Despite the controversy surrounding Full Tilt and PokerStars last year, Canadians have continued to play online poker in record numbers.
Canadians are on average twice as likely to play online poker as Americans, according to a report by G-poker. A study by researchers from the University of Nevada and the University of Hamburg, found that the prevalence of online poker players in Canada varies, from 68 per cent of residents in Nova Scotia and 83 per cent of those in Ontario playing online poker, to 2.54 per cent of all residents of the north west territories being online poker players.
These numbers reflect Canadian habits directly preceding the events of Black Friday, when several major online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were shut down. Since that time, PokerStars has reopened its doors to Canadian players, but it is sites that were uninvolved in Black Friday, like 888 Poker, that are proving most popular in Canada since the shutdown.
"Traffic reports show that Canadians haven't stopped playing online poker - it's where they play that's changed," said G-poker spokesman Jeremy Taylor. "Since Black Friday, players are rapidly moving towards sites run by publicly traded companies, such as 888, bwin.party and Playtech."
"888 Poker has long held a prominent place in the Canadian online poker market and became even more popular after Black Friday," Taylor continued. "The fact that 888 closed its doors to US players and maintained a good reputation with the federal government puts 888 first in line for American legalisation.
"Party Poker is also in line for US legalisation. It's only been since the major shutdown events that Canadians have had the chance to find out just how excellent 888 and Party's online poker platforms are, and now that they have, there's simply no competition."
