. Some of the most well-known series include WCOOP and SCOOP.
How do we rank the best online poker sites in Canada?
Considering Canada as a whole, including the province of Ontario, we are forced to use the highest standards to obtain a ranking with the best poker sites available in the country. We look at all aspects so our players can choose a secure, well-promoted game with enough traffic:
To qualify for a place on our list, a poker site must:
- Be licensed and regulated (hold an active gaming license and RNG certificate).
- Have convenient payment methods for Canadian players.
- Have 24/7 traffic in all popular poker games: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, MTT.
- Have a good reputation among Canadian players.
- Be mobile friendly - have an app or a well-designed mobile website.
Online poker in Canada
Considering that Canada ranks in the top countries that have won the most money in the live tournament circuit (more than 1,000,000,000 dollars!) and is the second country with the most WSOP gold bracelets, it is easy to conclude that the northern country's poker tradition is extensive.
That's why Canada is a world power in both live poker and online poker. A wide selection of games helps players improve their skills, while Ontario maintains a separate regulated market with local licenses and ring-fenced liquidity. Now, about online poker specifically, let's remember that Canadian law prohibits the poker rooms from providing their services from Canada, which directs grinders to the famous “.com” sites. This is excellent news because precisely these rooms have the most traffic and therefore the best promotions.
Legal background of online poker in Canada
Canada can be considered a gambling-friendly country. Since the 1800s, several laws have been introduced that have relaxed the position regarding gambling until the update of the Criminal Code in 1970 that transferred responsibility for these to the different provinces, which have had different advances.
We are forced to divide Canada into two scenarios because, due to the closed liquidity model, residents of Ontario can only play in rooms that meet some particular conditions:
- Ontario: Licensing is regulated by AGCO and iGaming Ontario, and only sites with a valid local license may provide real-money gaming. To date, only about five sites have completed this process, including WSOP.CA in partnership with GGPoker.
- Rest of Canada: The options are endless for Canadians because, according to the law, they can only access offshore rooms, which are the best on the market.
Ontario has made the most progress, regulating the entire gambling market (including poker) in April 2022. Other provinces, such as British Columbia, have also worked on developing specific betting laws but have not approved any at the moment.
In general, Ontario residents can only play on online poker sites that obtain a local license in a closed liquidity model, while the rest of Canada can access all the available poker rooms on the market, including the recognized GGPoker, PokerStars, iPoker, ACR Poker, among others, due to the absence of regulation, because the only requirement is that the rooms that offer their services are not physically located in Canada.
New Ontario online poker rules
Ontario is the only Canadian province to regulate online poker at the local level. After the market launched on April 4, 2022, several major poker rooms — PokerStars Ontario, WSOP.ca (powered by GGPoker), 888poker Ontario, and partypoker Ontario — obtained licenses from the AGCO and iGaming Ontario. The regulator's requirements are outlined in the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming (AGCO).
Under these rules, Ontario players have to use dedicated client versions that operate exclusively within the province and participate in closed player pool, meaning they compete only against players physically located in Ontario.
Additional requirements include mandatory play in Canadian Dollars (CAD) and a minimum age of 19 for online poker. These rules fully isolate Ontario’s online poker market from global .com platforms, ensuring compliance with local regulations, while players in the rest of Canada continue to use international poker rooms.
Amid these restrictions, a new legal development could influence the future structure of the market. A recent Ontario court ruling allows individual poker rooms to request permission to join international player pools, provided they meet all AGCO and iGaming Ontario regulations. While shared liquidity has not yet been implemented, the ruling sets a precedent that could lead to a revision of the current closed pool system.
Taxes and online poker
Let's start with the good news. In Canada, operators' taxes and fees differ by province, with Ontario imposing separate licensing fees and a percentage of the GGR for regulated sites. In most cases, even if you are a professional player who meets some characteristics, you will not have to pay any taxes on your poker winnings.
The only difference lies in the differentiation between money from gambling and money from a business. The first maintains a rate of 0%, while the second would be taxable. Canadian case law supports this approach: rulings of the Tax Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, and the CRA’s position all indicate that regular poker play is not considered a source of income, meaning amateur winnings are not taxed.
However, there are cases like Jonathan Duhamel, winner of the 2010 WSOP Main Event, who, thanks to his alternative businesses, did not have to pay taxes because the authorities could not prove that he played poker for a living.
If your only activity is playing professional poker, you may need the help of an accountant to pay taxes.
Deposit and withdrawal methods for Canadian poker players
Playing online poker for real money in Canada is very easy in every way, including a wide range of payment methods. Payments are almost always processed within 48 hours, although we have seen that sometimes the money is sent in minutes.
Remember that in almost all poker sites in Canada, you must verify your account with documents before withdrawing, although we always recommend completing this process before depositing. In regulated provinces, local authorities may request KYC data in compliance with standard legal requirements.
We highlight the following payment processors that operate in Canadian online poker rooms, including Interac, a solution for bank transfers used by many Canadian citizens.
- Interac e-Transfer.
- Skrill, Neteller, Payz, PayPal, MuchBetter.
- Cryptocurrencies (USDT, Bitcoin, ETH, Litecoin, etc.) are available on international sites, but in Ontario they are generally not supported by licensed poker rooms.
- Cards Visa, MasterCard.
- Paysafecard, Apple Pay.
Live poker in Canada
One of the best places to play live poker in Canada is the Playground Poker Club, an allied site of WPT Global that has hosted essential tournaments; it is located near Montreal, within the territory of Kahnawàke Gaming Jurisdiction. The Montreal Casino is located in the city of the same name and is one of the ideal places to play amateur poker.
The WSOP International Circuit has been played in Calgary (Deerfoot Inn & Casino), Toronto (Great Canadian Casino Resort), and Kahnawake (Playground Poker Club). The latter casino also hosts the WPT Montreal Championship.
Popular games at Canadian poker sites
Online poker websites accessible to Canadian players feature a broad selection of games. Texas Hold’em is available on nearly all sites, while larger international online poker rooms also offer more unique options. Each game comes with its own rules and strategies, so players often select multiple games according to their experience and skill.
- Texas Hold’em (NLH): Hold’em is the main game offered at every poker site available to Canadian players. Players receive two private hole cards, while up to five community cards are dealt in stages across multiple betting rounds. Victory goes to the player with the strongest five-card hand or the one who forces all opponents to fold.
- Omaha (PLO): Omaha is the second most popular game among Canadian players. While its betting rounds and hand rankings resemble Hold’em, each player receives four hole cards and must use exactly two of them with three community cards. Online, Omaha Hi/Lo is common, as well as the more dynamic PLO5 and PLO6 variants.
- Seven Card Stud: Stud follows the standard poker hand rankings but differs in its dealing method. Players are dealt seven cards in stages, with certain cards exposed to all. While Stud games attract fewer players, dedicated tables can be found at some international poker rooms.
Other real money poker games
Some Canadian poker rooms also offer less common games, such as:
- Short Deck (6+ Hold’em)
- Badugi
- 2-7 Single Draw or 2-7 Triple Draw
- 5-Card Draw
- Razz
- H.O.R.S.E.
- 8-Games
These formats are typically available on large .com poker sites with high player traffic.
Most famous Canadian poker players
TOP-5 Canada All-Time Money List:
- Daniel Negreanu: $56,924,697
- Daniel Dvoress: $45,013,407
- Sam Greenwood: $39,409,853
- Michael Watson: $33,723,017
- Jonathan Duhamel: $18,009,548
It is almost impossible to make a list of famous players from Canada, because this one would be endless. Perhaps the most recognized of all is the GGPoker ambassador, Daniel Negreanu, who has 7 WSOP bracelets, and we also have to mention Jonathan Duhamel, Kristen Foxen, Greg Mueller, Daniel Dvoress, the brothers Max and Sam Greenwood, Timothy Adams, Sorel Mizzi, among another infinite list of Canadians who have filled the poker media headlines.
In total, the Canadians have cashed in more than $1,000,000,000 (yes, nine zeros) and have 87 WSOP bracelets on their record.
Responsible gambling
Canadians, honoring their high quality of life tradition, have a broad portfolio of alternatives to gamble responsibly.
Either through local rooms that comply with the regulation through iGaming Ontario or international rooms that rely on sites such as the Responsible Gaming Council or GamCare, among others, you can protect yourself from the potential adverse effects that betting can bring. On regulated sites, players may encounter deposit limits, session duration restrictions, account suspensions, and self-exclusion measures.
In the same way, we remember some tips that will help you keep the games on the friendly side:
- Never chase your losses. Manage your budget properly.
- Seek help from professionals, family, or friends whenever you consider it necessary.
- Set a schedule for playing so that you balance your life properly.
Summary
Canada remains one of the most accessible and convenient markets for online poker, though regulations vary widely between Ontario and the rest of the country. Ontario operates under its own licensing system with ring-fenced liquidity, while players in other provinces have access to high-traffic international poker rooms. The tax framework remains favorable for most players, and a full range of deposit and withdrawal methods is supported, from Interac to cryptocurrencies.
Worldpokerdeals continues to track the evolving Canadian online poker world, helping local players find the best and safest options.
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