US Online Poker Pros in Canada


Ever since Black Friday (April 15th), major US online poker pros have been pondering a move to Canada since they can no longer play at some of the biggest poker sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt (although nobody can play at FT anymore). And some pros are starting to act on these thoughts, including Cole South and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond.

South was the first of the US online poker pros to make the jump to Canada in late May. He was involved in a session with the mysterious “Esvedra” who’s been rumored to be Canadian billionaire Guy Laliberte. During the session, Cole South won over $200k, which is pretty good for somebody who’s struggled over the past couple of years after dropping $6 million.

Moving past South, Phil Galfond is the latest person to make the jump to Canada since he’s been seen on PokerStars. Interestingly enough, Galfond didn’t play as high of stakes as he normally does; instead, he was found on the $25/$50 NLHE and PLO tables. Unfortunately, the return to online poker hasn’t been totally successful for Galfond since he’s lost $20k, but he didn’t seem too shaken up after tweeting, “After 3 months off of online poker, I’d forgotten about downswings. Oh well. Still happy to be playing. I love the game.”

One last person worth discussing in regards to the US online poker pros moving north includes Dan “Jungleman12” Cates. However, there’s a twist in Cates’ story since he was prevented from actually getting into Canada. The reason why is because he didn’t have a VISA, which is a must for self-employed foreigners in Canada. At this point, Cates is still waiting in Seattle until he can get into Canada.