The Canadian poker scene has been going strong in recent years, with 2025 showing a strong interest in the game from coast to coast to coast. Games across the land of the Maple Leaf drew players from across Canada and around the world to places like Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, and Regina.
While there were a lot of stories related to the poker felt in Canada in 2025, below is a look at the top 10 stories from the past year in the land of maple syrup.
- 1. Canadians Head to the Playground
- 2. Deerfoot Awards more than $12 Million in Prizes in 2025
- 3. PPT Pushes past $4 Million in total prizes
- 4. Toronto Establishes WSOP-C Presence
- 5. Casino Regina Crushes Numbers in Sask
- 6. Malm Goes Back-To-Back for API Player of the Year
- 7. Ace Grande Gives Alternatives to Calgary Tournament Players
- 8. Alberta Eyes Closed System
- 9. KKPoker Crowns Jordan Banfield KKLive Montreal Champion for 2025
- 10. Resurgence of MTT Poker in BC
10. Resurgence of MTT Poker in BC
Back in the day, Canadians often looked west for the biggest and best MTT games in the country. Back in the 2000s and early 2010s, the lower mainland of BC was an MTT hotbed that regularly hosted huge WSOP-C events, among others.
Regulatory issues in the mid-2010s essentially shut the province down for official poker action, and for a long time, BC players had to look east across the mountains to find any good games. That has started to change once again, with 2025 showing a resurgence of MTT poker on Canada’s left coast.
Parq Casino is among the venues running weekend MTT games now, with a few smaller series in the mix in 2025 as well. In addition to the Mega Sunday games, the casino held a small MTT series in late April 2025. While the BC poker market is still regrowing itself, it looks like the game is sprouting once again in Vancouver.
9. KKPoker Crowns Jordan Banfield KKLive Montreal Champion for 2025
KKPoker is a bit of a newcomer to the Canadian scene, but over the past few years, the operator has been showing up in the Canadian market with innovative online satellites to live events, something that was nearly unheard of for Alberta poker prior to the arrival of KK.
One of the other ways KKPoker has been adding value to the Canadian poker scene is through KKLive. With stops in Montreal and elsewhere in Canada like the Maritimes, the newest Canadian tour started to make a name for itself in 2025.
poker.pro was in the house for the KKLive 2025 Montreal edition, watching Calgary online crusher & WSOP-C ring winner Jordan Banfield take down the 2025 crown heads up over the 2024 champion, Andy “thegoose” Goosen. Look for big things from the folks at KK going into 2026.
8. Alberta Eyes Closed System
The iGaming Alberta Act came into effect in 2025, with the potential to radically change the online gaming scene in Alberta. To date, while the Alberta Government (through the regulatory agency Alberta Gaming Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC)) has had a strong hand in land-based casino regulation, and runs its own Play Alberta online gaming site, Albertans have enjoyed a “grey market” where gaming clients from around the world offer players global competition. While the offshore sites weren’t officially regulated by AGLC, no laws stopped Albertans from logging in and playing.
That looks set to change in the early part of 2026, as reported by Canadian Gaming Business last year. The iGaming Alberta Act looks set to be implemented after Minister Dale Nally’s Bill 48 passed in May of 2025. There are still major details to work out, but Nally predicted to CGB that the new framework would come into place in the first quarter of 2026.
What that ultimately means for Albertans is still unclear, as the final structure of the system isn’t in place, and the government is being tight-lipped about it. Brandon Aboultaif, Press Secretary to Hon. Dale Nally, expressed some general ideas regarding what it might look like, but was light on details in an email exchange.
“As the gaming industry continues to evolve globally and in Alberta, we are taking a thoughtful approach to modernizing online gaming in our province – one that considers the health and safety of Albertans, particularly our youth.
Last spring, we passed legislation to set up an iGaming strategy to establish a regulated market for private companies to legally operate in Alberta – giving Albertans a wider choice of regulated, socially responsible iGaming operators. We continue to meet with members of the iGaming industry and other interested stakeholders to engage on matters related to the launch of a private, regulated iGaming market in Alberta.
Engagement on Alberta’s iGaming regulations is expected to run through fall 2025 and will address a range of areas, including social responsibility, advertising, consumer protection and key provisions to support the broader regulatory framework. We anticipate regulations could be finalized in late fall/early winter and look forward to sharing more information at the appropriate time.
Regarding your question about online and live poker: further information about Alberta’s market, including the catalogue of games that will be offered in the province, will be available closer to market launch.“
Albertans who do any sort of online gaming in Alberta should pay attention to the news in 2026 — changes look to be coming. One large question that isn’t addressed by the CGB article above is whether Alberta’s market of 5 million is large enough to sustain a closed ecosystem. 2026 could hold big changes for Alberta gamblers.
7. The Grande at Ace Casino Airport Gives Alternatives to Calgary MTT Players
Among the more recent additions to the Calgary poker scene, Ace Casino Airport gives Alberta players an alternative to the bigger venues and series around the province. With cash games running 24/7, several daily & weekly tournaments, and 3 Grande series per year, it’s a great alternative.
While the Grande series and other poker games at Ace are similar to other places, one additional thing that makes Ace somewhat unique in the Alberta market is regular PLO8 games. The 4-card split pot game is a weekly feature at Ace and a regular part of the Grande.
6. Malm Goes Back-To-Back for API Player of the Year
Mike Malm has been having a pretty good couple of years. Last year, he ran away from the field for a huge overall win in the 2024 Player of the Year race with Alberta Poker Index (API), and he didn’t slow down in 2025. As the year draws to a close, he finds himself miles ahead of his closest rival.
Malm has amassed nearly 6,500 points for just shy of 40 cashes in 2025. That’s almost 3k ahead of Tony Ma in second, who ended up with a bit more than 3,500 points for 25 cashes. With just a few games left in the year, no one can catch Malm as he sprints off into the distance for the API crown for the second year running.
Julius Roque, who won the Seniors title in 2024, also looks to be repeating in 2025 for that trophy, but 2024 Ladies winner Haven Taylor looks to be supplanted at the top of the Ladies standings this year by Edmonton’s Nu Teliani, who had a stellar end to the year.
5. Casino Regina Crushes Numbers in Sask
The big draw for tournament poker outside of Alberta or Quebec is generally Regina, Saskatchewan. Casino Regina runs three big series per year in the capital of Saskatchewan: The Station, The Diamond, and the Harvest Poker Classics.
The recent Hravest Poker Classic, which runs every year in November, had well over $1 million in total prizes across 5 events ranging from $500 to $1,800. The prize pool for the smallest game on the schedule this past November was more than $100k with 235 entries, so the series offers players solid chances to win big money.
Harvest tends to be the biggest of the year, but the spring Station Poker Classic also has big fields and prizes in March. The summer Diamond series tends to be smaller, running while the WSOP is ongoing in Las Vegas, but provides solid value for players who enjoy smaller-field poker.
While Alberta and Quebec tend to be the places Canadian players think of when they plan poker trips, Regina should be high on the list.
4. Toronto Establishes WSOP-C Presence
One of the new destinations on the Canadian poker calendar is the biggest city in the country, Toronto. With a very limited tournament poker scene prior to 2024, the city burst into view with a huge World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOP-C) event in 2024.
Hosted by the Great Canadian Casino Resort, Toronto, the inaugural series drew big crowds, ensuring a return for 2025. That return was in April, and once again, the series was a big success. The $2,000 Main Event drew 2,139 entries for prizes of $2.6 million, and that was just one of 11 Ring events on the schedule.
WSOP-C Toronto is only getting bigger, and while there is nothing on the schedule yet, the success of the first two years would seem to guarantee a 2026 return, likely in April.
3. PPT Pushes Past $4 Million in Total Prizes
The Pure Poker Tour (PPT) runs five series per year in Alberta’s capital, Edmonton. Alternating between the two Pure Canadian Gaming locations in the city, Pure Casino Edmonton & Pure Casino Yellowhead, the PPT offers a solid MTT series schedule to Alberta players throughout the year.
Running since 2022, the PPT had a solid year in 2025, with 78 tournaments over 5 different series. Almost 8.900 entries were recorded across the year for more than $4.2 million in prizes. See our look back at 2025 on the PPT with the Top Five Moments.
PPT Overall Numbers for 2025
| Series: | 5 |
| Events: | 78 |
| Total Prizes: | $4,279,765 |
| Total 1st Place: | $961,149 |
| Total Entries: | 8,872 |
2. Deerfoot Awards Almost $13 Million in Prizes in 2025
Deerfoot Inn & Casino, in Calgary, is unquestionably the top spot in Western Canada for poker. With 4 series per year, including two visits from the WSOP-C, Deerfoot regularly runs the biggest games west of Toronto.
The two WSOP-C events per year are by far the big draw for poker in Western Canada. The series in January and October drew nearly $11 million of the almost $13 million total that was awarded at Deerfoot in 2025.
But in addition to the WSOP-C games, the Calgary casino also runs two smaller, local series, branded as Super Stack events. Between the Spring & Summer events, more than $2 million was added to the 2025 total.
2026 looks to be just as big, with four more series & WSOP-C returning for two stops. The new year will kick off in January with the first WSOP-C of the year starting on January 7.
Overall Summary for Deerfoot Inn & Casino in 2025
| Series | Prizes | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| WSOP-C Jan | $5,740,395 | 9,592 |
| Spring Super Stack | $975,651 | 2,061 |
| Summer Super Stack | $1,233,039 | 2,641 |
| WSOP-C Oct | $5,034,726 | 8,078 |
| Totals: | $12,983,811 | 22,372 |
1. Canadians Head to the Playground
The undisputed king of poker in Canada is Playground Poker Club, in Kahnawake, QC. Playground regularly hosts the biggest games in Canada, with visits from WSOP-C, the World Poker Tour (WPT), and homegrown series like the Major Series of Poker (MSOP).
Playground has several WSOP-C events per year, with the most recent running in November. The Main Event alone drew almost 1,500 entries and topped out in prizes at more than $3.25 million. That was just one of 18 Ring games on the November schedule.
Guaranteed prize pools are among the big draws for Playground events. Unheard of in the western series, The November Main at Playground guaranteed $2.5 million before blowing that away. The $1,000 Colossus, by comparison, guaranteed $800k, and went almost 10% bigger than that with $864k from just shy of 1,000 entries.
When Canadians are looking for the biggest poker games in 2026, one of the safest bets of the year is that they’ll find those games at Playground Poker Club just outside of Montreal.
That’s a wrap for 2025 in Canadian poker. 2026 looks to be just as big, with huge events running across the country, including WSOP-C action in 3 different cities.
