Canada Online Poker: Best Sites for 2024

Top Online Poker Sites in Canada

Let’s take a look through the top 5 Canada online poker sites, evaluating why we believe they’re the best of the best.

#1 Best Canada Poker Site: 888poker

With over two decades of gaming experience, 888poker is one of the top options available to Canadian poker players. Like its online casinos licensed in various jurisdictions (including Gibraltar and Ontario), 888poker offers real-money online poker to eligible players across Canada. Games include Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, BLAST Sit & Gos, and SNAP Poker (fast-paced tournaments).

Depending on your jurisdiction, 888poker provides desktop versions and mobile apps for playing poker online, with specific options required for Ontario players. The rake for cash games, ranging from 2% to 6.25%, depends on table limits. With six types of tournaments, plenty of promotions, and numerous payment methods like Visa, Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, and Interac, we think 888poker is an excellent poker site, especially for beginners.

2. Runner-Up Best Poker Site in Canada: bet365 Poker

With its headquarters in the U.K. and offices in Malta and the U.S., bet365 is an international gambling company with nearly 25 years of industry experience. The bet365 Poker software is available to Canadian players outside Ontario, while Ontario players only get access to the casino and sports verticals.

While bet365 Poker may offer limited options for online poker, professional poker players might prefer a more expansive poker site like PokerStars for their daily and weekly tournaments amidst thousands of players. However, we rank bet365 among the best poker sites since it’s a valuable alternative for playing poker games online.

The bet365 Casino brand also provides a fun experience for games like Texas Hold’em, Draw, and Stud in a more low-key format that may be more suitable for recreational players.

3. Casumo Canada Online Casino

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Malta, the Casumo Online Casino is also a modest poker site. While Casumo primarily offers slots, the live casino does provide a handful of poker options. Games include Casino Hold’em, Casino Stud Poker, Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. (If you’ve played live dealer games before, you’re probably familiar with Evolution Gaming—and Casumo offers poker titles from them.)

4. PokerStars Canada

PokerStars is another top online poker site with over two decades of gaming experience. Like 888poker, PokerStars offers casino and sports verticals alongside cash games and tournaments for Canadian poker players. Licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), PokerStars Canada provides some of the best tournaments in the country.

While PokerStars mobile apps are available for Ontario players, most provinces get access to downloadable software for real money and play money (free) games. Highlights include Sit & Gos, Spin & Gos, multi-table tournaments (MTTs), and a Power Path gaming structure for chances to gain satellite tickets to live poker events.

Under the Cash and Tourney categories, more than a dozen types of poker are available for Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Draw, Stud, and mixed games. With thousands of players and hundreds of active tournaments available almost 24/7, PokerStars is among the best online poker sites for intermediate, professional, and recreational players.

5. GGPoker

GGPoker is the latest rival to PokerStars’ crown and operates throughout Canada. In fact, it’s now a bigger site worldwide than PokerStars – an impressive feat considering PokerStars’ former dominance. Their tournaments, fuelled by the huge player pool, are known to be exceptional, with many offering gigantic prizes.

Mobile players will find the GGPoker mobile app to be slick and well-designed. It also does the boring stuff well, offering several banking options and strong customer support. It’s also somewhere you can trust completely, with licenses in Ontario and other jurisdictions worldwide.

Where to Play Online Poker in Canada

Most online poker sites in Canada operate in a legal grey area. While some provinces launched legal online gambling in 2022, the rest of the country generally allows offshore operators to provide poker sites in Canada. New online poker players can sign up at international sites regulated by gaming enforcement agencies like the Malta Gaming Authority, UK Gambling Commission, or other governments.

Here’s a brief rundown of rules associated with online poker sites across Canada:

• Alberta: The province may legalize online gambling in 2025. Players who are 18 and older can access online poker sites.
• British Columbia: The British Columbia Lottery Corporation regulates gambling. However, offshore operators offer online poker sites.
• Manitoba: The legal gambling age is 18, and online poker sites are available.
• New Brunswick: You can play online poker at 19 or older.
• Newfoundland and Labrador: While the province caps poker (home games) to prize pools of $500, players who are 19 or older can access an online poker site.
• Northwest Territories: Offshore poker sites are available.
• Nova Scotia: While not regulated within the province, cash games and tournaments are available at our recommended online poker sites.
• Nunavut: Since there are no land-based casinos, online poker at international sites is an excellent option for players in this northernmost province.
• Ontario: The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) regulates online poker for licensed in-state operators.
• Prince Edward Island: Poker sites operate in a legal grey area.
• Quebec: Online poker is regulated by Loto-Québec and is available to players who are 18 or older. You can also choose a reputable poker site regulated offshore.
• Saskatchewan: In partnership with the BCLC, PlayNow offers legal online gambling (including online casinos). Online poker could become legal while offshore poker sites remain available.
• Yukon: Online poker operates in a legal grey area.

Canada Online Poker Rules

As you can see above, the rules for playing real-money online poker in Canada depend on where you live. We recommend choosing the best Canadian poker sites, such as 888poker, PokerStars, and bet365.

While a few provinces have legalized sports betting and online casinos, Ontario is the only jurisdiction offering online poker from operators licensed by the provincial government. All other jurisdictions have offshore operators offering online poker.

The Canadian Revenue Agency doesn’t tax poker online poker winnings for recreational players.

Poker Rules in Ontario

To sign up at Canadian poker sites in Ontario, you must provide personal details, including your name, address, email, and mobile number, to confirm your account. Live poker options are available through web browser-based platforms and mobile apps (888poker Ontario Cash Games, PokerStars Ontario Poker Games, PokerStars Real Money Poker ON). You can start playing after depositing money with various options, such as prepaid cards, bank wire transfer, or e-wallets.

When you play online poker games in Ontario (ring games, tournaments, sit-and-gos, etc.), you’ll be competing against other Canadian players within the province, per the licensing and rules administered by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (iGaming Ontario). Ontario regulators could eventually legalize international traffic-sharing so poker players in the province could play against other players worldwide.

Legal poker sites remain strictly available from within the province, while welcome bonuses for first-time players and other promotions stay separate from Canadian poker sites regulated elsewhere outside Ontario.

Online Poker Tips to Consider

Before you play online poker against other players for real money, you should understand how a cash game or tournaments work. Here’s a brief overview of using a poker cheat sheet and identifying high and low hands at any Canadian poker site.

Poker Cheat Sheet

Downloadable poker cheat sheets help players to understand table positions and hand rankings. Usually, there are two to nine players at a poker table, depending on the game. The game goes clockwise around the table, starting with the dealer. The next two positions must place the small and big blinds.

A poker cheat sheet for Texas Hold’em might break down the following positions (based on when it’s your turn):

• Blinds
• Early Position
• Middle Position
• Late Position

From there, you could determine how to play any hand based on:

• No callers before you
• Callers before you
• Raisers before you

Hands may get organized into:

• Pairs
• Suited
• Unsuited

A poker cheat sheet often depicts how to play various hands in dozens of scenarios. It can improve your knowledge and skills andincrease your chances of winning at an online poker site. Of course, you’ll need to understand poker hand rankings for the cheat sheet to be useful.

Understand High & Low Poker Hands

Whether it’s Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Draw, or Stud, playing online poker revolves around high and low cards and hands. For example, the lowest card may be a two (2), and the highest card (or sometimes the lowest) might be an Ace (A).

Hand rankings for most poker games begin with a High Card and progress to Pair, Two Pair, Three of Kind, Straight, Flush, etc. From high to low, here are the hand rankings:

• Royal Flush (best hand)
• Straight Flush
• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of Kind
• Two Pair
• Pair
• High Card (lowest hand)

In hi-lo games, players split the pot (50-50) between the highest and lowest hands. In some poker games, the lowest qualifying hand wins the whole pot.

Types of Online Poker

The best Canadian poker sites might offer a cash game section with Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and other live poker variants. You’ll also find MTTs with peak weekday hours being 6 pm to 9 pm and weekends from 7 pm to 11 pm (EST). While some sites may offer mixed games, online poker sites generally revolve around No-Limit Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO), and Stud (Hi/Lo).

Here’s a look at the various online poker games available to Canadian players.

Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is a standard option for playing poker online or at land-based casinos. Players compete against each other while receiving two hole cards (facedown). There are betting rounds before and after the dealer deals the community cards via the flop (three cards), turn (fourth card), and river (fifth card).

The player with the best five-card hand wins, unless only one player remains, in which case they win automatically. Most poker tournaments and cash options at the best online poker sites are Hold’em games with various limits ranging from low-stakes to high-rollers.

No Limit Hold’em

No-limit Hold’em is by far the most popular poker game worldwide. Poker tours are available in almost every region, usually revolving around No-Limit Hold’em tournaments. No-Limit Hold’em became popular during the poker boom in the U.S. between 2003 and 2006 when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) began using pocket cams during televised broadcasts. No-limit Hold’em comprises most of the poker tournaments available to Canadian players. There is no limit to the amount a player can bet at any time.

Video Poker

Video poker is draw poker in its simplest form and is a single-player game. Numerous video poker variants, like Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and Bonus Poker, are available. Rules and payouts depend on the variant. Players choose a bet amount and click ‘Deal’ to receive five cards. Once you’ve received your cards, you can choose to hold cards and discard the cards you don’t want. Options are also available to play three, five, and ten hands simultaneously. You win if you get a high enough five-card hand.

Pai Gow Poker

Pai Gow Poker is a form of hi-low poker rarely available at our recommended Canada online poker sites. However, if you come across Pai Gow online, it’s usually a virtual table game rather than a live dealer option.

Choose a bet amount and click ‘Deal’ to receive seven cards. The goal is to create the highest possible five-card hand, along with the lowest possible two-card hand. You can automatically split your hand (if available) based on favorable rankings or manually choose the cards for your low hand of two cards.

The game requires players to beat the dealer with both low and high hands. For example, if you get a pair for your low two-card hand and beat the dealer—you must also beat the dealer with a high five-card hand to win the round for a 1:1 (even money) payout. If you win on the low hand and lose on the high hand, the round results in a push or tie, and your bet gets returned.

Omaha Poker

Omaha poker is similar to Hold’em, where players compete for the highest hand while bluffing each other, if necessary. However, the difference between Hold’em and Omaha is that players receive four hole cards instead of two. Also, Omaha players must use exactly two hole cards and three community cards to make their hand.

Also, in Omaha Hi-Lo (a variant of Omaha), players compete for the best high and qualifying low hands. Besides Hold’em, Omaha is one of the most popular options for poker tournaments and ring games at our favorite Canada poker sites.

Pot Limit

‘Pot limit’ refers to the betting limits during each round. Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is a standard game at poker sites in Canada. Instead of the option to go “all in” at any time, bets get capped at whatever’s in the pot. For example, if it’s your turn, and there’s $50 in the pot—you can’t bet more than $50. Pot-limit games offer a slower pace of action than No-Limit games and might be preferable for intermediate players with a medium-sized bankroll.

Fixed Limit Poker

Fixed-limit poker is similar to Pot-limit games. However, players get restricted to specific bet amounts. Ring games (cash) usually offer fixed limits (i.e., $0.25/$0.50, $0.50/$1.00, $1.00/$2.00, etc.). With fixed blinds, players can only bet based on the limits at the table. Fixed-limit games are the slowest options for online poker and are less popular for ring games, compared to other stakes.

Stud Poker

Stud is a card game that’s less popular than Hold’em and Omaha. PokerStars offers Stud and Razz in fixed-limit and hi-lo options. However, pot-limit and no-limit stud games are also available. In stud, players may receive faceup and facedown cards for three, five, or seven cards, depending on the variant. Virtual stud titles include 3 Card Stud, Casino Stud, and Mississippi Stud.

Live Dealer

Live dealer poker includes various options like Hold’em and Stud. Cards usually get shuffled by an automatic shuffler while a live dealer deals the hands for each round. The player then has to beat the dealer – there is no player vs player action.

How We Rate Canadian Poker Sites

Legal online poker in Canada is a relatively new market with plenty of potential for future growth. We recommend playing at reputable sites licensed and regulated by gaming enforcement agencies in areas like Gibraltar, Malta, and from within Canada. In Ontario, you should only play at sites regulated by the AGCO. Here’s a brief look at how we rate Canada poker sites.

Poker Game Selection

We review poker sites based on their unique features, from live dealers to virtual table games to well-trafficked lobbies with MTTs and cash game action. After you sign up and make a first deposit, you should get access to various games that suit your bankroll and personal preferences.

Tournament Options

Canada’s most well-known poker player, Daniel Negreanu, is an avid player of poker tournaments, earning over $50 million in his career. He’s one of the reasons online poker tournaments are widely available for online players. Canadian players can access some of the best online tournaments in the poker industry 24/7.

Variety of Payment Methods

Gambling companies should provide players with various payment methods for instant deposits and quick withdrawals. Options may include Paysafecard, online bank transfers, INSTADEBIT, Visa, and Skrill. Minimum deposits typically require C$10, while limits for withdrawals depend on the provider and chosen method. Select a payment option from the cashier window that’s most convenient for your bankroll.

Secure & Safe Play

We recommend gambling sites that are licensed and regulated for the safest user experience. Your chosen provider must protect players with SSL data encryption, multi-factor authorization, and 24/7 customer support. We also support providers who encourage members to play responsibly.

Canada Online Poker FAQs

Got a question about playing poker online in Canada? Then check out the FAQs below.