Summary
- partypoker and bwin launched poker network in Ontario on April 12
- They will share liquidity with BetMGM Poker
- More sites are expected to launch in Ontario including PokerStars
Ontario is now home to four online poker rooms with the recent entrance of partypoker and bwin. The sister brands launched in the Canadian province on April 12 and they will operate under one network alongside BetMGM Poker.
All three will combine their player pools across cash games and tournaments, establishing Ontario’s first real money online poker network.
Ontario’s regulated online poker market continues to shape up, with more sites expected to go live in the coming weeks or months. 888poker was the first to launch its operations in the province on April 4, followed by BetMGM Poker on April 5. partypoker was expected to enter the province and share liquidity with BetMGM Poker, but bwin’s launch was unforeseen.
bwin’s presence in the online poker sphere is limited, with the brand mostly concentrating on its sportsbook and online casino operations. In Ontario though, bwin has gone all-in, bringing all of its three products.
BetMGM Poker Game Offerings
With partypoker and bwin now joining BetMGM Poker as part of a single network, tournament offerings across the three skins have been boosted. BetMGM initially did not specify guarantees for its MTTs, but the arrival of its sister skins meant that Ontarians are set to enjoy huge prizes, with the network giving away at least $60,000 in guarantees each week.
The current weekly line-up includes two tournaments with $10,000 in guarantees, the $109 buy-in The Daily C-Note, and the $530 buy-in High Roller scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. Bigger prizes are up for grabs every Sunday, with the $109 buy-in, $15K GTD Sunday 100, and the $530 buy-in, $25K GTD Sunday High Roller.
Apart from these weekly tournaments, the network is also running daily MTTs which players can enter for as low as $3.30, alongside other game types such as cash games, SNG, Spins/Lottery SNG, and Fast Fold.
PokerStars and GGPoker Could Launch Soon
PokerStars, which was expected to be among the first sites to go live in Ontario, opted to delay its launch pending approval from the regulator. The operator will most likely wait for its SCOOP series to conclude before officially entering the regulated market in Ontario. This means it could launch by June this year.
Meanwhile, GGPoker has yet to release an exact timeline for an Ontario launch, but we can assume it will happen this year. The operator had already obtained its AGCO license via parent company NSUS Limited.
