Pokerstars legality in Canada, Montreal

Skrill is a no-no in Canada, they pulled out.

Pokerstars is perfectly legal in Canada for real money poker and does not face the restrictions like it does in the US.

Options for depositing are:
-> Visa/Mastercard
-> Instant eCheck
-> Instadebit
-> Entropay
-> Ukash
-> Paysafecard

Hey camses,

Yes, you can play from Canada but it is not exactly legal. No poker room holds a Canadian government licence and providing online gaming services to Canadians is illegal.

However poker rooms are acting on legal advice they have received which is basically this:

1) The Canadian Government is not interested in pursuing and has no jurisdiction over off shore operators.

2) The Canadian Government's main concern is the advertising of real money games within and to Canadians.

To that end, in recent months PokerStars have pulled their sponsorship of the Montreal Festival and BetFred and Bet365 have pulled their sponsorship of Canadian sporting teams and competitions. In fact PokerStars take this advice so seriously, they no longer advertise PokerStars.net in Canada.

Regards

Laz

I live in eastern Canada and also play at Stars. No issues at all for the present.

Only concern is that Amaya (which now owns Pokerstars) is based in Canada and many analysts have indicated that this would bring Lazza's first point sharply into focus... that it now falls under Canadian Jurisdiction.

It isn't so much that the Canadian government would necessarily go after AmayaStars, so much as that AmayaStars may voluntarily pull out of Canada to secure it's future in the United States or other large markets who are afraid of it operating in "grey markets". This is why, just a few weeks ago, they suddenly pulled out of 30 other countries that were considered "grey markets" - to ensure they did not lose the more lucrative UK market.

How likely is this? Nobody really knows.

so the question is not that trivial as i thought, i could have my pokerstars balance blocked or lost in the near future

Hey guys,

It is unlikely that PokerStars will run into trouble in Canada. They are in ongoing negotiations with a Quebec lottery provider to share a licence. This enables them to justify Canada as not being a grey market as they are trying to proactively force change and regulation.

Cheers

Laz

Originally posted by CRI4BRA
so the question is not that trivial as i thought, i could have my pokerstars balance blocked or lost in the near future

Hi, CRI4BRA,
In the past when anyone has pulled out of Canada, there has been a grace period during which you can withdraw your balance.

The exception was Black Friday, but that was not due to the poker rooms, but rather to the US Govt.

I live on Canada's Wet Coast, and the same situation applies here. The British Columbia Lottery corporation is the only entity "legally" entitled to offer on line gaming, but their games out of my reach. The buy-ins are so high that there is no earthly way a casual player could consider playing there and maintain sound BRM.

So far, they have left the online rooms alone.

Cheers,
VS

Thank you the answers!

So I can play at PokerStars in Montreal, but I can't use my Skrill card.
But will that make any difference if i don't change my location info in my PokeStars account, I leave my credit card at my relatives at home, and I withdraw the money via Skrill. Afterwards they transfer that money to me. Do you think that could work?
I think this will be the best option, because I don't have to use my original bank account to directly withdraw money from PokerStars, and I won't have Canadian bank account. I think this is only a temporary residence in Canada so PokerStars shouldn't have any problem with this.
What do you think?

Originally posted by camses
What do you think?

Hi, camses
I think that this is too important a decision to make based on what I (or anyone) thinks.

I suggest an email to PokerStars Support saying something like:

I currently reside in <current location> but I will be spending <amount of time> in Montreal, Canada. I will not be a permanent resident in Canada, but a <visa type -- visitor, student etc>.

I currently use Skrill to deposit and withdraw my PokerStars bankroll. I won't have a Canadian bank account. Please advise my best options for funding my account while in Canada.

yada yada yada

(don't include the yada yada yada)
But DO include your PokerStars screen name, and any detail you feel is relevant.

If this was my money, I would reduce my PokerStars bankroll to the minimum for the duration.

I rather suspect that if you maintain a permanent residency in your home country, then Skrill transfers may still be possible.

By making sure you know the terms and conditions, and by making sure you follow them, then you protect your bankroll.

You wouldn't believe the number of times I've read that someone lost their bankroll because they did something without checking for consequences.

I don't ever want to read another.

Be safe, and best of luck,
VS

Isn't PokerStars a sponsor of the Toronto Raptors always shown in their arena? Or did they change that this year? I don't think they did though

No mention of PokerStars or Avaya on this list of sponsors (forbes.com) or on the Raptors' home page.

This article says they renewed their deal through the end of 2012, but I can find nothing more recent.

Cheers,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
No mention of PokerStars or Avaya on this list of sponsors (forbes.com) or on the Raptors' home page.

This article says they renewed their deal through the end of 2012, but I can find nothing more recent.

Cheers,
VS

Ok so i double checked. At the start of the Raptors - Bulls game a few days ago they say this game is brought to you by pokerstars mobile + a few other sponsors. The feed is from the Arena, so i'm not sure if pokerstars is the sponsor of the club or the arena or the TSN network, but it's definetly a sponsor of something of the above.

Regards,

Skod