By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · April 9, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
The 2026 U.S. Poker Open gets under way on April 10 at PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Ten events run through April 22, all in No-Limit Hold'em format, with buy-ins ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. It's one of the cleaner high-stakes formats on the calendar: no mixed games, no side events to dilute the field, just a sequence of NLH tournaments that tend to attract a concentrated group of elite players.
Among the names worth watching are two Canadians who consistently appear near the top of the all-time live money rankings. Daniel Dvoress and Sam Greenwood both trace their roots to the Toronto area, and both have accumulated results that put them in the conversation with the best tournament players in the world.
The Return of the High-Stakes Festival
The U.S. Poker Open has established itself as one of the more reliable high-stakes events on the annual American poker calendar. The PokerGO Studio setting at ARIA is well suited to the format: relatively intimate, broadcast-ready, and familiar to a regular field of high-volume players who travel between the major series.
Ten events at buy-ins between $5,000 and $25,000 means a significant chunk of money moves through the room over less than two weeks. The format suits players with deep bankrolls and the kind of technical edge that holds up over a concentrated run of events. It also makes a strong case for NLH as a format that can carry an entire festival at this level, without requiring mixed games to maintain interest.
Canada's Place at the Top Table
Canada punches well above its weight in high-stakes tournament poker, and the numbers reflect that. Dvoress currently sits second on Canada's all-time live tournament money list. Greenwood is third. Those aren't fringe appearances built on one or two big scores. Both players have accumulated results across multiple continents, at varying buy-in levels, over years of consistent play.
When an event like the U.S. Poker Open draws its field, Canadian representation at that level carries a certain expectation. These players don't need to qualify through luck. They're in these events because they belong there.
Dvoress Arrives with Fresh Form
In February, Dvoress won the EUR 25,000 Super High Roller Warm Up at EPT Paris. What made the result particularly notable was the context he provided around it: he had mentioned in the lead-up that he hadn't played since WSOP Paradise. That's a meaningful gap in competitive play, and he came back from it and immediately won one of the tougher high-roller events on the European circuit.
Returning from an extended break and winning at that level says something about where his game is. It also removes any question about whether he's in form heading into Las Vegas. He is. The Paris result confirms it.
Dvoress has been a fixture in high-roller fields for years, and his ranking on Canada's all-time list reflects a career built across a wide range of venues and formats. The U.S. Poker Open's NLH-only structure suits players who have logged significant volume at the format, and Dvoress has done that at every major stop on the tour.
Greenwood Keeps Canada's Standard High
Where Dvoress brings recent momentum into Las Vegas, Greenwood's case is built on longevity. Staying relevant in high-stakes tournament poker over many years is harder than it sounds. The player pool at this level shifts constantly, new names emerge, and the volume of quality competition has only grown. Greenwood has remained near the top of Canada's live money list through all of it.
His standing matters beyond his own results. When evaluating how seriously any country should be taken in elite buy-in events, the depth of talent matters as much as individual peaks. Canada's ability to place two players this consistently in the top three of its all-time list, and to see both active at events like the U.S. Poker Open, reflects genuine strength in the player pool rather than a single outlier performance.
What This Means for Ontario Players
Both Dvoress and Greenwood originally come from the Toronto area, which makes their careers a natural reference point for Ontario players thinking about where the game can go. High-stakes live poker and online play aren't separate worlds. They're connected, and the path between them is more accessible than it might look.
Ontario's regulated online rooms provide the infrastructure for that path. GGPoker Ontario has a direct partnership with the WSOP, which means players grinding the platform can access qualifiers that feed into live events, including the kind of high-profile series that Dvoress and Greenwood routinely play. Building a bankroll online before moving toward live high-stakes play is a genuine strategy, not a theoretical one.
For players at any level, the regulated rooms listed on the best poker sites Ontario page provide a legal, structured environment that connects the online and live sides of the game. If you're tracking major Canadian results and looking for live events to add to your schedule, the Ontario poker tournament schedule keeps an updated view of what's coming up across the country.
The U.S. Poker Open won't produce a Canadian winner every year, but the fact that players like Dvoress and Greenwood are there, in form and in the hunt, is a reasonable reflection of where Canadian tournament poker sits right now.