Best Online Poker for Canadians 2024
Online poker is one of the many popular casino favorites. Whether you are a seasoned professional or new to the game, starting your online poker journey will be a breeze. Our guide to online poker will help you find the best online poker sites, along with quick tips and tricks for playing the game. The best thing about online poker is that players don’t need to feel pressured to beat other Canadian poker players as the game runs with an RNG system allowing players to learn, understand and play at their own pace.
Best Canadian Casinos to Play Online Poker
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Choosing the Right Online Poker Site
Finding the right online poker site with the best gaming experience can be daunting to a new player and quite overwhelming. There are a few aspects to look for when attempting to find the best poker room. As online casino experts, we have a standard criterion for choosing the best online poker sites that you can use to help find the best poker room for you. Using these guidelines can help you choose a reputable online poker site that provides a great gaming experience and the best variety of poker games.
- Variety of Real Money Online Poker – a good virtual casino should offer several different online poker games that attract players and provide an overall good gaming experience. The more variety and variations of online poker that a casino has, the better, as it allows players to learn and discover all facets of this popular game.
- Online Poker Bonuses and promotions – finding a casino that offers premium bonuses and regular promotions to its players is important as these bonuses allow you to increase your bankroll.
- Mobile poker – in a fast-paced digital world, being able to take your favourite online poker game wherever you go is vital. Ensure that you choose a poker game with a mobile-friendly site or a mobile app available on your device.
- Licensed and regulated – all online poker sites and online gambling providers need to be certified and regulated by the relevant state bodies. You can easily scroll down to any online casino page to see if they are licensed with the necessary governing bodies.
- Safety and security – as these are real money online poker sites, it is important that they offer more than one deposit and withdrawal option to suit the needs of all players. The safety of your funds is paramount to a good gaming experience.
- Fast payouts – once you have played all the online poker games of your choice and wish to withdraw your winnings, you would like it to be prompt. The casino needs to be able to process your winnings as fast as possible.
- Customer services – playing online comes with many advantages and disadvantages. Each online poker site should have a reliable customer service centre with live chat or contact details such as an email address or contact number. Your queries should be dealt with promptly as well.
Variations of Online Poker
Like many other table games, poker has been around for many years, and many variations have been developed. Each variation is fun to play and available at most casinos to play for fun or real money. As a beginner, we suggest trying out all variations to see which suits you best, but the gaming experience is quite thrilling. Here is a quick guide to understanding each variant of poker:
Texas Hold’em Online Poker
This is one of the most popular poker variations, and most of the other variations have been derived from it. There are a few different types of this variation as well.
Pot-limit Texas Hold’em requires that the maximum bet amount is equal to the amount of the pot at that time. Meaning that the max bet starts low and can increase quickly.
No-limit Texas Hold’em is a high roller-friendly form and has no limits attached to the amount that can be bet per hand. Players are allowed to bet any amount at any stage during a hand, up to the total chips they have.
Spread-limit Texas Hold’em is the rarest form of the game. There is a spread that is set before the game, for instance, CA$5. Players can then bet CA$1, CA$2, CA$3, CA$4, or CA$5.
Limit Texas Hold’em is when the betting limit is set before each hand. The set limit could be for the full game or a variable limit that can change between hands.
3 Card Online Poker
3 Card poker is pretty simple to pick up and is suitable for beginners and professionals. There are two ways to play 3 card poker, commonly known as ante-play and pair plus.
Ante-play: in this basic form, a player places their wager in the ante space before the cards are dealt. It is a forced bet where all players place an equal amount of chips in the pot before the dealer begins.
Pair Plus: this is a wager where the objective is to be dealt a pair. Should you be dealt with a pair, you earn a bonus payout. Anything lower is a loss.
Omaha Online Poker
Omaha poker is similar to Texas Hold’em, except instead of being dealt 2 cards, you will receive 4. You will need to make the best poker hand with these two cards and three of the five community cards.
Pai Gow Online Poker
In Pai Gow Poker, you play against the dealer. Your aim is to make a 5 card and 2 card hand out of the seven cards dealt. Ultimately, both hands must beat the dealer’s hands.
5 Card Online Poker
5 Card poker is one of the easiest variants, and we suggest starting with this before moving on to the more advanced ones. You will be dealt 5 cards followed by a round of betting. Each player needs to discard up to 3 cards (4 cards if you have an ace or wild card) and get back from the deck as many that were discarded.
How to Play Online Poker
For those who understand the world of online gambling, signing up and playing online poker is a walk in the park. But for new players, choosing the right game or claiming the right bonuses is quite confusing. Here is a quick guide on setting up your online poker account and start playing for real money.
- Step 1: The first thing you should do is find a reputable online poker site. You could find one that only offers poker or find an online casino that offers online poker and other casino games.
- Step 2: Once you have selected a casino and checked their credentials, head over to their registration or sign-up page. You will fill in your details, such as your name, address, email address, contact number etc.
- Step 3: After filling in your details, you would have an account with the online casino site, and you can make your first deposit. If the site offers a no-deposit welcome bonus, you can claim it by using the relevant code. Once the code has been accepted, the funds or casino credits will be credited to your account.
- Step 4: After completing the above steps, you can scroll through the various online poker games and select one.
- Step 5: Enter the poker room and start placing your bets.
Top 5 Recommended Real Money Online Poker Sites for Canadians
For the best online poker gaming experience, there are some top sites for Canadian players to enjoy. As previously mentioned, the best online poker sites need to offer players a safe and secure environment to gamble, fast payouts, great bonuses, and more. Here are our top picks of Canadian online poker sites.
888 Poker
888 Poker is well-known among Canadian players for its attractive welcome bonuses. When registering with 888 Poker, new players will receive CA$8 casino credits, and you can withdraw the promotional money when you accumulate 2.5 points for every CA$1 received. There is also a 100% match deposit bonus up to CA$888. In addition to great bonuses, they offer a mobile app, and their site is mobile-friendly. With their upgrade in November 2020, 888 poker offers players an innovative portrait mode. There is also a multi-table feature to allow for swiping between up to four games. 888 Poker is also the only non-US site with WSOP satellites.
PokerStars
If you are looking for great welcome bonuses, an active cash game community, and inspiring tournaments, look no further than PokerStars. With a 100% match deposit bonus up to CA$600 and CA$30 free play for first-time players who deposit CA$20 or more, the welcome package at PokerStars is quite rewarding.
Bodog Poker
Bodog Poker has a long-standing reputation among Canadian players dating back all the way to 1994. Over the years, they have developed their site accordingly and are completely mobile-friendly. New players can enjoy a 100% match deposit bonus up to CA$1000. They are also fully licensed and certified by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Jackpot City Casino
Jackpot City Casino is another reputable online gambling provider among Canadians. Not only do they offer an array of casino games but also several video poker games. They have an attractive welcome deposit bonus of CA$1600.
Spin Casino
Like Jackpot City Casino, Spin Casino offers video poker games and offers a welcome deposit bonus of CA$1000 on your first three deposits.
Advantages of Playing Real Money Vs Free Online Poker
Although the thought of playing free online poker seems less risky, it may be worthwhile to have a look at what playing for real money can give you.
Advantaged of Real money poker
- Many chances to win real money
- They also help you learn the game faster, improving your gameplay strategies
- You can take advantage of poker bonuses
- Even though you will play against an RNG poker site, the atmosphere is still exciting
- You can earn several loyalty bonuses
Advantages Free Poker Sites
- You won’t lose any real money – less risky
- Free poker sites and games can help new players learn how to play poker
- When playing free poker, players are less stressed out about losing money
- You can try various poker sites and variations without spending money