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GGPoker has abandoned plans for an Alberta online poker launch while the province keeps its market ring-fenced, saying it will return to the table only if rules allow players to share liquidity internationally.

The operator registered with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, but did not pursue the full commercial licence needed to launch. In comments first reported by Pokerfuse, GGPoker said Alberta’s standalone market was not large enough to make a top-tier poker room commercially sustainable.

The decision is a reversal from the progress outlined in our August report, when GGPoker’s registration put it a step closer to an Alberta launch but left the licensing and liquidity questions unresolved.

Alberta’s licensed poker sites can currently serve only players physically located in the province. GGPoker said even a combined Alberta-Ontario pool would not provide the scale it needs, despite Ontario being the only other Canadian regulated commercial iGaming market using a ring-fenced model.

Alberta is about one-third the size of Ontario’s market. Ontario has a population of 16 million, while Alberta has roughly one-third as many people. Alberta’s market size is an important factor in the prospects for online poker operators establishing themselves in the province.

GGPoker told Poker Industry PRO that international shared liquidity is the “only proven model” that can protect players, create a competitive market and maximize tax revenue. It said it would “eagerly reconsider” Alberta should a framework permitting that model be adopted.

There is no Alberta-Ontario combined pool in place. According to USPoker, AiGC CEO Dan Keene has confirmed that the two provinces are working toward a memorandum of understanding to combine their player pools, but GGPoker’s position is that this would still fall short without international access.

The wider legal question remains unresolved. The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in November 2025 that Ontario could permit its players to compete against international participants if the province retained full operational control. Appeals from lottery operators in British Columbia and Manitoba brought the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada, which heard arguments Oct. 7 on Ontario’s proposed international poker and daily fantasy sports pooling. The court reserved its decision, with no release timetable given.

Alberta’s poker market has nevertheless begun to take shape. 888poker became the province’s first regulated poker room on Oct. 13, with an Alberta-only player pool. PokerStars on FanDuel has also said it will return to Alberta, though it has not announced a launch date.