Canada has the second-largest number of legal poker rooms in the world after the United States. There are legal rooms in nearly every one of the 10 Canadian provinces, from out west in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the eastern provinces of Nova Scotia, Quebec and New Brunswick. Even the Yukon Territory has a room up north in Dawson City – the northernmost poker room in the world!
I live in Boston, Massachusetts, a long way away from the western provinces of Canada like Alberta, whose poker scene I’ve written about here before on Cardplayer Lifestyle. It’s tough for me to get out to that region on a regular basis. Fortunately for me, there are a lot of poker rooms nearby in New England.
If I’m looking for an international adventure that I can drive to, I am also fortunate to be able to find poker in the Eastern Canadian provinces that surround New England, specifically, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. This is my comprehensive presentation of all of the poker rooms in those places, the vast majority of which I have had the good fortune to have played in. We’ll start our tour of Eastern Canada poker rooms with the ones in the Maritime Provinces and then close with those in Quebec and Ontario.
The Maritimes, as they’re known, include the four most eastern of Canada’s provinces, specifically: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (PEI), and Newfoundland and Labrador. There are poker rooms in all of them, though the one in PEI is “temporarily closed”. Below, I go through each of these provinces, and provide you with a report of the latest status of all of their poker rooms.
Poker in New Brunswick
Fredericton
Fredericton is the capital city of New Brunswick, on the eastern border of Maine. It is a lovely, small, walkable, historic city, on the banks of the Saint John River. It has a poker room on Sitansisk First Nation land, at St. Mary’s Entertainment Center, in what is officially classified as a Bingo Hall.
St. Mary’s Entertainment Center
Address: 185 Gabriel Drive, Fredricton
Phone: 506-462-9300
Website: https://www.stmec.com/
This is a casino of sorts, open seven days a week, 10AM until 2:30 AM. They have a large BINGO hall (they admit 16-year-olds!), many slot machines, and electronic roulette. They also have a 3-table poker room up on the second floor, where you must be 19 years old to play.
The poker room is only open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. If you want to play, it’s best to get your name on the list in advance. You can do this by calling in at 5PM. Cards are dealt at 6PM. They spread $1/3 no limit Texas hold’em, with a $50 minimum and $300 maximum starting stack. They rake 10% up to $7. I visited the room, sat on the very basic banquet chairs, and saw the nicely kept but plain poker tables. From what I’ve been told, the game is a relaxed affair consisting only of local players. Very few outsiders ever make it to this room, though an occasional visitor from eastern Maine pops in now and again.
Moncton
Moncton is the largest city in New Brunswick, and at the geographic center of the Maritime Provinces. It is sometimes known as Hub City because of this and its past as a major crossroads for railway travel. It is home to the famous Bay of Fundy and its Fundy Tidal Bore. It has one poker room.
Casino New Brunswick
Address: 21 Casino Drive, Moncton
Phone: 506-861-4632
Website: https://greatcanadian.com/destinations/newbrunswick/moncton/
I played in this 6-table poker room on a Saturday night. The game was a dour 9-handed affair, with short stacks, tight passive play, and somber, bordering on angry faces. The poor lighting did not help the vibe of the game. My attempts to lighten the mood were greeted with impatience and hostility, alas.
Like the other poker room in New Brunswick, it is the only game in town, and open only on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, starting at 6PM, and ending at 2AM Thursday and Friday and 3AM on Saturdays (or when the last game breaks). It’s located in their lighthouse. They offer $1/3 no limit (and rarely $5/5) with a $10% $7 max rake, plus a $1 promotional drop.
Poker in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is an island located off the shore to the southeast of New Brunswick. Cruise ships travel there from Boston and New York. Halifax is its largest and capital city. Nova Scotia is known for its rolling hills, great hiking trails, beautiful seaports and coastal towns, and terrain that resembles Ireland. There are two casinos on the island, one in Sydney that doesn’t have poker; and one in Halifax that has a nice room.
Halifax
Casino Nova Scotia
Address: 1983 Upper Water St., Halifax, NS
Phone: 902-496-6166
Website: https://greatcanadian.com/destinations/nova-scotia/halifax-sydney/
The poker room is open from Wednesday to Saturday 4PM to 2AM. I played in the room on two occasions, on Wednesday and Thursday late afternoon. I enjoyed both experiences. The staff were friendly, helpful, accurate, and experienced. The players were warm and welcoming, if a little better and more aggressive than their counterparts in Moncton. They told me the best place to get Halifax’s famous donair sandwich. I’d gladly come here again.
Poker on Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (often referred to by its initials PEI) is a beautiful island province of Canada located northeast of New Brunswick, across the Northumberland Strait, and accessible since 1997 by road via the Confederation Bridge (prior to that you could only arrive by air or ferry). PEI is famous for Anne of Green Gables, mussels, great country music, and warm water beaches.
There are two gambling facilities in PEI, both harness racing tracks. There are casinos at each of the sites, both owned by Red Shores Casino. The larger of the two is Red Shores Racetrack and Casino in Charlottetown. The second is in Summerside.
Both casinos had poker before the pandemic. But neither has poker today. Poker is listed at the Charlottetown casino on Poker Atlas as “temporarily closed”. Be warned that some of the casino staff will tell you that they have poker, as they offer the casino advantage game of Ultimate Texas Hold’em. But this is not really the poker we all know and love. It is a table game like blackjack or Let It Ride.
I spoke with the director of gaming for the two facilities, Frank Downing. He informed me that though there are no immediate plans to bring back live poker, it is still being discussed as a possibility. We’ll see.
Poker in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province in Canada – the closest point in North America to Europe. Labrador is in the north, abutting Quebec to the west. It is only accessible by car on a gravel road that snakes up from Baie Comeau on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Newfoundland is an island, only accessible by plane or ferry. Challenging and harrowing though the trips were, I visited both Newfoundland and Labrador and found them starkly beautiful – and well worth the challenge of getting there.
Good news! While Newfoundland and Labrador has no public poker venues, such as casinos or racetracks with poker games, there are poker games scattered around St. John’s, Newfoundland, the largest and most eastern city on the island. (Sadly, I found no games in Labrador City.) The best and most likely place for a game in St. John’s that a visitor could enter is a well-known and publicly listed private game at Topsail Road Billiards in St. John’s. They have regular tournaments and cash games, as well as online games. They have a Facebook Page, which is the best way to see the schedule of their activities.
St. Johns, NF
Topsail Road Billiards
Address: 681 Topsail Rd, St. John’s, NL A1E 6H9, Canada
Phone: 709-745-8885
This is a public billiard parlor that also has regular poker tournaments. Cash games typically start as the tournament winds down and players bust out. The aforementioned Facebook page lists the tournament schedule and publishes videos describing the latest tournament action.
Poker in Quebec
Quebec is the second-largest province in Canada by population and includes the large cities of Montreal and Quebec City. It is also the province where French is most commonly spoken. It borders Ontario on its west and Newfoundland and Labrador as well as New Brunswick on its east. It is the closest province to Boston, with some areas only four hours to the north. There are currently six poker rooms in Quebec.
Gatineau
Gatineau, formerly known as Hull, is a suburb of Ottawa, located across the Ottawa River in Quebec. They have one casino. It has a poker room.
Casino du Lac-Leamy
Address: 1 Boulevard du Casino, Gatineau
Phone: 819-772-2100
Website: https://casinos.lotoquebec.com/fr/lacleamy/accueil
This glistening casino is beautiful to behold from the outside, with glimmering glass and steel forming an ultra-modern appearance. The 9-table poker room, though very neat and nicely appointed with well-kept tables and comfortable chairs, is dark, with shadows stemming from high intensity lighting overhead. When I played there on a Saturday morning and early afternoon, the players were all local, friendly, tight and timid. When I played there again on a Saturday evening, the players were all local, friendly, tight and timid. The staff were helpful, friendly, and low key.
Game begins at 9:30 AM. Sign up begins at 8:30 AM. If you want a seat, I recommend that you call or stop in and sign up an hour before the start of the game. I arrived at 8:45 and was the last person to lock up a seat. No seats opened, and no second table was opened for the two hours I played. Had I not signed up, I would have been out of luck.
The $1/2 no limit hold’em that they spread here takes a 10% rake up to $8 max, with a $2 promo drop at $30.
Quebec City
Quebec City is a beautiful, historic, walkable city located roughly 3 hours east of Montreal. It is known for having a more European feel than its more modern and metropolitan big brother to the west. Though there are many private games, that an intrepid tourist might enter, there is only one, public poker room, at the Salon Jeux, which accepts players aged 18 and over. It is brand new, having opened in April 2025. I played there during their second week of operation.
Salon Jeux
Address: 847 Rue Clemenceau, Quebec City
Phone: 877-700-5836
Website: https://salonsdejeux.lotoquebec.com/fr/quebec/accueil
I played here for a few hours on a Saturday night. This is a beautiful, well lit, spanking new room with extremely comfortable, fully adjustable chairs, beautiful full-sized oval poker tables with chargers, excellent high intensity overhead lighting, with soft ambient lighting, and extremely new (as in two weeks of experience in many cases) dealers. The dealers are working under the careful eye of floor staff who themselves are extremely experienced, patient, and helpful. I watched a new dealer, facing a five-person all-in hand with four side pots, get excellent guidance from a floor person. I also played against the least skilled poker player I have ever witnessed in a public room. My advice: get here while the getting is good!
The games play 9-handed and the house takes a 10% rake up to $8, plus $2 at $20 for promotions. There’s also currently a bad beat promotion running: quads beaten, all four cards must play. Typical buy-ins are $50-$250 and while there are no comps given, there is a free beverage dispenser offering soda, coffee, and water.
Trois-Rivieres (Three Rivers)
This small city is roughly halfway between Montreal to the west and Quebec City to the east. It has one, brand new, poker room that opened in April 2025.
Salon Jeux Trois-Rivieres
Address: 1900 Boulevard des Forges, Trois-Rivieres, QC
Phone: 877-700-5836
Website: https://salonsdejeux.lotoquebec.com/fr/trois-rivieres/jeux/poker
I played here on a Saturday night. It’s owned by the same people who own the aforementioned room in Quebec City, where I had played earlier in the day. It is a beautiful small room upstairs, separated from the rest of the casino by a glass partition. It has a huge window to the outside world, providing beautiful scenery and, until late at night, excellent ambient light.
The dealers were not casino employees, but subcontracted help from an agency. The four I met dealt as if they were dealing in the movie Casino Royale – extremely slow and following some arcane procedure of demonstrating the winning hand by literally pulling out three cards from the board to combine with each player’s hole cards. It made the hands last an extra 15-20 seconds. As they were not full-time employees, they also made frequent mistakes when they slowly demonstrated the winning hand. They were not defensive about their errors – only a bit clueless about what the combination of winning cards should be.
There were three players, including me, who knew basic poker strategy. The other five were truly clueless – guessing whether they should call or fold, rarely initiating a bet or raising. It was an ideal place for a good player to enjoy himself and make a little money. But I can’t imagine games will continue like this for very long – as the new and awful players will either catch on or switch to a less taxing form of gambling.
Here, too, the games played 9-handed with the house taking a 10% rake up to $8, plus $2 at $20 for promotions. They feature the same bad beat promotion: quads beaten, all four cards must play. Typical buy-ins are $50-$250 and while there are no comps given, there is a free beverage dispenser offering soda, coffee, and water, as well as free popcorn!
Montreal
Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec and its capital. There are two poker rooms here, Casino du Montreal on the Ile de Notre Dame in the St. Lawrence River, and Playground to the south of the St. Lawrence River, on Kahnawake Mohawk tribal land.
Playground Poker Room
Address: 1500 Unit C Route 138, Kahnawake, QC
Phone: (450) 635-7653
Website: https://www.playground.ca/poker
Playground Poker is surely the premier poker room in Canada. There are 44 tables, often all in use. Action is legendary and enormous. Games run 24/7, with $1/2, $1/3, and $2/5 NLHE games always in action, as well as $2/2 PLO. As the day heats up and players stream in after work, bigger games abound, including $5/5 and $10/25 NLH and $2/5, $5/5 and $10/25 PLO. The room also regularly hosts major tournaments like WPT festivals as well as their own daily and weekly events.
READ MORE: Playground Poker’s Not-So-Secret Recipe for Success
The splendor of the room is not without its cost. The house rakes 10% up to $11 on the smaller games and $14 on the bigger ones. They also take out an additional $2 that goes for the high hand jackpot. But, significantly, unlike every other room in Canada, players get FREE food and drink, including alcoholic drink! There is an extensive menu – with a bigger and better one for the games $2/5 and up. While the miser in me calculates that even a confirmed trencherman couldn’t eat enough food to justify the high rake, when you recognize that some other Canadian rooms rake even more and offer no free food or drink, Playground Poker looks all the more appealing.
I’ve played in this room a few times, always on the weekend, from early in the morning until early in the morning. I found the players in the $1/2, $1/3, and $2/5 games to be a mix of very casual to very serious players. Be warned that there are some players who seem to make a full-time living in these games. Game selection is key in this place. Fortunately, they have the sufficient number of tables to make it possible.
Casino du Montreal
Address: 1 Avenue Du Casino, Montreal
Phone: 514-392-2761
Website: https://casinos.lotoquebec.com/fr/montreal/accueil
This room is on the Ile de Notre Dame (Notre Dame Island), in the northeastern part of Montreal. It’s a full service casino with a poker room up on the second floor. The room is somewhat dark and not particularly inviting. I’ve played here a couple of times and found the games somewhat dour, populated chiefly by short-stacked, timid, passive players. They offer $1/2 and $1/3 no limit hold’em. When I asked them if they ever spread PLO they asked me what that was. The room seems to be run by non-poker players.
The room opens at 10:30 AM. Players may call in up to 90 minutes in advance to be placed on a seating list. They offer a bad beat jackpot that, at the time of this column’s writing, was over $1 million. They also offer high hand promotions.
Wolinak
Grand Royal Wolinak Casino
Address: 10275 Chemin LeBlanc, Wolinak, Quebec
Phone: 873-220-0218
Website: https://grandroyalwolinak.com/casino/poker-en.php
I drove up to this casino in Wolinak, Quebec, Canada. It’s about a six-hour drive from Boston if you don’t stop. It’s about halfway between Quebec City and Montreal, on the Becancour River, near the St. Lawrence Seaway. Wolinak is on Abenaki First Nation Land. There’s a tribal building a 2-minute walk from the casino. I walked around it. It’s near a waterway that leads into the St. Lawrence. Very scenic if you like rivers, fields, and some trees.
The casino is quite small by North American standards. A few hundred slot machines, some electronic roulette, a handful of blackjack tables, a couple of restaurants, a gift shop in the lobby, and five or six poker tables. They have tournaments on Wednesday-Sunday, but I opted to sit in the cash game.
The rake is $8 plus $2 for the bad beat/high hand promotion. The buy-in was $60-$300, and many players bought in for $100 or less, though there were a few players in for the maximum. The skill level was pretty minimal and the players were very timid and passive.
Poker in Ontario
Ontario stretches from central Minnesota in the west to the very eastern end of New York – nearly to Vermont in the east. Its largest city is Toronto, home to a few poker rooms. The major tourist attraction, Niagara Falls, lies about two hours to the southwest of Toronto on the border with New York, USA. It has six poker rooms.
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls, home to one of nature’s natural wonders, and so grand that it is a huge attraction in both the United States and Canada, is also home to three casinos – two on the Canadian side of the border and one on the US side. The only one with poker is Casino Niagara, in Canada.
Casino Niagara
Address: 5705 Falls Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON
Phone: 888-325-5788
Website: https://casinoniagara.com/playing/poker.html
Casino Niagara is 90 minutes around the horn southwest of Toronto. The company that owns it also owns Fallsview Casino – which used to be a hotbed of poker, but has discontinued it.
Casino Niagara is a busy and active room. Unique to rooms I have visited in Canada, there is no rake in any of their games. Instead, they have a time charge: a $7/half time charge for $1/3. $8 for $2/5, and $9 for $5/10. They do not typically spread PLO and they never spread stud or mixed games of any kind.
There is plenty of action in this room. They have 18 tables and are said to fill them up on busy Saturday nights. I played at two different tables. It was early on a Saturday afternoon, but I could already see evidence of some wild aggressive play from some of the players. I’d like to come back when players were drinking and even less restrained. I recommend it highly.
Parking is very expensive: $40, but it’s free if you have a player’s card. So get a player’s card; they’re free! Just give them your license or passport.
Greater Toronto
Toronto is the largest city in Canada. It is a center for commerce, manufacturing, and trade. There are many suburbs. There are four active rooms in the Greater Toronto area (including Casino Rama up north in Cumberland Beach). There is another room of sorts that is only open for a special summer event.
Brantford
Elements Brantford
Address: 40 Icomm Drive, Brantford, ON
Phone: 519-757-3306
Website: https://greatcanadian.com/destinations/ontario/elements/poker/
This casino is about 45 minutes southwest of Toronto in the suburb of Brantford. It’s a local’s room – a lot of retirees and marginally employed short-stacked and passive players playing $1/3 no limit hold’em. I watched good solid dealers who knew nearly all the players. The floor staff and managers really work the room well to make sure that players are all supplied with chips and seats quickly. The room is open 10am –4am, and they notably have a $10/20 limit game with a smaller rake and a more aggressive clientele. I played here in the $1/3 game for a couple of hours and had a marginally profitable session. There’s a rake of 10% up to a $15 for the no limit game, $10 max for the limit game.
Cumberland Beach
Casino Rama
Address: 5899 Rama Road, Cumberland Beach, ON
Phone: 705-329-5804
Website: https://www.casinorama.com/table-games/
Casino Rama is the furthest away from downtown, about an hour and a half due north of Toronto, on the northern shore of Lake Simcoe, in Orilla. It now houses just 6 tables, but they have a regular $1/3 game that sometimes goes through the night, especially on weekends. They start their first game at 10:00 AM. You should call their number to make sure there is a game going and lock up a seat. Their rake is 10% up to a maximum of $15 a pot.
Pickering
Pickering Casino Resort
Address: 888 Durham Live Avenue, Pickering, ON
Phone: 289-539-0552
Website: https://greatcanadian.com/destinations/ontario/pickering/
Pickering is a Grand Canadian room about 30 minutes east of downtown Toronto. The games run 24/7. You’ll typically find at least a few tables of $1/3 and often a $2/5 game as well. It has the same rake structure as its sibling room at Woodbine (see below) – 10% with a maximum of $20, plus a $1 promotional drop. That’s tough juice to beat. Fortunately, the players late on a Tuesday night, when I played, seemed incapable of folding!
The room is part of a full-service casino resort, so you can stay here in their hotel if you’d like. Unofficially, I was told that I’d get a “good rate” if I stayed. The poker room is tucked away up on the third floor, in a very spacious room, and there are twice weekly tournaments.
Toronto
Great Canadian Toronto
Address: 1133 Queens Plate Dr., Toronto
Phone: 416-676-1101
Website: https://greatcanadian.com/destinations/ontario/toronto/poker/
This casino is at Woodbine Raceway. It has, by far, the largest and busiest poker room in the Toronto area, with 30 tables that are often all in action. It is about 15 minutes due north of downtown Toronto (though heavy traffic can make the 7-mile trek take over an hour). It’s located in a huge complex of racetrack, casino, shopping, Racing Hall of Fame, and parking. The large and spacious poker room is up on the second floor. Just keep asking people to point you in the right direction.
I played there on a Saturday night and they had $1/3, $2/5, and $5/10 NLHE and $2/5 PLO. During my three-hour session there were no really strong players that I observed, but I’m sure there are at least a few players who try to make their living in the $2/5 and $5/10 games in this room. The rake is heavy, at 10% up to a maximum of $20. Even so, the room remains very popular, as the games run continuously.
Poker in Canada: Summary
Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, and all of the Maritimes are surely extraordinary places to visit. In addition to the typical tourist things to do there, there is also a lot of poker. The Playground in the south of Montreal, with its free food and drink, is by far the best room for poker in Canada, in my opinion. For the time being, the games in eastern Quebec are so new to the players that you might be able to make some money until the clueless lose their money or figure out the game.
The Greater Toronto area, including Niagara Falls, has a few rooms, too. Casino Niagara, on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, would be the place to play, in my opinion, with its seat charge instead of a rake. The $15-$20 rakes in the other rooms make the games largely unbeatable in the long run, unless you play $5/10 or higher. Even so, the huge action I witnessed might make the games fun for many, even if they didn’t prove to be remunerative in the long-run.
