Albertan Freerollers and value scroungers- are we cooked?

Lodestone · May 18, 2026

Alberta Online Casino Laws & Regulations at Market Launch | RotoWire

Learn how online casino gambling is regulated in Alberta, what laws apply to you, and what to expect now that the competitive iGaming market has launched.

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Ontario did something similar but that province is also over 3 times as large as Alberta. When the player pools were segregated the games were remarkably soft but the pool was shallow with games being basically unavailable most of the day. Once they joined the global player pool, they got to play against Brazilian and Russian stables again and the fishy cash games dried up. But not all providers connected to the global player pool and some didn't serve Ontario at all.

I mostly play freerolls, MTTs and sats with overlays and special streamer tourneys with extra prizes added. If it isn't inherently EV+ I'm probably doing something else. I have been playing more cash games but prefer tournaments.

Given Alberta is so much smaller (and the existing iGaming Alberta platform doesn't even have poker) I am thinking we might be screwed, even fewer cardrooms will bother serving Alberta.

Thoughts?

Poker Orifice · May 18, 2026

It's terrible news for sure! Canada has been a great place for internet poker for a long time. We had it good here where others weren't as fortunate. I'm in BC so as of yet we are okay... but for how much longer?
It's crazy how out of touch the powers that be are. It's so ridiculous.

Lodestone · May 18, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
It's terrible news for sure! Canada has been a great place for internet poker for a long time. We had it good here where others weren't as fortunate. I'm in BC so as of yet we are okay... but for how much longer?
It's crazy how out of touch the powers that be are. It's so ridiculous.

The thing that sickens me is that the government hides behind 'protecting people' and yet they're just skimming money off the top and letting advertising happen everywhere. They want to peddle degeneracy so long as they're making money off of it meanwhile advocacy groups are begging them to ban advertising.

It's like the 'responsible drinking' crap. There is NO safe amount of alcohol yet the leeches that run this province runs ads promoting it. Absolutely reprehensible.

Flyer35 · May 18, 2026

Lodestone said:
The thing that sickens me is that the government hides behind 'protecting people' and yet they're just skimming money off the top and letting advertising happen everywhere. They want to peddle degeneracy so long as they're making money off of it meanwhile advocacy groups are begging them to ban advertising.

It's like the 'responsible drinking' crap. There is NO safe amount of alcohol yet the leeches that run this province runs ads promoting it. Absolutely reprehensible.

Skimming? Probably, but in the end that's not a bad thing for citizens. Alcohol is here to stay. So being "responsible" is better than not. Ads that maybe promote drinking? I don't think they really influence anybody who's going to drink (or not) anyway. Well, maybe some like yourself.

But, more importantly, I didn't realize that you and @Poker Orifice were Canadian. I guess I need to look a little closer at the Maple Leaf flag under your avatar. Okay, I'm not the most observant.

Honestly when I think of Alberta I mostly think about that crazy run towards separation that seems to be all the craze these days. I'm kind of hoping they do it, so my son will move back to Winnipeg (which he is going to do if the province separates). A little too far to drive in a day, and a bit too close to fly.

Lodestone · Jul 11, 2026

It begins. We are in fact, cooked.

Ofc it's Partypoker to shut down poker but still keep the casino games and sportsbook running.

Lodestone · Jul 11, 2026

Lodestone said:
It begins. We are in fact, cooked.

Ofc it's Partypoker to shut down poker but still keep the casino games and sportsbook running.

View attachment 412298

Some good news on the PP front:

"Any unused tournament tickets and P$ balances will be converted to cash and credited to your account by 23 July 2026"

I'll probably grind a bunch of satellite tickets and then get them cashed out. That's the only parting gift I can think of.

While searching my email I also found this:

A closure notice from WPT.

Really sucks to see that half of the places CC offers freerolls aren't serving AB anymore but with the way things look everything is going to be geo fenced and I won't be able to play anything but the replay games. :/

ExMoroccan · Jul 11, 2026

in morocco almost every big rooms are out

hardongear · Jul 11, 2026

Govt with the IQ lower then an egg plant yet again. Should have had a Canadian wide player pool years ago and shared the profit with the poker site they worked out a deal with. So many tax dollars could have been raised and Canadians could have a regulated, licensed and trusted site to play on with a decent sized player pool. Hell Canada, United States and South America could have went in on it together and had a huge North American player pool.

Cheers!!!

Nameless14 · Jul 11, 2026

Yeah, that's a valid concern. A smaller player pool could mean softer games, but if there aren't enough players, the traffic might not be there to keep games running consistently. Hopefully the major operators support Alberta, otherwise tournament selection and game availability could end up being pretty limited.

Ron112355 · Jul 11, 2026

No sure if it means anything but before I log in to Fanduel I get this popup

RENEY444 · Jul 12, 2026

Good luck playing more online poker . Doesn't look promising for you folks though .

UnderDawg5501 · Jul 23, 2026

Yeah, after being away for a while, I tried to get onto GG poker and it's saying I can't play.. So I pulled my cash.. Have to look at a couple others.
Really sucks as there aren't many people here compared to the world, or even the US.

I may have to look at hitting the live tables here in Edmonton.

The government should keep it's nose in to keeping roads goine and stuff.. Sheesh.

RENEY444 · Jul 23, 2026

We can't get any or the regulated online poker sites here in California .( ACR + BOL available though ). The nearby Indian casinos sort of have a monopoly with little regulation . They rake the small holdem games hard so even there it's tough to win .

neverbluff0799 · Jul 23, 2026

Lodestone said:
It begins. We are in fact, cooked.

Ofc it's Partypoker to shut down poker but still keep the casino games and sportsbook running.

View attachment 412298

Poker Orifice · Jul 24, 2026

hardongear said:
Govt with the IQ lower then an egg plant yet again. Should have had a Canadian wide player pool years ago and shared the profit with the poker site they worked out a deal with. So many tax dollars could have been raised and Canadians could have a regulated, licensed and trusted site to play on with a decent sized player pool. Hell Canada, United States and South America could have went in on it together and had a huge North American player pool.

Cheers!!!

Pretty sure South America is not part of North America... but I like your idea (maybe substitute Mexico for S.A. and have them part of the N.A. pool)

fundiver199 · Jul 24, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
Pretty sure South America is not part of North America... but I like your idea (maybe substitute Mexico for S.A. and have them part of the N.A. pool)

But why have segregated player pools at all? One of the main attractions of online poker is, that you can play with people from all over the world, and this create 24 hour action as well as larger price pools in tournaments. Online poker is regulated in most of Europe, but only a few countries (France, Spain, Italy and Portugal) have created segregated player pools. All the other governments in Europe understand, that online poker should be global, even if there might be other things, they get wrong, like a stupid 24-hour self exclusion button etc.

hardongear · Jul 24, 2026

fundiver199 said:
But why have segregated player pools at all? One of the main attractions of online poker is, that you can play with people from all over the world, and this create 24 hour action as well as larger price pools in tournaments. Online poker is regulated in most of Europe, but only a few countries (France, Spain, Italy and Portugal) have created segregated player pools. All the other governments in Europe understand, that online poker should be global, even if there might be other things, they get wrong, like a stupid 24-hour self exclusion button etc.

That's the way it's already been going for quite awhile expecting that to backwards is wishful thinking. We'd all love a global pool but that simply isn't likely those days are over been over for awhile.

Cheers!!!

hardongear · Jul 24, 2026

Poker Orifice said:
Pretty sure South America is not part of North America... but I like your idea (maybe substitute Mexico for S.A. and have them part of the N.A. pool)

I'm bad and mistake I meant Mexico but said South America. Thanks for the correction man. Yeah I like.....I mean loved a worldwide global pool a lot more wouldn't we all....I think a North American pool is a lot more realistic but also might be too much to hope for. Gov't being Gov't and all. Plus relations ain't getting any better between them.

Cheers!!!

fundiver199 · Jul 24, 2026

hardongear said:
That's the way it's already been going for quite awhile expecting that to backwards is wishful thinking. We'd all love a global pool but that simply isn't likely those days are over been over for awhile.

Its equally wishfull thinking, that online poker will ever become legal in all US states. Black Friday was 15 years ago, and until now its only a handfull of states, and none of the major ones, that have made online poker legal. So why not say out loud, what we would like to see, regardless how likely or not it is to happen?

hardongear · Jul 24, 2026

fundiver199 said:
Its equally wishfull thinking, that online poker will ever become legal in all US states. Black Friday was 15 years ago, and until now its only a handfull of states, and none of the major ones, that have made online poker legal. So why not say out loud, what we would like to see, regardless how likely or not it is to happen?

It's not near equally wishful thinking thou. It's not impossible too get 3 countries to agree to something that could benefit all them. It's quite impossible to get all the major counties in the world to agree on pretty much anything. That's the difference 1 thing is at least possible.

Cheers!!!

Albertan Freerollers and value scroungers- are we cooked?

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Alberta Online Casino Laws & Regulations at Market Launch | RotoWire

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