The World Series of Poker will finally be heading North of the Border, Canada!  A WSOP circuit event will be held at the River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond British Columbia from October 27 to November 7, 2012 during this 9th season.  WSOP Canada 2012 will be the first time that a WSOP circuit event will be held outside the United States.  This is some fantastic news for poker tournament enthusiasts after hearing the big news that the World Poker Tour (WPT) will be coming back to Canada.

With 12 events in 12 days the action will be hot and heavy.  Event 1 starts off with a $345 2 day event, and the series ends with Event 12 a $345 Omaha and Holdem 1 day mixed event.  Event #7 is the main event, a 5 day (3 day 1s) $1,650 buyin event starting on Friday November 2.  Players will start with 20,000 chips, with the structure remaining the same as other WSOP circuit main events.

All these WSOP Canada events are Ring events, so winners will take home a WSOP ring for their winning efforts.  Win the WSOP Canada main event, and you will also gain entry into the National Championship, where a gold bracelet will be on the line as well as $1,000,000 prize pool in which you will be freerolled into.  Next year’s 2013 WSOP National Championship will take place May 21-23, 2013 in New Orleans.

There will also be 2 online events yet to be scheduled as part of the WSOP Canada circuit. These online events will be ring events and will be played on PlayNow.com, the BC Lottery’s gaming site. For now only B.C. residents may play on PlayNow.com, but hopefully there will be an exception for these 2 wsop events so that all Canadians have a chance to win a WSOP ring online.

There is no word on satellites to WSOP Canada events yet.

More details to follow.

No location has been announced yet but the usual list of potential locations for the Toronto Casino include; Canadian National Exhibition (CNE where current temporary casino is held), Woodbine Racetracks, Man-made island in Lake Ontario (Harbourfront), Richmond Hill, Markham, Mississauga.

In 5 years GTA poker players will no longer have to travel to Port Perry, Niagara Falls, Brantford, Sarnia, Orillia, Windsor, or Thousand Islands to play poker in Ontario.  With a megacity like Toronto with a casino, it will be just a matter of time before the biggest of online poker tournaments such as the WPT, WSOP, or even smaller ones such as the CPT, HPT or DSPT come to the Tdot for a mega Toronto Poker Tournament.

On Monday November 14th at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond B.C., British Columbia’s favourite goalie to love and to hate is hosting a charity poker tournament.  Vancouver Canucks all-star goaltender Roberto Luongo, along with BCLC’s PlayNow.com, their online regulated gambling website, will be hosting a poker tournament to raise support for hockey education, grassroots hockey programs, and youth health and wellness.

Here is the Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic Press Release:

PlayNow.com announces Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic

Goaltender hosts charity poker tournament at River Rock Casino Resort

Vancouver B.C., November 7, 2011 – Poker players in B.C. will have the opportunity to sit at the poker table with the Vancouver goaltender at the Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic.

The charity poker tournament will take place at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, B.C. on November 14, 2011.

It is estimated $80,000 will be raised to support hockey education, grassroots hockey programs and youth health and wellness in B.C. Attendees will be able to bid on items in live and silent auctions.

“This is a great opportunity to raise money for a terrific cause through a fun night of entertainment,” explained Roberto Luongo. “I enjoy getting together with friends to play poker and to have the proceeds donated to charity means a lot to everyone.”

Prizes at the charity tournament will include an estimated $45,000 prize pool as well as a number of themed prizes donated by friends of Luongo.

Would-be participants have a number of options to attend the charity tournament. Players can win entry through daily qualifying poker tournaments on PlayNow.com, running nightly until November 12 at 9 p.m. (PST).

Seats to play in the tournament are available to the public, who can purchase seats on a first-come basis through the River Rock Casino Resort by calling 604-247-8983 to register.

Buy-in to the tournament is $300, with an optional $200 charity donation which includes a complimentary stay at the River Rock Hotel, a PlayNow.com gift bag and a number of collectible items. Additional information on the tournament is available at PlayNow.com.

“This promises to be an exciting event for poker players,” added Rhonda Garvey, Vice President of eGaming, BCLC. “Whether playing Luongo online or winning entry to his charity tournament, it’s great to have such unique experiential prizes available for our players to win.”

Operated by BCLC, PlayNow.com is BC’s only legal and regulated online gambling website. PlayNow.com offers socially responsible gambling entertainment while generating income to benefit all British Columbians.

For more information please contact:

Chris Fairclough

Communications Officer

(604) 341-1935

Canadian Poker Network operations are based in Canada. The system is housed in a Montreal based data centre and poker network operations are in the National Operations Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick.

“The CPN is an excellent example of the kind of convergence of the igaming and lottery industries that GTECH G2 was created to serve,” said Paolo Personeni, President of GTECH G2. “We are proud to be partnered with such innovative lotteries, and look forward to enabling other lottery corporations to enter the igaming space with confidence.”

GTECH G2 is providing eight poker variants including Texas Hold’em and Canadian Stud (or Soko) which is played the same way as 5-Card Stud except that there are two extra combinations: a four-card Flush and a four-card Straight.

The Playnow.com poker room is now open.  Grand opening promotions include a $100,000 freeroll on March 27, and you can also win VIP Vancouver Canucks tickets.  There is also a Bad Beat Jackpot going on which is now over $300,000.  Simply lose with quad jacks or better, and win the BBJ!

Here is the official press release:

Loto-Québec and GTECH G2 Launch the Canadian Poker Network

Loto-Québec’s EspaceJeux.com igaming site now live and taking real-money wagers

13 December 2010 (London, UK) – GTECH G2 and Loto-Québec have successfully launched the first regulated poker network in North America. Presented by Loto-Québec on its new Espacejeux.com igaming site, the Canadian Poker Network (CPN) features the state-of-the-art poker software operating on a number of networks in Europe but will be open only to residents of the province of Quebec, Canada.

GTECH G2 will host its Canadian Poker Network operations in Canada. The system will be housed in its Montreal based data centre. Operations will be based in the  National Operations Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick.  The agreement with this WLA lottery operator is a 5 year operating contract with two, two-year extensions.

GTECH G2 is providing eight poker variants for the history-making poker network including Texas Hold’em and Canadian Stud (or Soko) which is played the same way as 5-Card Stud except that there are two extra combinations: a four-card Flush and a four-card Straight.

Available in both French and English, Espacejeux.com, began registering players on the 19^th November and started to take its first real money wagers 1^st December. It offers a full range of control and prevention measures that are among the most innovative in the industry.

“This is a major milestone for the lottery and igaming industries,” said Paolo Personeni, President of GTECH G2. “We’re very proud to be involved with such a highly-regarded WLA member in establishing the first regulated poker network in North America.”

GTECH G2 is the only interactive gaming software and services provider that can supply a complete end-to-end solution including lottery, poker, sports betting, bingo, casino, skill games, instant games and back office systems to commercial and state-run operators.

ENDS

Media inquiries:
Larry Colcy, Lyceum Media
G2@lyceummedia.com    +44 (0) 208 123 7184

About GTECH G2 (www.gtechg2.com)
Only GTECH G2 can provide the complete suite of core platform gaming engines, innovative content and flexible support services to both enterprises who are just entering the interactive space as well as to those who already offer a fully mature suite of interactive games. Its portfolio of expertise and digital solutions covers Lottery, Poker, Bingo, Sports Betting, Casino, Skill Games, Instant Games as well as a full range of back office and business solutions to help maximize revenues. The group brings together the lottery expertise of GTECH with Boss Media, a leading innovator in software and systems for Poker, Casino and Bingo entertainment; Finsoft , a leading provider of enterprise-wide real time trading solutions for the commercial sports betting industry – both interactive and retail; St Minver, a fully managed service provider of Internet games to media, lifestyle, and other brands; and Dynamite Idea, a developer of unique, innovative digital instant and side games.  salesteam@gtechg2.com

About This Promotion

How do I qualify for this promotion?

Qualifying is easy. Follow the three steps below to qualify:

1. Login to PlayNow.com (not a member? Register Now)
2. Make a single deposit of at least $100 to your Account prior to 11:59pm October 5th, 2010.
3. Then wager $100 (cumulative) on PlayNow.com casino games prior to 11:59pm October 5th, 2010.

This offer is only valid one time during the specified time period.

When do I receive my Casino Token?

Your Casino Token is credited to your account once you have wagered at least $100 on casino games.

This promotion expires on Oct 15, 2010 and only players living in BC are allowed to play on PlayNow.com

Playnow.com though did not launch sucessfully. BCLC’s online gaming site was taken down shortly after as the accounts belonging to 134 playing users were compromised. In total $8000 was illegally wagered and those users had partial credit card numbers revealed, banking information, and other personal info were compromised. A security breach of this sort is not a good thing for a new startup company trying to earn the trust of its players. The PlayNow system also crashed on the first day after unexpected levels of traffic.

So as of right now PlayNow.com is currently unavailable.

BCLC apologizes for the inconvenience this has caused to all our players.

A solution has been implemented and we are now in the process of third party testing and verification. Once complete, next steps will be to receive regulatory certification and the site will be re-launched.

The BCLC better get their act together if they wish to add online poker to their offering. Poker players are less forgiving.