Canadian Poker Sites
Playing on the government-operated sites in BC and Quebec (which share a player pool, by the way) is of course the best way to ensure you're playing on a fair and secure site but the major offshore poker sites that allow Canadian players - namely PokerStars, 888poker and partypoker - are also as safe and secure as you can get. All Poker Rooms in Canada. Aseneskak Casino (Winnipeg and Greater Manitoba) Boomtown Casino (Edmonton and Northern Alberta) Caesars Windsor (Detroit and Toledo) Camrose Casino (Edmonton and Northern Alberta) Canadian National Exhibition Casino (Toronto and Greater Ontario) Cascades Casino (Vancouver and Surrounding).
| Site | Rating | Play in $CAD | Bonus | |
| 888 Poker | • Review | 100% up to $600 + £20 / $88 No Deposit | ||
| Bet365 Poker | • Review | 100% up to €365 | ||
| Party Poker | • Review • Bonus | 100% up to $1,000 | ||
| Intertops | 200% up to $1,000 | |||
Is Poker Legal in Canada?
Playing poker is legal in Canada be it online poker or live poker. The thing is though, if you are in Canada, you are not likely playing at a poker site licenced by the Government of Canada because, currently, Canada doesn’t issue gambling licences.
The exception here however involves Indian Reservations. Many online poker sites and other gambling entities online are licenced and legally operating under a licence issued by the Kahnawake Mohawk Indian tribe which is located in Canada just out of Montreal.
If you’re looking to keep your money local online poker sites licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission are your best shot.
How is Poker Taxed in Canada?
A casual poker player in Canada doesn’t pay income tax on poker winnings. According to Canadian poker law, casual poker and other gambling revenue isn’t taxable. You went in with already taxed money, spent it on entertainment, everything is fine.
Canadian Poker Sites Real Money
Later on though, when you begin to learn the game things change. You then start making responsible choices, you chart your winnings versus your losses, you create a system for managing your bankroll, you enter smart tournaments, play at cash game levels you can beat and before you know it you’re grinding out a steady income.
Guess what just happened? . . . You just stopped being a casual player and became a small business. You’re now in the business of paying poker and it is time to hire an accountant that specifically knows about poker and gambling related taxes in Canada.
Poker Popularity in Canada
Recent articles on businesswire.com show that poker has actually become more popular in Canada than it is in America. In fact , the article says that Canadians are twice as likely to participate in poker games than United States poker players. The article does state however that, since Black Friday occurrences, players are leaning more and more toward Canadian poker sites that are publicly traded on open stock exchanges.
Peak Poker Time at Canadian Poker Sites
Peak poker playing time at most poker sites for Canadian players begin during the later portion of the afternoon and goes on until about 10pm. After that there’s a bit of a late night rush that doesn’t compare to the daytime peak but opens up some tables and allows for a lot of looser games that pay very well for the more experienced, or more patient, poker player.
Safety and Security on Canadian Poker Sites
Most online poker sites, all over the world, are legally operating licenced and regulated. The majority are also monitored by neutral companies that exist solely to monitor random number generators and algorithms for randomness and fairness in addition to monitoring the integrity and maintenance of security systems.
Now, as you probably already know has happened in the past, it’s not impossible for a card room’s security to be breached but it’s rare and nearly impossible. However, whether it be by an inside job, a dirty coding company or whatever it was that happened with Absolute Poker years ago, it is possible.
For that reason, it’s safest to stick to well known, well reputed and publicly traded card rooms, and as luck would have it, we are familiar with most every card room online, we know which offer the best customer service, which are above reproach and which have records as rouge rooms.
The safest way to find a secure poker site that welcomes Canadian poker players with open tables is to press ctrl d on your computers keyboard right now and bookmark this page. We prescreen every poker room listed on this website, using a dozen + years of industry knowledge for your peace of mind.
Preferred Currencies for Canadian Poker Players
The preferred currency for most Canadian poker players is of course going to be the Canadian Dollar. Not every casino online offers play with Canadian dollars however there are some, such as Pokerstars, that do. In most cases if you cannot find a poker room that will let you play with CAD, you can at least find an online poker deposit method that will accept your Canadian funds and deposit them to a poker room. During that process you can decide which is more financially sound, exchanging currency through a payment processor or at the poker site itself, we’ve found most poker sites have exchange rates that are very competitive – they don’t want to put anyone off.
With almost 10 million square kilometers and 38 million inhabitants, Canada is the second largest country in the world. It belongs to the Commonwealth of Nations and is considered as a highly developed country in terms of quality of life, and we may add that also in terms of acceptance of online poker. In this article, we study its legal background and recommend the best online poker rooms for poker players living in Canada.
Best online poker players from Canada
Canada ranks 3 in the HendonMob list of total money won by players of the country with almost $700MUSD and 57 WSOP gold bracelets. The most famous player is, of course, Daniel Negreanu, PokerStars ambassador and one of the most recognizable faces of the poker world and top 2-player in terms of profit with almost 40MUSD won at the tables. Jonathan Duhamel, Greg Mueller, Timothy Adams, Sam Greenwood, and Sorel Mizzi complete the Canadian live poker army. And in online poker, the profits boost to $830MUSD (in total $1530MUSD): Kristen 'krissyb24' Bicknell ($2,1MUSD online and $3,2MUSD live), 'Pudge174' (DeanMalenko or Str8$$$Homey) with $6,6MUSD and Connor 'blanconegro' Drinan with $7,4MUSD are the best online poker players from Canada nowadays.
Online poker legal background in Canada
Due to its proximity to the United States, some players think that the same regulations apply to Canada, but there is nothing further from reality. The only restriction to be allowed to play online poker from Canada is that you need to be at least 19 years old, but the Canadian law doesn't forbid online poker in any way, in fact, online gambling is not even regulated like Spain or France; in short: is 100% legal to play online poker in Canada. Some poker rooms and e-wallets like Skrill are treating Canada as a grey online poker market, but it's a non-sense measure, and of course, other poker rooms widely promote their services to Canadian players.
Online poker taxes in Canada
If having an open market is not enough, perhaps knowing that all your poker incomes in Canada are tax-free is the cherry on the cake you need to know to start playing online poker. Therefore, being able to join almost any poker room in a tax-free environment is the perfect bundle for poker professionals, keeping in mind that Canada provides top quality of life.
Deposit and withdrawals methods for Canadian poker players
As we commented before, Skrill and Neteller (Paysafe) left Canada in a very extreme measure, but of course, other sites have come to fulfill the gap, and Canadian players should not worry because there are plenty of payment processors available in Canada:
ecoPayz
ecoPayz is perhaps the largest e-wallet available to Canadian poker players. It's widely accepted among poker rooms and our agency processes deposits and withdrawals using ecoPayz. From ecoPayz, Canadian players can request withdrawals to their bank accounts.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptos like BTC and USDT remain as a safe and anonymous payment method to use in Canada. Networks like WPN (PokerKing, Americas Cardroom, Black Chip Poker) and Chico (TigerGaming, BetOnline, SportsBetting) process deposits and withdrawals using a wide selection of cryptos. Worldpokerdeals also works with cryptos to process payments at alternative poker rooms like the Chinese ones.
Credit cards
Credit cards are always a good option to make deposits to online poker rooms, in case you don't use e-wallets. But in this case, we recommend you check with the poker room before making any deposit due to the self-imposed restriction that some sites have adopted in Canada.
Best online poker rooms for Canadian players
Canadian poker players have a wide offer of online poker rooms, so our selection for them consists of the best sites to play in 2019 considering:
- High and transparent rakeback;
- The weakness of the field;
- Traffic during the Canadian peak time.
We have divided the best poker rooms for Canadians into three categories:
Games with Asian players
With the rise and fall of PokerMaster, Worldpokedeals has prepared a unique package of Asian poker rooms which is available for Canadian players. Mobile applications like PPPoker, FirePoker, Potato Poker, and HiPoker are currently the best options to join games with Asian fishes, but if you're not ready to jump into the Chinese mobile world, the GG Network is a legit platform to play from Canada. The peak time of the Chinese poker rooms corresponds to the early Canadian mornings.
Games with American players
The largest US-facing networks: Winning (PokerKing) and Chico (TigerGaming) accept players from Canada and process deposits and withdrawals using cryptos and ecoPayz. The traffic is excellent during the Canadian peak time, and our exclusive rakeback deals make of the American networks an amazing choice for Canadian players.
Alternative poker rooms
Worldpokerdeals grants safe access to Latin-American, Indian, Italian, and Israeli poker rooms, which are all available for poker players living in Canada. The peak time of each site depends on the country of origin, which works great for poker players playing in different lobbies.
| Poker Room | Highest Stake | Peak of Time |
| Red Argentina de Poker | NL200 | Latin-America (Canadian nights) |
| Spartan Poker | NL80 | Indian (Canadian morning) |
| iPoker.IT | NL1000 | Italian (Canadian evening) |
| GoldPokerPro | NL1500 | Israeli (Canadian morning) |
Conclusion
Canada provides a fantastic package: high quality of life, tax-free winnings, and with our exclusive deals, the opportunity to access the best online poker rooms on the market. Reach our team now to get more information about the top rakeback deals for Canadian poker players.
GGPokerOKCanadian Poker Rooms
| Deposit bonus | до $600 |
| Rakeback | 50%+ |
| Deposit bonus | $2,000 |
| Rakeback | up to 90% |
| Deposit bonus | 1000$ |
| Rakeback | VIP |
| Deposit bonus | VIP |
| Rakeback | VIP |
| Rakeback | up to 50% |
Canadian Poker Sites That Accept Paypal
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