Top Online Poker Sites Canada

1. Best Online Poker Sites Canada
2. Top Online Poker Sites Canada Free
3. Best Online Poker Sites Canada Reddit

1. 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.
2. Texas Hold'em is the most common and popular variant to be found on online poker sites in Canada. However, there are lots of other options that you'll find. Especially if you try big sites like 888poker. Your Opinion is Valued!

All Canadian criminal law is enacted and enforced at the federal level (1), in contrast to the United States where each state comes up with their own criminal statutes and has their own criminal code.

Best Online Poker Sites in Canada 2020 There are many grey areas when it comes to gambling in Canada, and online gambling is no exception. However, online casinos do exist in Canada since there are very few laws that relate to online gambling. Poker players in Canada want simply the best online poker sites for Canadians. Canadians want the best online poker sites to play at and they must be safe, licensed and regulated. Many Canadian players have played at Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB, are not happy and are looking for safer alternatives.

So in Canada, it doesn’t matter which province you live in, as the criminal laws are identical. So it will only be necessary for us to discuss the law as it pertains to Canada in general.

When it comes to the gambling law in Canada, a lot of people will say that Canada is a grey area so to speak, which is held to mean that the law is to some degree unclear as to whether or not gambling, or playing online poker for money specifically, is legal or not.

It’s important though not to confuse sanctioning something with not permitting it. There are certain instances where gambling is sanctioned in Canada, for instance playing the lottery or gambling at a licensed casino would be sanctioned, but these sanctions are only necessary to the degree that a certain form of gambling would be otherwise illegal and the sanctioning serves as exceptions to the law.

So in other words if it is illegal to operate an unlicensed casino in Canada, which you will see that it is, then if you’re going to operate one then it needs to be awarded an exemption from the law, which is the purpose the license serves.

So the way this all works is that the law provides the prohibitions, in other words what is not allowed, and then within these prohibited practices it may provide exemptions, allowing certain forms of what would otherwise be prohibited. Reference sites such as ours usually give the most updated versions of the laws here, so please check in regularly or bookmark us.

So it isn’t at all accurate to say then that since the law in Canada does not contain provisions to permit online gambling then this involves a grey area where it may or may not be legal. Sometimes the law may be unclear where it may or may not prohibit a certain activity, which as you will see is not the case at all with playing online poker in Canada, but for now it will suffice to say that unless the law prohibits something, it is not against the law.

What Does The Law In Canada Say About Gambling?

The criminal law in Canada concerns itself with what is defined as either a common betting house or a common gaming house. They are pretty similar, although a common betting house deals with facilitating bets in general, as would a sports betting parlor for instance, where a common gaming house would involve bets on games like a casino would take (2)

In any event these are establishments set up for the purpose of facilitating gambling either between parties or between the operator of the establishment and the parties. “Game” here by the way is defined as either a game of chance or a game of mixed chance and skill. (3)

It is against the law to either operate one of these gaming houses or even to be present at one “without lawful excuse.” (4) It is presumed that lawful excuse would not extend to being there to engage in gambling.

It is also illegal to run a book making operation, and this section does extend to not only providing the bookmaking or pool selling but also providing information related to the betting involved in these contests. (5) This isn’t anything that deals with poker in any sense though so we need not be concerned at all with this particular section.

How This All Cashes Out For Poker Playing

The law goes on to set prohibitions for the promotion of various other games of chance, and other than it being against the law to be present without lawful excuse at an illegal gaming establishment, it is exclusively focused on the operation and promotion of gambling, not its participation. You aren’t allowed to place bets on behalf of anyone else but there’s nothing stopping you from placing bets on behalf of yourself.

So in other words poker playing isn’t illegal unless it’s done at a common gaming house, but when we play online we aren’t present in a common gaming house but in our own home, and there is no restrictions in the law barring that. If the operators were located in Canada, they may be breaking Canadian law, but this isn’t something we need even concern ourselves with since we’re players not operators.

Interestingly enough, the hub of North American gaming is actually located on an Indian Reserve in Canada – on the rather infamous Kahnawake reserve – but this tribe does not feel they are accountable to Canadian law and the authorities leave them alone.

Outside of Canada, there are two licensing jurisdictions that are utilized by most Canadian gambling sites. These are the Malta Gaming Authority (the MGA) and Curacao eGaming. The former is the more reputable of the two by leaps and bounds, so we recommend sticking to playing at online gaming sites backed by MGA licenses.

There are also many gaming companies that operate out of Canada, most notably Amaya Gaming, which now owns Poker Stars and Full Tilt. These sites offer play to Canadians and there is no indication that they intend to stop doing this.

There are some offshore sites that have stopped accepting Canadians, but it isn’t due to the fear of Canadian law, but instead due to pandering to the whims of other countries such as the U.K.’s new licensing requirements which some operators fear that if they allow play in Canada this might influence the licensing board.

Canada also has a good number of licensed establishments where you can play live poker, totaling over 50 locations spread across the country (6). The tolerance for gambling in Canada is pretty liberal actually and it’s generally accepted as a permissible pastime and many Canadians enjoy it in its many forms.

As far as playing online goes, if a poker site allows you to play at their site there is no need whatsoever to be concerned, and you don’t even have to declare the income you make off of gambling on your taxes as gambling winnings are tax free in Canada unless you play professionally, and if you do, you simply declare your income from it like you would declare any other income.

So in this case you are basically telling the government that you not only play online poker from it but you make your living doing this and no one has a problem with it because it isn’t in any sense illegal.

References

(1) Constitution of Canada

(2) Criminal Code of Canada, Section 197

(3) ibid.

(4) Criminal Code of Canada, Section 201

(5) Criminal Code of Canada, Section 202

(6) Live Poker in Canada

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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.

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.

Best Online Poker Sites Canada

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.

Top Online Poker Sites Canada Free

Preferred Currencies for Canadian Poker Players

Best Online Poker Sites Canada Reddit

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.