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Message: [QUOTE="CRStals, post: 6288870, member: 161937"] All of the above is true however there is one stark difference between those US States and Ontario in terms of the impact to online poker - the access to live poker. In Ontario live poker is a shell of what it could - and should be. For a province with a population of 14 Million Plus - half of which located in the GTHA (Greater Toronto & Hamilton area) the number of poker rooms available is sparse and the list has not been fully verified by myself: Casino Rama (~1 hour) Casino Niagara (~2 hours) Fallsview Casino (~2 hours) Caesars Windsor (~4 hours) Great Blue Heron (~90 mins) Elements Brantford (~90 mins) Shorelines Thousand Islands (~2 1/2 hours but not positive they have it anymore) Playground Poker Club (Montreal, QC - 5/12 hours) The point is - the lack of viable live poker is going to seriously hinder one's ability to fully appreciate and enjoy the game today. Many other casinos exist but do not offer poker as it has been phased out of many places in the province. Without knowing who is going to be on the approved list of operators makes forecasting the full and true impact difficult but I would expect: PokerStars.on.ca GG Poker maybe PartyPoker Ontario Regardless, these operators are probably going to push the casino and sportsbetting side as that market is seen to be much larger than poker, but going after pure poker players is going to require large incentives to get people in. I'd hope the traffic at first would be OK but being restricted to Ontario only will certainly make grinding difficult, forget losing out on SCOOP, WCOOP, Sunday Million, GG Masters, and WSOP circuits. Obviously the "grey" sites like ACR, Sportsbetting, Bovida and BetOnline will most likely continue. I for one get why they are doing this but hate the approach they have taken as there is a serious concern to the long term viability of playing poker in this province with all of this going through and so little information coming from the government. Par for the course - but of course with an election coming they are pushing positive news like removing the license plate sticker renewals, teasing easing COVID restrictions and dealing with the blockades that are clogging up border crossings and Ottawa in general. [/QUOTE]

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