Best Online Poker Sites in Canada

Take a look at some of the best online poker sites around! They’re available to Canadian poker players and offer great games like Texas Hold ‘em. Compare these poker sites in Canada to find the right option for playing poker online.

More than 3 million Canadians play poker at least once a month. If you’re one of them, the poker sites showcased here will allow you to play your favourite casino games even more than you already do.

From Texas Hold ‘em to Omaha to HORSE, you can play a variety of online poker games at the best Canadian poker sites. Are you ready to “shuffle up and deal” as the serious online poker players out there say? Read through our detailed online poker guide to learn more about the poker sites in Canada worth your time and money.

The best poker sites for those interested in playing online poker in Canada offer more than just great poker games. These online poker websites can also provide you with lots of payment options and a streamlined gameplay experience to ensure you have a wonderful time as you play poker online.

Here are several of the best online poker sites for both casual and hardcore Canadian poker players alike.

Want to know even more about the top poker sites in Canada? We’ve broken down the best online poker sites even further to give you an idea of what it’ll be like to play poker online at each one. We’ve also included pros and cons lists for each real money poker site. Discover what you can expect from these six poker sites below.

888poker

If you’re interested in playing online poker in Ontario, in particular, 888poker will be one of the best options of the bunch. This online poker site was one of the first websites to be licensed and regulated by iGaming Ontario and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario in 2022. At the same time, 888poker has also been around since 1997, which has allowed it to establish an excellent reputation among Canadian poker players.

JackpotCity

Not everyone wants to play online poker at one of the poker sites available to Canadians by sitting down at a packed poker table with other players, and that’s OK! While JackpotCity has some live dealer poker games like Texas Hold ‘em and Three-Card Draw, it mostly sticks to offering Video Poker. It’s one of the best online poker sites for Video Poker players, as it offers variations like All Aces, Bonus Deuces Wild, Jokers Wild, and more.

Bodog

Maintaining a competitive advantage over your fellow poker players won’t always be easy at poker sites that don’t provide anonymous tables. But you’ll be treated to anonymous tables at Bodog, which might help prevent other players from exposing your poker weaknesses. Bodog has a cool Zone Poker feature that will enable you to automatically move to a new poker table every time you fold to get in more poker hands per hour.

PlayOJO

Of all the poker sites on this list of the best online poker options, PlayOJO has the fewest poker games available. Although it has more than 3,000 casino games overall, many are online slots as opposed to poker-related games. PlayOJO does have an awesome selection of Video Poker variations, though, including options like Pai Gow Poker that you won’t find at many other Canadian poker sites that offer the opportunity for you to play online poker for real money.

Spin Casino

This online poker real money site is a sister site to JackpotCity, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to hear that it provides terrific online poker options. It emphasizes Video Poker variations and has more of them than most other poker sites. Jacks or Better, Double Bonus Poker, and Deuces Wild are just a few of these variations. If, however, you would prefer playing online poker with a live dealer, that will also be an option as Spin Casino provides live games like Texas Hold ‘em and High-Speed Poker.

PokerStars

Even though PokerStars has grown over time to include more than just online poker in Canada, it hasn’t forgotten where it came from. It still delivers one of the best online poker experiences in the world, which is why it continues to earn rave reviews as one of the best poker sites around. PokerStars is a great place to start when playing online poker for the first time since it has an easy-to-use interface and a giant collection of poker games for beginners.

With so many poker sites available to those in Canada these days, it isn’t easy narrowing them down to just the six best online poker sites in the country. To do it, we considered several important factors. See which factors we used to pick the best poker sites in Canada.

Game selection: Some online poker sites offer every poker game under the sun, while others only provide a few basic Video Poker options. We evaluated the online poker games that different Canadian online poker websites offer and named the ones with the most options the best poker sites around.

Interface: Even if a site offering online poker in Canada has a million and one game options, a bad interface can ruin them all. We analyzed online poker sites’ interfaces to see which ones were easiest to use. We ruled out any that don’t maintain strong connections or that make it difficult for poker players to take action when the time comes.

Payment methods: The good news for Canadian online poker players is that most poker sites provide a long list of payment methods that you can use. However, some online poker sites have more online casino payment methods than others. We give priority to any Canadian poker sites that clearly go above and beyond when it comes to helping you deposit and withdraw money in a variety of ways.

Customer service: When you encounter issues while playing poker online, we want you to be able to get the assistance you need to clear up problems. It’s why we focus only on poker sites that extend world-class customer service. The top online poker sites in Canada are often the ones with the best customer service departments supporting players.

Special features: Certain poker sites go the extra mile for you by providing special features within their online poker interfaces. Bodog, for example, has its Zone Poker feature that allows you to hop from poker table to poker table as you fold hands to eliminate downtime. It’s a fun feature that sets it apart from other poker sites.

History: We don’t automatically give one poker site an edge over all the other poker sites simply because it has been around for 5, 10, 15, 20, or 25 years. We do, however, respect the fact that many poker sites that have been around for a long time are probably doing something right, and we aim to find out what it is. They’re often some of the best online poker sites for Canadian players and have been for years.

Security: When you deposit your hard-earned money into your account at one of the poker sites we recommend, we want you to be able to trust it 100%. You’ll have more fun playing online poker in Canada when you have a poker site like this on your side. It’s one more factor we always consider when evaluating poker sites and online casinos in general.

Poker Sites to Avoid

Most poker sites in Canada make every effort to provide players with amazing experiences. But unfortunately, some poker sites don’t take players into account as much as they should like the best poker sites do. Here are things that will let you know to avoid certain Canadian poker sites.

Few poker games: If a Canadian poker site only has a couple of poker games, it’s not much of a poker site, is it? Look elsewhere for better poker sites.

Confusing interfaces: If you struggle to work your way around poker sites, you might not be able to find the best online poker games to play.

Poor customer service: You deserve to be treated with respect and to get answers to your pressing questions from the customer service departments at poker sites.

Lack of payment methods: Canadian poker sites that don’t provide many payment methods can make depositing money into your account and withdrawing it later a huge hassle.

Sketchy security measures: Your money might not be in good hands if you select poker sites in Canada that don’t take safety and security seriously enough.

With more Canadians playing online at the best poker sites than ever before, the question, “Is poker legal in Canada?” has come up early and often in recent years. You’ll be happy to hear that the answer is “yes.”

That said, Ontario is currently the only Canadian territory with a regulated iGaming market. The best poker sites in Ontario have gone through the proper licensing process to become regulated. However, the rest of Canada is considered a grey market, which means that there aren’t any laws forbidding online poker players from taking part in cash games and tournaments.

If you live outside Ontario, just make sure you do your homework on poker sites before signing up for one. Read through casino reviews like this one to see which websites are truly the best online poker sites so that you don’t get stuck playing with a shady site that might not provide you with fair poker games and quick payouts.

Where Canadian Provinces and Territories Stand on Playing Online Poker

Canadians who live in all ten provinces and the three territories in the country play poker. But each of these provinces has a slightly different stance on online poker and poker sites. See how your particular province feels about allowing online poker in Canada.

Alberta: It doesn’t have any laws against playing online poker at poker sites like the ones we’ve discussed here. It also offers almost 20 live poker rooms for in-person poker play.

British Columbia: It allows people to play online poker at their preferred offshore poker sites. It also has several live poker venues where people can play against others in person.

Manitoba: It has a slightly lower legal gambling age than many other Canadian provinces and territories (18 years old rather than 19). It also enables people to play online poker through offshore poker sites.

New Brunswick: It has two brick-and-mortar real money casinos that provide in-person poker cash games and tournaments. It also permits people to patronize online poker sites.

Newfoundland and Labrador: It imposes a $500 limit on poker games played in person at local bingo halls and other establishments. However, it also lets people play online at poker sites without this same restriction.

Northwest Territories: It doesn’t offer many in-person poker games outside of home games. But it more than makes up for this by providing people with the chance to play online poker for real money.

Nova Scotia: It has a healthy in-person poker scene thanks to the land-based casino that offers poker rooms. It also gives people the opportunity to sign up for poker sites online if they would like.

Nunavut: It has a low population, which helps explain why there aren’t any land-based casinos in this huge territory. You’ll need to sign up for one of our recommended poker sites to sit down at a live poker table.

Ontario: It has quickly become a great place to play poker because of its regulated iGaming market and all the poker sites that are now a part of it. It also has several brick-and-mortar casinos with thriving poker rooms.

Prince Edward Island: It has lots of in-person poker cash games and tournaments at its land-based casinos. It also isn’t opposed to letting residents play online poker at Canadian poker sites.

Quebec: It has plenty of live poker rooms in Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City. You can also sign up for accounts with offshore poker sites in Canada and play poker at them here.

Saskatchewan: It has ten poker rooms scattered throughout it that offer a wide range of different poker tournaments. You can also enter tournaments and play poker online when you’re here through the best online poker sites offered by offshore companies.

Yukon: It doesn’t have any land-based casinos that provide poker rooms to people, but it does have low-stakes poker games happening at bars and nightclubs all the time. For higher-stakes games, you’ll need to play poker online at one of the top poker sites.

The poker sites available to Canadians are often competing for the attention of poker players. One way they try to separate themselves from their competition is by offering online poker and casino bonuses. Scroll through several of the best bonuses that’ll have you feeling like you’re playing free online poker below.

• Bodog: This is one of the best poker sites in Canada in large part because of the 100% welcome bonus worth up to $1,000 that it provides to new players.
• JackpotCity: Some Canadian poker sites spread out their welcome bonuses over the first few deposits you make. JackpotCity, for instance, provides four 100% match bonuses worth up to $400 each to new players.
• PlayOJO: Certain poker sites open to those in Canada will set you up with bonuses and then make you jump through so many hoops to convert them to cash. This is one of the only poker sites in Canada that has bonuses that don’t come with wagering restrictions attached to them.
• Spin Casino: Similar to its sister site JackpotCity, this site for playing online poker in Canada won’t give you just one welcome bonus. It’ll provide an initial 100% match bonus worth up to $400 and then two subsequent 100% match bonuses worth up to $300 each.

Many top online poker sites in Canada have mobile sites as well as apps you can use. A poker mobile site will open up on your smartphone’s web browser, while a poker app will have its own dedicated app created by the company that introduced it.

In 2024, most poker sites have revamped their mobile sites to deliver better online poker experiences than they used to. But these same poker sites have also set up casino apps that can enhance this experience and take it to the next level. This comparison table breaks down the differences between using a poker mobile site vs. a poker app.

Poker has been around for centuries now, and since it first emerged back in the 1800s, it has evolved quite a bit. So many new poker variations have been introduced both in North America and other parts of the world.

If you want to transform yourself into a serious poker player and enjoy success on poker sites, focus on mastering one or two of the top poker variations. Here are several types of online poker games you should consider playing.

Texas Hold ‘em: This has turned into the most popular poker game over the last 25 years or so. During a Texas Hold ‘em game, you’ll receive two hole cards that you can pair with any three cards from the five community cards provided to create the strongest hand possible.

Five-Card Draw: During a game of five-card draw, you’ll have five cards dealt to you, and you’ll get the option to exchange as many of these cards as you want during a draw phase. The goal is to put together a strong hand by choosing the right cards to replace.

Omaha High/Low: Known to be one of the more confusing poker variations, it sees you getting four hole cards and five community cards. You’ll need to use two hole cards and three community cards to create a five-card high hand and two hole cards and three community cards to create a five-card low hand.

Seven-Card Stud: Once upon a time, this poker variation was more popular than Texas Hold ‘em. When playing seven-card stud, you’ll have two cards dealt face down, four cards dealt face up, and one more card dealt face down. From there, you’ll work to create the best five-card hand you can.

Razz: Razz is pretty much identical to seven-card stud except that your mission will be to create the lowest five-card hand you can as opposed to the highest five-card hand.

HORSE: This isn’t a poker variation. Instead, it’s a game that involves playing different poker variations from one hand to the next. It keeps poker players on the edges of their seats when playing on poker sites.

Before signing up for accounts with any of the poker sites available in Canada, check to see which software providers set them up with poker software. The best online poker sites for real money are, not coincidentally, the poker sites that have close working relationships with incredible poker software providers.

Here are a handful of the software providers you can count on to deliver superior online poker experiences:

• BR Softech
• Hyperlink Infosystem
• GammAStack
• Artoon Solutions
• DigiEnt Technologies
• Capermint Technologies
• AIS Technolabs
• NuxGame
• Aaryavart Technologies
• Mobzway Technologies

Don’t be afraid to research these software providers as much as you research the poker sites you’re thinking about joining.

You’ll likely play cash games on poker sites for the most part. But there will also be poker tournaments and events you can get involved in. They’ll call for you to put up a certain amount of money at the beginning and then see how long you can last before going broke at the table. The longer you’re able to stick around, the more money you might be able to win.

All of the best online poker sites that we’ve discussed here have their own poker tournaments and events. 888poker, for example, has special tournaments like “The Classic,” “The Mayhem,” and “The Big Shot,” while PokerStars has special Sunday tournaments like the “Sunday Warm-Up” and the “Sunday High Roller.”

Entering these tournaments is a good way to fine-tune your poker skills against fresh sets of opponents while also giving yourself a chance to win bigger jackpots than usual.

Are you nervous about playing online poker for real money at one of the poker sites listed here for the first time? Don’t be! It isn’t as intimidating as it might look in some movies, especially when you’re playing poker online versus playing it in person.

The key is learning how to play online poker for real money in advance. This guide should provide you with the insight you need to make your first foray into playing poker at the leading poker sites a success.

1. Choosing a Poker Game: First things first: Picking the right poker game is important when you want to win on poker sites. Whether you like playing Texas Hold ‘em, seven-card stud, or even HORSE, begin by selecting the game you want to play before doing anything else.
2. Placing a Bet: No matter which type of poker you decide to play, you’ll also kick things off by placing a bet. Some poker games call for all players to “ante up” and place the same initial, while others, such as Texas Hold ‘em, have just two players place “blind” bets to get things going. Know how to bet while playing your favourite form of online poker.
3. Dealing the Cards: Some online poker games will have you collecting just two cards during the initial deal, while others will call for you to collect five or even seven cards. Whatever the case, you should look over your cards once they’re dealt to you before deciding whether to stay in a hand or fold.
4. Finalizing Hands and Betting: After the initial deal, most types of poker will allow you to exchange some of the cards you were dealt, while others will provide you with community cards that you can use with the cards you received. Either way, you can decide how long to stay in a poker hand. You can also place bets that other players can either match or raise if they choose to stay in a hand with you.
5. Determining the Winner: At the end of a poker hand, you and any other players still left in it must reveal your hands to show how strong they are. The poker player with the best hand will take the pot filled with everyone’s bets before moving on to the next hand.

If you want to try to win money while playing poker, signing up for a real money poker site is the right move to make. Otherwise, a free online poker site might be the better option. Look at the differences between real money poker vs. free poker.

Many new poker players will give free online poker a try so that they can get their feet wet before jumping to real money poker tables. Others prefer to begin playing for real money right away to establish good poker-playing habits from the beginning. Only you can decide which direction to go in.

The best poker sites in Canada don’t just deliver adrenaline-pumping poker experiences. They also make it easy for newcomers to sign up to get their initial poker experiences off to a strong start.

Follow these steps to sign up for most online poker sites:

1. Choose the right poker site and download the poker app for it.
2. Click the “Register” button on a poker site’s app.
3. Pick out a user name and password for a poker site.
4. Provide a poker site with your personal and banking information.
5. Make your first deposit on a poker site and start playing poker right away!

If you get confused while signing up for poker sites, don’t be shy about contacting their customer service departments. Customer support specialists should be able to walk you through the specific steps that poker sites use to sign up new players.

Before you can play a single hand of poker at a real money online poker site, you’ll need to deposit money into your new account. Fortunately, it should be very easy to do this as long as you use one of the most popular online poker payment methods.

Browse through several of the payment options that you can use at the top poker sites throughout Canada:

Credit card: Depositing money into poker sites will be just about as simple as it gets with a credit card. Just be sure your credit card company allows you to use your card on poker sites before trying this method.

Bank transfer: If you’d prefer to deposit money into your account on a Canada online poker site versus using credit, a bank transfer will give you the chance to do it. It can take a little extra time to make withdrawals with this method, but it’ll offer the extra security you need.

Interac: Prefer not to provide poker sites with your banking information? Using Interac will enable you to make deposits at Canadian poker sites without having to disclose this information.

PayPal: Similar to Interac, using PayPal is a great way to deposit money on poker sites without exposing your banking information unnecessarily. Not all online poker sites accept PayPal, but at least a few of the options recommended here do.

MuchBetter: If you want to have the option to convert cash into funds that you can deposit into an account on an online poker site, MuchBetter will let you do it. Pick up a prepaid code voucher from one of the thousands of retailers in Canada that sells them to take this approach to make a deposit.

Playing poker at the best poker sites in Canada will be more fun when you’re winning hands left and right. Use these tips to improve your chances of walking away from poker sites with extra money in your pockets.

Focus on playing your favourite type of poker 
Just because there are so many poker variations doesn’t mean you need to play them all every time you visit poker sites! Instead, find the poker game you like most and work on perfecting your skills while playing it.

Learn how to read your poker opponents
While poker is technically a form of gambling, it’s also a game that involves more skills than your average online casino games. You need to figure out how to accurately read your poker opponents and use what you learn to make the right decisions at the poker table.

Play at free tables and use bonuses to your advantage
When you’re first beginning to play poker online, avoid taking too many risks until you feel comfortable. Playing poker at free tables or using bonuses from poker sites can minimize your risk and allow you to hone your craft.

It doesn’t take long to learn how to play most of the different types of poker games. However, it takes a lifetime to master these games and win real money while playing them. These tips should help put you in a position to win while playing online poker on the best poker sites:

• Make sure you understand the rules of a particular type of poker game before you begin playing it.
• Commit the different poker hand rankings to memory.
• Work on perfecting your “poker face.”
• Practice patience and steer clear of getting involved in every hand.
• Learn from your mistakes and watch other poker players closely to learn from theirs, too.

You won’t win every time you play online poker in Canada. But you’ll give yourself a better chance to win on poker sites when you keep these tips in mind.

Regardless of which poker games you prefer to play, you’ll find that table positions will matter. Where you’re seated at a poker table during a particular hand should change the strategies and approaches you take. What do we mean by this? Well, let’s look a little closer at how you should play a hand when you’re sitting in different positions at a poker table.

Early position

In some cases, sitting in an early position near the dealer will be beneficial to you when you’re playing poker. If, for example, you’re playing Texas Hold ‘em, sitting in one of the first two chairs next to the dealer will make you the small or big blind. It might give you more freedom to get involved in a poker hand since you’ll already have some money at risk. But you shouldn’t get too carried away and call a previous player’s raise just because you put up a small or big blind. You should still consider folding to avoid getting too committed to a hand if it isn’t strong enough.

Players sitting in an early position who aren’t the small or big blind should also be careful about calling or raising if they don’t feel confident in a hand. If they call or raise, the betting will continue to go around the poker table, and the stakes could go up even more than they already have. It could force a player in an early position to have to fold after committing money to a pot, and it will essentially result in wasted time and money for them.

Middle position

Those sitting somewhere in the middle of a poker table have interesting decisions to make. They’ll already know how many players sitting in early positions are still in, and they can use that to determine if it would be worth calling or raising. But they won’t know what those in later positions will do, so it could cause them to struggle to decide what to do if they only have a so-so poker hand.

Try to get a good sense of how other poker players approach the game and use what you learn as the game goes on. If those in later positions tend to fold more often than not, you might want to take more calculated risks from the middle position.

Late position

You could argue that those in late positions at a poker table have a huge advantage over those in early and middle positions. They get to watch whatever everyone else at a poker table does before calling or raising a bet. You can mix things up from this position by staying in with weak hands when other players choose not to wager much during the initial round of betting.

The beauty of being in a late position at the poker table is that you’ll enjoy this same advantage during each subsequent round of betting. You’ll have more control over the poker table you’re playing at than you will when you’re in other positions.

Your position at the poker table will change with every passing hand. Know how you should bet and when you should stay in a hand based on where you’re sitting in relation to the dealer.

The history of online poker and poker sites in Canada doesn’t go back all that far. The first online poker site Planet Poker was only set up in 1998. But a whole lot has happened since then. Here are some of the most important events in online poker’s history in Canada.

1998: Planet Poker launches and provides people with the chance to play real money Texas Hold ‘em games.

2003: Chris Moneymaker wins the World Series of Poker Main Event, becoming the first online poker player to do it in the process.

2010: British Columbia becomes the first Canadian province to offer government-sanctioned online poker.

2010: Jonathan Duhamel wins almost $9 million by coming in first place in the World Series of Poker Main Event, becoming the first Canadian to ever win it.

2011: The U.S. Department of Justice closes down some of the biggest online poker sites in North America, leaving Canadians with PokerStars as one of their few options.

2012: More online casinos start setting up shop in Canada, with poker sites taking full advantage of this. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. also announces its intention to start a new legal online poker site.

2013: Manitoba unveils an online poker site specifically designed for its province.

2015: Anthony Spinella earns the first online World Series of Poker bracelet in poker history.

2016: PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker join forces to create one of the biggest poker sites ever introduced in Canada.

2022: Ontario officially creates the first regulated iGaming market in Canada with some poker sites getting involved in the action.

Even though we’ve covered a lot of ground here while discussing online poker sites, we realize you may still have some lingering questions. With this in mind, we’ve assembled a list of some of the most commonly asked questions about online poker. Get the answers to them below to ensure you’re 100% ready to sit down at an online poker table soon.