Last week I got two emails informing me I had to withdrawal my bankroll because of where I live, Canada. The emails were sent to me by Genting Poker (iPoker) and Devilfish Poker (Entraction).

I've only been on Genting for about a month. I don't really like the iPoker Network (Titan, Poker770), but I signed up to take advantage of some pretty awesome added-money tourneys offered by The Hendon Mob, who now play there. Luckily, the ban is limited to Genting, and is not a network-wide ban. I was not so lucky with Devilfish Poker. That ban is network-wide. Russia, Norway, Hungary and a few other countries were also banned. I've been playing on Entraction rooms off and on for years. I love the software, and they have rakeback, as well as a decent player pool.

What gets me is I've been following multiple poker news sites on a daily basis for years, as well as follow a number of poker tweeters. I've never heard anything about poker sites being targeted by the Canadian gov't. Online poker is less of an issue in Canada because poker winnings are only taxed if you play poker professionally. For most players, online poker winnings are not taxed. I think we're only being booted from online poker sites because we're close to the US. Instead of being two entirely seperate nations, we're lumped in together, as North America.

Right now Canadians are banned from Genting Poker (iPoker), the Boss Network (Poker Heaven, InterPoker), WSOP.com (888 Network) and the Entraction Network (24h, Paradise). I suspect some of the Entraction skins will jump networks, or open a skin on another network for their Canadian players. Paradise Poker has always done that in the past. Still, it bugs me. I really liked the Entraction software. All the software I love leaves me.

Why dont you email them and ask?. They should give reason as to why you cant play and, if they dont, you shouldnt trust them anyhow. Its all dodgy chit with online poker behnd the scenes. Look at what we see from the outside from all poker news. Imagine the inside. Dodgy. Pure dodgy.

Got email responses back from both Genting and Devilfish. Both stated legal reasons, but neither would go into specifics.

However, I did some research, and found an interesting article published about a year ago, when Boss Network poker rooms (Poker Heaven, InterPoker) blocked Canadians. The article speculated that they may have done so to up their chances of obtaining a Canadian online gambling license. Apparantly, according to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Loto-Quebec and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, online gaming products in Canada are prohibited. Less than a year after banning Canadian players Boss now operates, or provides the software for British Columbia's first legal online poker room, playnow.com.

I played Stars today.

It didn't crash.

I won then lost then won some Real Money $. Not much, but I enjoyed my little session.

Stars let me log in. I love Canada.





/landofthe'free'rant