Canada has a strong history when it comes to poker. As well as offering a host of playing opportunities, both live and online, Canada has also produced a number of the biggest poker players of all time, including Daniel Negreanu, Kristen Bicknell, and Mike McDonald.
According to the Canadian constitution, it is legal for provincial lotteries to provide online casino gaming, including poker. The situation for commercial operators is less clear. Formally, there is no law allowing online poker, but the Canadian government takes a hands-off attitude to online poker. As a result, there is a range of excellent online poker sites available. Here are five of the best.
PokerStars
Set up in 2021, PokerStars is the biggest online poker site in the world and is regularly ranked as the most popular. When PokerStars was created, it was designed exclusively for poker players, making it rare at the time, and that approach has remained to the present day.
The popularity of the site means that there will always be plenty of action across all of the main poker game options, which include Texas Hold ‘em, several variations of Omaha, Badugi, Seven Card Stud, and others, so cash game players will be in their element.
There’s also plenty for tournament fans to enjoy as PokerStars offers big multi-table tournaments every day, along with Sit and Go and Spin and Go tournaments. They also run the largest weekly tournament in the world, the PokerStars Sunday Million, which has been a weekly offering for over 14 years.
GG Poker
This is one of the rising stars of the online poker world, expanding quickly since it was founded in 2017. In 2020, they reached a new milestone through partnering with the WSOP for both the Online Bracelet and Online Super Circuit series.
GG Poker is perhaps best known for being the first poker site to offer the chance for non-US-based players to win a bracelet by playing online through the WSOP Online at GG. Even when the GG site is not offering major series events, there are always plenty of big tournaments with hefty guarantees.
Cash players will also be able to enjoy a variety of online casino games, including single table Spin and Gold options. There offer buy-ins ranging from $1 to $50 and which can lead to a chance to land the big jackpot prize of up to $600,000, along with bonus cash offers for completing various challenges.
888poker
Founded in 2002, 888poker generally has lower traffic than the other sites here, but it makes up for that with creative bonus deals and events, while also focusing on smaller bankroll players.
While series such as the 888 Millions Superstorm give players a chance to compete for big prizes, there are regular major tournaments that accommodate smaller stakes players, with big, guaranteed prizes and qualifiers that you can enter for pennies.
The range of games available is not the biggest, with most of the action taking place in the Texas Hold’em niche, although you can also find Omaha and Seven Card Stud tables.
partypoker
One of the biggest sites in the world, dating back to 2001, partypoker has a deal with the World Poker Tour, which means there are plenty of top live and online tournaments. The site draws many big-name pro poker players and works hard to be accessible to recreational players, and they have developed a strong mobile platform, which rates as one of the world’s best.
The site is perhaps best known for its well supported partypoker Millions live tournaments, which feature big events held at international locations, but there is plenty for smaller stakes players to enjoy, including plenty of daily events and weekend majors, along with their popular Spins tournaments: quick-play events for three players.
Unibet
Unibet Poker offers a great deal for Canadian players. The site is among the top 20 in the world in terms of traffic, and Unibet players can enjoy the security of playing with one of the world’s biggest gambling brands, as the long-established Kindred Group owns the site.
Perhaps more than any other site serving the Canadian market, Unibet focuses on appealing to recreational players rather than professionals. They enable you to change your username regularly and take active steps to ban poker tracking technology.
Unibet employ their own software and offer a range of Texas Hold ‘em and Omaha cash and tournament options, including the Unibet Open. Unibet is also well known for the quality of their bonuses, both for new players and for regular visitors.
