Ontario Poker Falls Behind as Regulated iGaming Market Nears Record Levels

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By Samantha Doyle
3 hours ago
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  • Ontario iGaming hit C$9.74B in August, near record levels.
  • Online poker wagers dropped 19% year-over-year, but rose 5% from July.
  • Upcoming tournaments and legal decisions could impact poker’s future.
Ontario Online Poker
Ontario’s regulated iGaming market came close to another record month in August. Unfortunately for provincial online poker, it did not share in the growth.

Peer-to-peer poker wagers fell to C$122 million, down 19% from August 2025, while poker revenue dropped 18% to C$5.6 million. That makes poker a clear outlier in a provincial market that continues to generate close to C$10 billion in monthly wagering.

Poker Falls While the Wider Market Holds Firm

Ontario’s total regulated online wagering reached C$9.74 billion in August, just below July’s all-time high of C$9.884 billion, while revenue across the market reached C$396.3 million.


Out of all of that, poker remained responsible for only around 1% of both measures.


August 2026Wagers2025
Toronto iGamingC$9.74BC$396.3M
Online CasinoC$8.776BC$336.3M
Online Poker
C$122MC$5.6M

As the table will tell you, casino continued to dominate the market, accounting for around 90% of total wagering.


Poker’s C$122 million in cash wagers compared with C$151 million in August 2025, while revenue fell from C$6.8 million to C$5.6 million.

Month-on-Month Numbers Tell a Different Story

While inumbers have udoubtedly been going down, this latest report is not entirely negative for poker.

August wagering rose 5% from July, while poker revenue increased 6% over the same period.
That leaves the vertical in an unusual position: recovering slightly month-over-month while still performing considerably below last year’s level.

It is also the second consecutive month in which Ontario poker has lagged its 2025 performance. July had already shown poker as the only major gaming category to contract year-over-year.

September Series Could Lift Poker Activity

While this recent summer decline is unmistakable, operators have more tournament traffic to work with in September.

GGPoker.ca is hosting its fifth WSOP Online Ontario bracelet series, while PokerStars on FanDuel Ontario is running the Dynasty Series. Since both of these are significant tournament campaigns they should be reflected in the September reporting period.

The next set of numbers to come out should provide a test of whether poker’s summer decline was a temporary lag or part of a longer trend.

Ontario Poker Heads Toward a Bigger Regulatory Question

These monthly figures also arrive ahead of a potentially important legal development. Next Wednesday, October 7, the Supreme Court of Canada is due to hear a case concerning whether Ontario’s ring-fenced poker market can share player liquidity across provincial boundaries.


Right now, Ontario’s regulated poker operators serve players inside a closed provincial pool. Any change to those rules could materially affect tournament fields, cash-game liquidity and the range of games available to players.


The next few months should show whether stronger September tournament traffic can reverse the trend and whether the regulatory framework around the market is about to change with it.

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