Ontario’s regulated peer-to-peer poker market took CA$122 million in cash wagers in August, according to iGaming Ontario’s monthly market performance data published on Wednesday, September 23. That is a modest 5 per cent recovery from July. It is also 19 per cent below the CA$151 million wagered in August 2025, and it marks the first time since the province opened its private online market in April 2022 that an August has come in below the August before it.
Poker’s non-adjusted gross gaming revenue, the rake and tournament fees operators keep before costs, came to CA$5.6 million. That was up 6 per cent on July and down 18 per cent on the CA$6.8 million recorded a year earlier. Across the whole market, cash wagers were CA$9.74 billion, down 1 per cent from July’s record, and total NAGGR was CA$396.3 million, down 4 per cent.
Four Augusts of Growth, Then a Reversal
August has historically been a solid month for Ontario online poker. The iGaming Ontario data tables show August poker wagers rising every year from the market’s first summer until this one.
| August | P2P poker wagers (CA$M) | P2P poker NAGGR (CA$M) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 68 | 2.2 |
| 2023 | 132 | 5.1 |
| 2024 | 137 | 5.9 |
| 2025 | 151 | 6.8 |
| 2026 | 122 | 5.6 |
Source: iGaming Ontario Monthly Market Performance Data Tables, August 2026 edition (publication date September 23, 2026; data extracted September 21). Figures are unaudited and subject to adjustment. August 2022 was the market’s fifth month of operation.
The August figure is the second-lowest monthly poker handle since mid-2023. Only July 2026, at CA$116 million, came in lower. Both months sit below every month from July 2023 through June 2026, according to the product-level series in the iGaming Ontario workbook.
The Longer View Is Flatter Than the Headline
A single month can mislead. The rolling totals are less dramatic but point the same way. Over the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, Ontario players wagered CA$1.645 billion on peer-to-peer poker, generating CA$67.8 million in NAGGR. The prior twelve months produced CA$1.696 billion and CA$69.3 million. That is a decline of about 3 per cent in handle and 2 per cent in revenue.
Calendar 2026 to date tells a similar story. January through August poker wagers total CA$1.100 billion, against CA$1.133 billion for the same eight months of 2025. Year-to-date NAGGR is CA$45.0 million, down from CA$47.4 million.
The 2026 series is also unusually volatile. March produced CA$183 million in wagers, the highest poker month in the market’s history, before April fell 30 per cent to CA$128 million. Weeks later, on May 7, PokerStars went dark in Ontario ahead of its move onto FanDuel, as covered in earlier OntarioPoker.com reporting. The relaunched PokerStars on FanDuel product returned on June 3, per our launch coverage. The summer months that followed have not yet returned poker to its 2025 run rate.
Poker Is a Shrinking Slice of a Growing Market
The contrast with the rest of the market is stark. Casino wagers reached CA$8.776 billion in August, a record 90 per cent share of total handle and 21 per cent above August 2025. Casino NAGGR was CA$336.3 million, up 26 per cent on the year. Sports betting handle rose 10 per cent year over year to CA$843 million, although betting NAGGR fell to CA$54.4 million from CA$60.2 million, and dropped 30 per cent from July in a month with few major leagues in season.
| Segment | Aug 2025 wagers | Aug 2026 wagers | Aug 2025 NAGGR | Aug 2026 NAGGR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casino | 7,223 | 8,776 | 267.8 | 336.3 |
| Sports betting | 765 | 843 | 60.2 | 54.4 |
| P2P poker | 151 | 122 | 6.8 | 5.6 |
| Total | 8,139 | 9,740 | 334.8 | 396.3 |
All figures in CA$ millions. Source: iGaming Ontario Monthly Market Performance Data Tables, August 2025 and August 2026 editions.
Poker now accounts for roughly 1.3 per cent of Ontario’s cash wagers and 1.4 per cent of its NAGGR. iGaming Ontario rounds both to 1 per cent. A year ago, both shares rounded to 2 per cent. Active player accounts across all verticals stood at 1.208 million in August, down 11 per cent from July but up from 1.016 million a year earlier. iGaming Ontario does not publish a poker-only player count.
Why Poker Behaves Differently
Casino and sports betting are house-banked products. Poker is played player against player, and its health depends on how many opponents are seated at the same time. In Ontario, that pool is limited by law to people physically located in the province. Every AGCO-registered room, including GGPoker Ontario, PokerStars on FanDuel, BetMGM Poker, partypoker, 888poker and bwin, runs a separate Ontario-only player pool.
That structure caps guarantees, thins game selection at higher stakes and late at night, and makes poker more sensitive than casino to any disruption on a major site. It is the backdrop to the Supreme Court of Canada hearing on Tuesday, October 7, when nine judges will consider whether Ontario and Alberta may pool regulated online poker players across borders. Our earlier report on the hearing sets out the parties. A decision is not expected before winter, and the August numbers will form part of the context in which it arrives.
August 2026 in five numbers
- CA$122 million in P2P poker cash wagers, up 5 per cent from July and down 19 per cent from August 2025.
- CA$5.6 million in P2P poker NAGGR, up 6 per cent from July and down 18 per cent year over year.
- First year-over-year August decline for Ontario poker since the market opened in April 2022.
- Casino took a record 90 per cent of a CA$9.74-billion total handle.
- Trailing twelve-month poker handle of CA$1.645 billion, down about 3 per cent.
September Is the Real Test
September will give a clearer signal. Two of the year’s biggest Ontario-only online events overlap in the month. PokerStars on FanDuel launched its first Ontario tournament series, the Dynasty Series, on September 12, and GGPoker Ontario’s 2026 WSOP Online Ontario bracelet series began on September 13. That series closes with a CA$1,000 Main Event carrying a record CA$1-million guarantee on October 5, as detailed in our series preview.
If those two series cannot lift September above the CA$144 million recorded in September 2025, the case that Ontario poker has hit a structural ceiling becomes harder to argue against. If they do, August will look like a quiet late-summer month between two operator transitions. iGaming Ontario’s September data is expected in late October, after the Supreme Court has heard argument.
Readers tracking the market month by month can follow the full series on our Ontario poker monthly tracker.
Reporting draws on iGaming Ontario’s Monthly Market Performance Data Tables for August 2026 (published September 23, 2026) and August 2025, and on prior OntarioPoker.com coverage. Year-over-year and rolling comparisons are calculated by OntarioPoker.com from iGaming Ontario’s published monthly series, which the agency describes as unaudited and subject to adjustment. iGaming Ontario figures exclude OLG’s own igaming offering and pari-mutuel horse racing. The illustration is AI-generated for editorial purposes. Nothing in this report is a recommendation to play on or avoid any operator. Online poker in Ontario is limited to players aged 19 or over who are physically located in the province. Free, confidential help is available 24 hours a day from ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600.