Competition is about to heat up in the Ontario poker market. Playtech's ipoker platform has been competitive in other regulated markets, recently overtaking Pokerstars in the Italian market. In their recent earnings call they mentioned Ontario as one of the markets they are focusing on expansion in.

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This industry veteran has already opened up shop with sportsbetting and casino gaming. Playtech has partnered with Northstar bets Ontario to serve the Ontario gambling market. In the companies earlier issued press release, it mentions that they plan to offer poker by the end of the year with the launch of an iPoker network. I haven't played an iPoker skin in several years but am interested to see what they come up with. They will have their work cut out for them to compete with the heavyweights in the geo-restricted market of Ontario.

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It appears that it's going to be quite the challenge to compete with GGpoker and their WSOP brand in Ontario. The possibilities are exciting. It will be interesting to see what's in store as this Ontario poker market matures in the coming years. It is fortunate that the Ford government did the the right way and opened it up to the free market. Ontario poker players will benefit from this legal framework for years to come.

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It feels like poker is about to boom like its 2006 in the province. It will remain to be seen how well all these rooms can do in the segregated market of Ontario. They do have experience in other regulated markets like New Jersey and know what it takes succeed with a geo-restricted offering. I'm skeptical that the market can bear more than three rooms for the bulk of the market share. The competition should be fierce, and it's us, Ontario poker players who stand to benefit.

See our comparison of Online Poker room options in Ontario.

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