When you think of gambling, most people immediately think of Vegas. Sin city has its place with all the lights and big city noise, but poker is gaining in popularity in Canada. More and more Canadians are entering the spot light as professional players and winners. In November 2010 it was a Canadian by the name of Jonathan Duhamel that won the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Jonathan is a native Quebecer where the first Poker Pro Classic was held last year. With a record 246 players showing up to play in its first season it became the largest poker tournament in Quebec history. Canada’s largest poker tournament happens in Quebec as well. At the Windsor Hotel in Montreal city, almost 1800 players play poker, and fundraise at the same time. The top 30 players are flown out to Las Vegas for the finale.

Poker is not just limited to Quebec. In almost every province across Canada if you spend just a moment looking online for a game or tournament you can find one easily. Buy in costs also range in price. In looking online I have found satellite games for fewer than two dollars a buy in, up to thousands of dollars for some of the larger tournaments.

Alberta has earned its place in the spotlight as well. A research team in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada created a bot in 2003. They named it Vex bot and let it play against FullTiltPoker star Phil Laak. Phil easily beat the bot, but the research team didn’t quit. PokerBot created in 2005, repeated its match against Phil Laak winning the game in only two and a half hours. . The number one bot in North America as of yet, was created by this team.

The increasing popularity of poker in Canada is not limited to just in the casinos or in kitchen style games. It is increasing rapidly on the internet as well. The issue that Canadians are finding is that some sites can not process Canadian credit cards, leaving them out of the game and increasingly angry. Websites became aware of the issue and have recently opened play to Canada as well. There are also options to play in the Canadian dollar instead of the widely used American dollar.

The bonus of being Canadian and playing poker, just like any gambling in Canada, is that you do not have to pay taxes on any of the winnings. Unlike American winners of lotteries, casinos, poker games, or any other form of gambling, Canadians get to keep every cent that they win. The exception is, if you play poker as your main source of income. Then there are some taxes that need to be paid. If this is you, keep track of every hand you play, of your wins and your losses and consider hiring an accountant when you file your taxes. The expenses you incur as a professional player, such as meal and hotel stays are write offs.

The percentage of Canadians that play on www.FullTiltPoker.net is third ranked spot in the world, behind the United States and Britain. However quickly as more and more Canadians find a love of the game, this could change.