WSOP is headed to Toronto, Ontario, for the first time!
GGPoker and Great Canadian Entertainment announced Monday that a WSOP Circuit event — WSOP Toronto — with an estimated prize pool of $3.9 million would be held at Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto this spring.
That was sweet news for Daniel Negreanu, global ambassador for GGPoker (also known as WSOP Ontario and WSOP @ GGPoker) and the most famous poker player from Ontario, Canada. Kid Poker is also a Toronto native.
“I have been playing WSOP events around the world for over 25 years,” Negreanu said. “There is something quite special about being able to finally compete in one in my hometown.”
It’s also great news for Ontario online poker, which begins its third year of operations on April 4.
The series begins on March 22 and ends on April 1. In a joint statement, GGPoker said it would feature eight WSOP Circuit Ring events in total.
- Skip the registration lines: Win your seat to the inaugural WSOPC Toronto Main Event, with a prize pool expected to be over CAD $2 million!
- $50 online mega-satellites with 10 guaranteed seats on March 24 & 25 & steps starting at just $1.
- Seats are filling fast! Sign up today and jump into the action.
- Win your seat to the inaugural WSOP Circuit Toronto Main Event, with a prize pool expected to be over CAD $2 million!
- $100 Mega Satellites on March 18 open exclusively to GGPoker players in Canada (ex-Ontario).
- Last chance to qualify for this event and seats are filling up fast! Sign up today and jump into the action.
GGPoker said it was launching satellites on Monday across Ontario and Canada. The satellites will run on GGPoker.ca for WSOP Ontario players, while Canadians in other provinces have access via GGPoker’s global dot-com platform. Buy-ins were starting at $1.
The operator, which has a partnership with WSOP in Ontario, sent 774 players to the Main Event of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. It also recent sent 1000 players to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas.
Included in the $3.9 million series is a $2000 Main Event with a $2.1 million prize pool and a $3500 High Roller event with more than $850,000 in prizes — all of which are estimates.
An Event “Longggg Overdue”
Fellow Canadian and GGPoker’s Team Canada Ambassador, Patrick “Egption” Tardif, also shared the news on social media.
“Longggg overdue. Excited to support and make this a massive successful event!” Tardif posted on Monday to X, formerly Twitter.
The news was, to put it lightly, welcome news for Ontario’s poker players.
One respondent, craig (@bluejays3333) said it was “about time. Such a massive market and no tournament venues close by. Always went to Montreal. Hopefully this is only the beginning.”
He later added that he was “curious as to why it’s only being introduced now. Advertising for the event isn’t great. Hopefully turnout is huge and they have bigger events in the future. Ontario has been starving for a tournament series.”
The complaint about advertising is interesting, especially considering that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) told pokerfuse in an exclusive earlier this month that Negreanu, Tardif, and other poker celebrities could appear in advertising and marketing for gambling — provided they do not appear in media that appeals to minors.
Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, the largest casino resort in Canada and one of the largest in North America, opened last year. The facility, built adjacent to Woodbine Racetrack, recently opened a 30-table poker room.
“We are thrilled to partner with GGPoker to bring the World Series of Poker to the City of Toronto for the very first time,” said Robert Katsavelos, the resort’s general manager. “We are excited to welcome tournament participants from across the North American poker community and from right here in the City of Toronto.”
WSOPC Toronto 2024 Schedule
| Date | Event | Buy-in | Estimated Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Mar 22 | WSOPC Event #1: NLH Turbo | C$250 | |
| Sat, Mar 23 | WSOPC Event #2: NLH | C$1,000 | |
| Sun, Mar 24 | WSOPC Event #3: NLH 6-Max | C$600 | |
| Mon, Mar 25 | WSOPC Event #4: NLH Deepstack | C$400 | |
| Tue, Mar 26 | WSOPC Event #5: NLH | C$250 | |
| Wed, Mar 27 | WSOPC Event #6: NLH | C$600 | |
| Thu, Mar 28 | WSOPC Event #7: Main Event – Flight A | C$2,000 | C$2,100,000 |
| Fri, Mar 29 | WSOPC Event #7: Main Event – Flight B | C$2,000 | C$2,100,000 |
| Sat, Mar 30 | WSOPC Event #7: Main Event – Flight C | C$2,000 | C$2,100,000 |
| Mon, Apr 1 | WSOPC Event #8: High Roller | C$3,500 | C$850,000 |
