In the wake of April 15th's Black Friday shutdown of the major U.S. online poker sites, there was much talk of prominent poker players moving abroad to continue playing. For six weeks this summer all the attention of the poker world was focused on Las Vegas for the 42nd World Series of Poker and its 58 prestigious live tournaments. Now a couple weeks on from the WSOP and the anecdotal evidence is that many top online poker players are moving north to Canada.
Canada is attractive to many players due to its proximity and familiarity of culture and language. Players have been investigating and planning the transition for weeks now.
Phil Galfond has established residence in Vancouver B.C. inviting fellow high stakes friends Dan ‘jungleman12’ Cates and Haseeb Quereshi to join him. Cole South, Vanessa Peng and numerous others have moved near Montreal to set themselves up to play online again. Olivier Busquet discussed his move north on recent PokerNews podcast.
Brian Hastings recently shared his relocation considerations on Twitter, heavily considering Canada to return to high stakes online play. Even predominately live player Daniel Negreanu has re-established residency in Toronto, Canada, where he grew up, to allow him to play online when he visits home.
For every high profile pro, there are tens of other less high profile poker players who are plotting the same move to ensure the opportunity to continue their poker earnings.
Many of the World Poker Tour's Tony Dunst poker buddies are packing their bags for Canada.“Their lives revolved around playing online. They have no wives or kids,” he said. “They’re capable of making so much money online that it would be extremely financially stupid for them not to move.”
“You’re talking about people with a lot of discretionary income who like to spend it,” he said. “These are educated, bright guys and excellent consumers who weren’t frustrated by the economy.”While some may transition to live play like grinder Shaun Deeb, many strong online poker player prefer the speed, volume and technique involved in online poker to its live variation.“Guys in their 20s who were making from $30,000 to $80,000 or more online ... what other life skills do they really have?” said Dan Michalski, editor of a poker news and information website. “A lot of people are really lost and confused right now.”The U.S. government is forcing tough decisions on its citizens with their strict enforcement of the 1996 UIGEA regulations. Some of the brightest and best will head north bringing with them their large spending power. They will face higher taxes on all goods and services and face a long cold hard winter, much more severe than in most parts of the U.S. But that is a small price to pay for these top online poker grinders in order to assure their potentially lucrative livelihoods.
Who knows if they will so readily return if and when U.S. legislators eventually enact regulations for the online poker market in the U.S.?
Canada is attractive to many players due to its proximity and familiarity of culture and language. Players have been investigating and planning the transition for weeks now.
Phil Galfond has established residence in Vancouver B.C. inviting fellow high stakes friends Dan ‘jungleman12’ Cates and Haseeb Quereshi to join him. Cole South, Vanessa Peng and numerous others have moved near Montreal to set themselves up to play online again. Olivier Busquet discussed his move north on recent PokerNews podcast.
Brian Hastings recently shared his relocation considerations on Twitter, heavily considering Canada to return to high stakes online play. Even predominately live player Daniel Negreanu has re-established residency in Toronto, Canada, where he grew up, to allow him to play online when he visits home.
For every high profile pro, there are tens of other less high profile poker players who are plotting the same move to ensure the opportunity to continue their poker earnings.
Many of the World Poker Tour's Tony Dunst poker buddies are packing their bags for Canada.“Their lives revolved around playing online. They have no wives or kids,” he said. “They’re capable of making so much money online that it would be extremely financially stupid for them not to move.”
“You’re talking about people with a lot of discretionary income who like to spend it,” he said. “These are educated, bright guys and excellent consumers who weren’t frustrated by the economy.”While some may transition to live play like grinder Shaun Deeb, many strong online poker player prefer the speed, volume and technique involved in online poker to its live variation.“Guys in their 20s who were making from $30,000 to $80,000 or more online ... what other life skills do they really have?” said Dan Michalski, editor of a poker news and information website. “A lot of people are really lost and confused right now.”The U.S. government is forcing tough decisions on its citizens with their strict enforcement of the 1996 UIGEA regulations. Some of the brightest and best will head north bringing with them their large spending power. They will face higher taxes on all goods and services and face a long cold hard winter, much more severe than in most parts of the U.S. But that is a small price to pay for these top online poker grinders in order to assure their potentially lucrative livelihoods.
Who knows if they will so readily return if and when U.S. legislators eventually enact regulations for the online poker market in the U.S.?
