The Best Poker Rooms in Canada
We get it. You love playing online poker. But sometimes you can't beat the experience that comes with playing live. And Canada's live poker scene? It's pretty fantastic. Whether you're new to the game and you want to stick to smaller stakes, or whether you're a Vegas-crushing champion that can give hard-core pros a run for their money, you'll find some pretty incredible places to play poker in Canada. Here's a look at our top five favourites.
There are times when you just need the rush of the real thing. If you are ready to take your skills to a real game, here are the reasons why you need to read below.
- Learn about the hottest places to play poker
- And where to find them
Playground Poker Club
If you see a bunch of poker players driving along Highway 401 from Toronto to Montreal, they're not making a 5-hour poutine run. Chances are they're headed to the Playground Poker Club, one of the most respected live poker rooms in North America.
The poker club is located just outside of Montreal. In fact, it's in Kahnawake - yes, that's the same Kahnawake reservation that's famous for licensing and regulating online poker rooms.
While you won't find $0.01/$0.02 tables that so many online poker sites offer, you don't necessarily need a huge bankroll to do some damage with. The Playground Poker Club offers cash games from as low as $1/$2.
Poker players can choose from No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha, and if there's enough interest in another game like Stud or Limit Hold'em, the club will consider opening up a table.
Playground Poker
1500 Unit C Route 138
Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0
Casino Montreal
Here's the thing about the Playground Poker Club. It attracts a lot of serious players, so if you're a bit of an amateur, you might not find that much success there (unless you happen to meet a couple of ultimate fighters who are nowhere nearly as badass on the felt as they are in the octagon).
But if you find yourself in Montreal and you want to play some poker within city limits, head over to Casino Montreal. The rake is considered to be a bit on the high side, but believe us. The tables are pretty soft and
you'll love playing here if you've got an ounce of skill.
Casino Montreal
1 Avenue du Casino
Montréal, QC H3C 4W7
OLG Casino Brantford
If you're in Ontario, your first thought might be to head over to Fallsview Casino or Caesars Windsor. But those aren't necessarily the best choices. OLG Casino Brantford is a smaller property, but that doesn't stop them from offering 14 Texas Hold'em poker tables in their dedicated poker room.
The poker room offers ladies only events, freeze out tourneys, deep stack events, bounty events, and even gentlemen only tournaments. And it's not just tourneys that OLG Casino Brantford offers. Cash games run all the time.
OLG Casino Brantford
40 Icomm Dr
Brantford, ON N3S 7S9
River Rock
When a poker room is the site of a World Series of Poker circuit event, you know it means business. And the River Rock Casino is a serious site for poker players looking for action around the clock. Unlike a lot of other poker rooms in Canada, River Rock's poker room is open 24 hours a day.
And games aren't just limited to No Limit Hold'em. You'll find Omaha, Omaha 8 or Better, and Seven Card Stud - all in Limit and No Limit flavours. And it's all available just a hop, skip, and a jump from Vancouver city limits.
River Rock
River Rock Casino Resort
8811 River Road
Richmond, BC, V6X 3P8
Casino Nova Scotia
We covered the west coast, so it's only fair that we jump over to the other end of the country. If you're in Halifax, make the trip to Casino Nova Scotia. Open every day from Noon to 4am, you'll find No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha games at all kinds of stake levels - as low as $1/$2. And if you're into higher stakes, they've got it covered with special High Limit nights and large-scale tournaments.
If you're the type of poker player who wants to feel like you're playing in Vegas but you want the comforts of home, you'll love Casino Nova Scotia, especially with its flat-screen TVs that keep you connected to everything that's happening in poker, sports, news, and more.
Casino Nova Scotia
1983 Upper Water St
Halifax, NS B3J 3Y5
Caesars Windsor
Ontario is one of the most vibrant places to be in Canada, and their hotel and casino resorts are definitely in keeping with that theme. Caesars Windsor is the best overall hotel and gaming resort and is a big reason why people visit Ontario.
Poker games at Caesars Windsor are incredibly popular and the staff there do everything to keep players happy and keen to play. The casino is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which is a huge positive for recreational and professional players. The second floor of the casino is home to a number of different games, such as: Texas Holdem, Omaha and Seven Card Stud. Table limits do vary between the games to try and give players with a smaller bankroll a chance to play the games. Typically, table limits will start at $3-$6 C$ and can reach a much higher limit depending on the players available to play.
As well as cash games, tournaments are on offer at Caesars Windsor, including: Mega Bounty Tournament, Daily Tournament, Nightly Tournament and Ladies Showcase. Additionally, if you want to try your luck at something a little bit more lucrative, a World Series of Poker satellite tournament runs every second Saturday of the month and gives players a chance to reach the promise land.
Caesars Windsor
377 Riverside Drive East
Windsor, ON, N9A 7H7
Northlands Park
Coming to Alberta, there a few different options of casinos to visit, but Northlands Park is a little bit different to the rest on offer. Northlands Park is home to an incredible Horse Racing track and as you can imagine, it's the main focus with this resort which affects other areas.
Unfortunately, the casino at Northlands Park doesn't offer any poker cash games or tournaments to their customers. The casino is mainly a slot machine based gaming area with some electronic table games on offer. Although there is a lack of games on offer to please everyone, the games they do provide are extremely popular and suit their resort well.
Northlands Park
7410 Borden Park Road
Edmonton, Alberta
Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort
Niagara Fallsview is based in Ontario, Canada and is the largest gaming resort facility in the country. As previously mentioned, there is an abundance of casinos based in Ontario and the competition is high when it comes to having the best poker games on offer.
Fallsview focuses a lot more on pleasing everyone rather than sticking to a few specific games and developing the availability of them. At this resort they have 3,000 slot and video poker machines and over 100 table games on offer. Poker is available at this casino, but the format and game types on offer are limited in comparison with other casinos. However, the environment of this casino is definitely something to experience and makes playing Poker a lot more relaxing.
Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort
6380 Fallsview Blvd.
Niagara Falls, ON, L2G 7X5
Medicine Hat Lodge Resort
Alberta returns with another resort and casino complex and this time Medicine Hat is the lucky venue. Open 7 days a week from 10am - 3am, casino games are always thriving and bringing in new customers on a daily basis. However, if you're looking for Poker this might not be the best place for you.
Medicine Hat Lodge undoubtedly has a great casino, but doesn't have any Poker games available for customers. This is obviously a big shame as the 27,000 sq. ft casino space would be a perfect area for Poker games to be on offer. This casino focuses more on Electronic Roulette, Electronic Blackjack, Video Lottery and Horse Racing. If Poker was added to this casino in the near future then it would definitely become one of the leading casinos throughout Canada.
Medicine Hat Lodge Resort
1051 Ross Glen Drive S.E.
Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1B 3T8
Casino de Mont-Tremblant
Onto Quebec and Casino de Mont-Tremblant, this casino has a much more modern feel to it and an incredible casino for players to explore. This casino is spread over three floors and offers a number of games, one of which is Poker.
Casino de Mont-Tremblant offers several Texas Holdem cash game tables and both no-limit and limit games are available to play. Typically, these games will start at $1-$2 C$ and higher stakes will be available depending on the amount of players wanting to play. Additionally, there is a high-roller area on of the casino floors which will provide much higher stakes for people in that financial league. If cash games isn't for you, sit-and-go tournaments can be organised upon request to give players a chance to play a different format of Poker. Not only are the games worth experiencing at this casino, but the architecture and decor are enough to make you visit Quebec.
Casino de Mont-Tremblant
300 chemin des Pleiades
Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, J8E 0A7
St. Eugene Golf Resort Casino
Now for a different type of casino, the St. Eugene Golf Resort Casino. When you first set sites on this resort, you wouldn't be able to imagine that it's the home of a hugely popular gambling environment. Although the Golf course seems like the main attraction, you'll be surprised how many customers the casino brings in.
Despite the calibre of casino at this resort, when it comes to Poker the games are unfortunately quite sparse. The only Poker on offer at this casino is in the form of three card poker, which is a game played against the dealer rather than other opponents. Similar to Northlands Park, this casino focuses more on slot machines, Electronic Roulette and Electronic Blackjack. Nonetheless, if you aren't going to this resort to play Poker, there are plenty of other games on offer at this casino and an abundance of jackpots and promotions.
St. Eugene Golf Resort Casino
7777 Mission Road
Cranbrook, BC, V1C 7E5
Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino
Alberta has come up a few times before and its back again with another great resort and casino. Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino is only 30 minutes West of Calgary in the beautiful Kananaskis Country. This resort offers a huge amount of entertainment for customers and the casino is no exception.
Poker is a huge part of how this casino works and No Limit Holdem cash games are available to play 7 days a week, starting at $1-$2 and increasing from there. If cash games aren't the format for you, tournaments run every week at Stoney Nakoda and every Thursday and Saturday a $35 tournament is held for anyone and everyone to play. On top of the weekly tournaments, a special Saturday May 30 tournament is held every year and is a $105 buy in, which is a great annual event for players to try their luck at hitting that first place prize money. It's clear to see that Stoney Nakoda realise how important Poker is in Canada and as the casino grows more popular, the more games will be running for customers to play.
Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino
888 Nakoda Way
Morley, Alberta, T0L 1N0
