GGPoker and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have announced that the WSOP's online-poker brand will be coming to Canada within a few weeks. The famed brand, available on a platform powered by GGPoker, will launch at the WSOP.ca and be available to residents of Ontario, Canada's most populous province.
The fully-regulated room is among the first wave of rooms approved to go live under Ontario's new iGaming regulatory regime. The exact launch date remains unclear, as the final pieces of the agreement between the WSOP, GGPoker, and the regulatory body, iGaming Ontario, await a final overview and approval, a process that should take only days.
Only players physically present in Ontario will be able to play for real money on the WSOP.ca site at the present time. The site will operate in a ringfenced manner similar to how the WSOP brand is available in a few other jurisdictions, such as the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Launch includes promotions and bonus offers
As with most such debuts, the WSOP plans to incentivize new Ontarian players to sign up early. According to a joint statement from the WSOP and GGPoker, a "wide range" of such promotions and sign-up bonuses will be made available, with details available as the live launch arrives.
New players will also be enrolled automatically into WSOP parent company Caesars' broad Caesars Rewards loyalty program, which includes the traditional variety, of gaming, lodging, entertainment, and food-and-beverage offers.
GGPoker's Global Ambassador Daniel Negrean is a native of Toronto, which is both Canada's and Ontario's most populous city. Though Negreanu moved to Las Vegas and became an American citizen to further his poker career, he remains closely tied to Toronto and Ontario. “As a proud Ontario native, I’m thrilled that poker’s two greatest brands have come together to launch WSOP.CA and offer the Ontario poker community the perfect place to play online,” said Negreanu. “You’ll be seeing exclusive WSOP rewards and tournaments, running on GGPoker’s amazing app - what’s not to love about that?”
“This partnership combines the best poker brand with the top poker software, and we’re thrilled to launch this online poker room for Ontario players,” said the WSOP's Executive Director, Ty Stewart added. “We look forward to seeing Ontarians qualify for the live WSOP in Las Vegas this summer and challenge native son Daniel Negreanu for a gold bracelet.”
Existing GGPoker players based in Ontario can transfer their accounts to WSOP.ca as well. These players will be prompted to consent to an automated account-transfer process that will move their balances to the new WSOP-branded platform. These existing GGPoker players will also be eligible for the bonuses and promotions being offered.
Featured image source: GGPoker
