Poker Games and Variants Available to Play at PokerStars Ontario
There are many different poker games available at PokerStars Ontario, from cash games to sit & go tournaments, jackpot Spin & Go games, and PokerStars' famous unrivalled selection of multi-table tournaments. Ontarians are spoiled for choice when it comes to playing PokerStars Ontario games from the comfort of their homes.
Cash games are currently available in no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and 6+ Hold'em, while tournaments are also available in these variants, but have several formats including turbos, freezeouts, progressive knockout tournaments and many more besides.
Play No-Limit Hold'em at PokerStars Ontario
No-Limit Hold'em is the most popular poker variant on the planet, so it should be unsurprising to see this game dominate the landscape online at PokerStars Ontario. All No-Limit Hold'em cash games at PokerStars Ontario are played on six-handed tables, which increases the number of hands you can play per hour, in addition to adding to the excitement; nothing beats short-handed poker.
Often called the Cadillac of Poker, a term coined by the legendary poker player Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, No-Limit Hold'em is the game of choice for millions of live and online poker players around the world. Some of the largest pots ever won (and lost) stem from No-Limit Hold'em games, and all of the biggest poker tournaments, including the prestigious World Series of Poker (WSOP), use this format to crown their champion.
The game is relatively simple on the surface but hugely complicated once you delve deep into it. The late Mike Sexton once said of Hold'em that is takes minutes to learn but a lifetime to master, and we whole heartedly agree. Thankfully, with games running around the clock, PokerStars Ontario players have the chance to hone their skills whenever they wish.
Cash games players wanting to play No-Limit Hold'em in Ontario have a wide range of stakes to choose from. $0.01/$0.02 are the lowest stakes available at PokerStars Ontario, while $50/$100 are the highest stakes. Of course, there ten stakes between these two extremes, meaning you will easily find a game to suit your skill level and bankroll's size.
No-Limit Hold'em tournaments feature heavily at PokerStars Ontario, with this format making up the majority of Sit & Go and scheduled MTTs. PokerStars is the industry expert regarding multi-table tournaments. Ontarians will find MTTs with buy-ins as low as $0.25 and as high as $500, with every buy-in you can think of in between.
Play Pot-Limit Omaha at PokerStars Ontario
Pot-Limit Omaha, often abbreviated to PLO, is another hugely popular poker variant available to play at PokerStars Ontario. PLO is strikingly similar to No-Limit Hold'em apart from two key difference. First, it is played to a pot-limit betting structure instead of no-limit, and second, you are dealt four hole cards instead of two; you must use two of those cards to make the best five-card poker hand.
Due to each player receiving four hole cards, hands run closer than their no-limit Hold'em counterparts, which naturally increases the action and sees players make stronger hand more frequently. If you love big pots and big hands, perhaps playing pot-limit Omaha at PokerStars is what you need in your life.
Traditional PLO games are available as cash games at PokerStars Ontario, but there are a couple of different variants available in the tournament lobby. Omaha Hi/Lo, 5-Card Omaha, 6-Card Omaha, and Courchevel are hosted, and are especially prevalent during festivals and series.
Play Mixed Games at PokerStars Ontario
Mixed Games are available at PokerStars Ontario, although only in multi-table tournament format. Mixed games are exactly what they sound like: several different poker variants bundled into one package and played in rotation.
H.O.R.S.E. was one of the first mixed games to hit the mainstream poker community. Players of this format play a round of Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, all to a fixed-limit betting structure.
8-Game has grown in popularity in recent times thanks, in part, to adding some no-limit and pot-limit games into the mix. In 8-Game, players compete over rounds of 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, No-Limit Hold'em, and Pot-Limit Omaha.
The term mixed games is also reserved for variants that are neither NLHE or PLO. Five Card Draw, Badugi, 2-7 Single Draw, and 2-7 Triple Draw are sometimes referred to as mixed games. These games are available at PokerStars Ontario as tournaments only.
Play Short Deck/6+ Hold'em at PokerStars Ontario
Short Deck Hold'em, or 6+ Hold'em, is a relatively new poker variant that is a firm favorite in Macau, where the biggest cash games use this fun, action-inducing game. As the name suggests, 6+ Hold'em is played with a stripped deck where all the twos, threes, fours, and fives are removed from the deck, leaving the table with 36 cards. Naturally, this alters the hand rankings because it is now more difficult to make a flush than it is a full house.
6+ Hold'em is usually played with an ante-only format instead of having a small and big blind in play. Everyone pays a predetermined ante before receiving their hole cards. The ante-only format not only increases the size of the pot preflop, but entices more players to play their hands, creating multi-way action and plenty of excitement.
Short Deck cash games are available to play at PokerStars Ontario, as are tournaments in this incredible format.
Play Zoom Poker at PokerStars Ontario
Zoom Poker is PokerStars Ontario's take on fast-fold poker, and is one of the fastest and most unique ways to play poker online. The rules are the exact same as a traditional Hold'em game, but the Zoom Poker mechanics are different.
In a traditional game, you are seated at the same table for the duration of your session unless you leave the table and join a new one. However, in Zoom Poker, you are part of a greater playing pool, so when you fold, the PokerStars Ontario software whisks you away to a new table with fresh opponents. Fold again, which you can do out of turn if you are not in the big blind, and you head to a new table and receive brand new hole cards.
Zoom Poker is not yet available as a cash game variant at PokerStars Ontario but there are several Zoom Poker tournaments scheduled each week. You may never go back to "normal" poker once you try Zoom Poker!
Play Poker Tournaments Online at PokerStars Ontario
There are few things in poker that are more thrilling or satisfying that winning a poker tournament and becoming a poker champion. As a PokerStars Ontario customer, you have hundreds of opportunities to play some of the best online poker tournaments each and every day. PokerStars Ontario's multi-table tournaments start with buy-ins of only $0.25 and increase up to $500, sometimes even higher during major festivals.
There are Hold'em, Omaha, and Mixed Games tournaments available at PokerStars Ontario, in addition to different formats, including turbo, hyper-turbo, Zoom, heads-up, and the ever-popular progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments. PKO events see half your buy-in go into the main prize pool, which is awarded in a traditional manner. The remaining 50% goes onto the head of each entrant. Eliminate an opponent from a PKO tournament and you instantly receive half the bounty amount as a cash payment, with the other half going onto your head and increasing the bounty players can win if they bust you. This unique dynamic makes PKO action-packed and super-exciting to play, especially when you are deep in a tournament and the bounties are huge in comparison to the buy-in.
PokerStars is world-famous for running special festivals and series throughout the year. PokerStars Ontario is no different. It ran a bounty hunter series shortly after launching in Ontario, and followed that up with the inaugural Ontario Championship Of Online Poker (ONCOOP). The first-ever ONCOOP Main Event cost $500 to enter and guaranteed $200,000 would be won. "youaremelon" emerged victoriously and they captured a cool $36,864 for their efforts.
Play Cash Games at PokerStars Ontario
Cash games remain immensely popular in the online poker world despite tournament players often grabbing the glory when they win events. There is a saying that in poker cash is king, and there are thousands of cash game players that agree with that statement.
Tournaments and cash games are similar in that hand rankings are the same, as are the mechanics of a hand. Two main differences stand between the two formats. First, cash games have the same size blinds throughout your session but these enforced bets increase over time in a tournament. Second, you are eliminated from a tournament once you no longer have any chips in front of you, but you can purchase more chips when you play cash games.
Furthermore, you can leave a cash game whenever you like; you could leave the table after playing only one hand if you so wished. However, in a tournament, you can only leave a tournament when you bust or are the last player standing. This makes cash games the perfect poker format if you find yourself short of spare time or lead a life where you cannot afford to spend hours on end playing poker.
PokerStars Ontario offers No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash games around the clock. They come with blinds starting at only $0.01/$0.02 and increase all the way up to $50/$100, meaning there is a cash game for you regardless of your bankroll's size. All PokerStars Ontario cash games are played on six-handed tables, increasing both the excitement and action, in addition to helping you potentially rack up hundreds of hands per hour from your computer of via the PokerStars Ontario mobile poker app.
Play Home Games at PokerStars Ontario
Many poker players enjoyed their first taste of this crazy game from playing in home games against friends and family members; they were mostly happy days. PokerStars Ontario has a Home Games section that is open to all Ontarians, and helps you to focus on the social aspect of poker while, hopefully, winning some money.
PokerStars Ontario Home Games make it possible to play in cash games and tournaments against your friends in a private setting using the elite-level PokerStars software. Once you have created your poker club, you can set up cash game tables, regular or one-off tournaments, and fight it out against your nearest and dearest, so long as they are also a PokerStars Ontario customer.
Ontario is a big place – it is three times the size of Germany – so getting your friends together at a given time is often a challenging task. By inviting them to your personal Home Games, you get to play against friends old and new in a battle of wits all while doing so from the comfort of your home.
PokerStars Ontario Service
Across the different levels of service which PokerStars Ontario is able to offer to its players, there are many ways in which you’re able to be supported whilst playing on the platform.
Featuring responsive customer support and help sections and top-level security to ensure that your data and funds are protected to the levels of regulations and licensing to be able to operate in Ontario.
Throughout these different levels of service, these are a few of how you can ensure the highest quality experience on PokerStars Ontario whilst ensuring safety.
PokerStars Ontario Service
Every online poker site worth its salt has a top-tier customer support team working tirelessly behind the scenes keeping things running. PokerStars Ontario's customer service team is widely considered to be one of the best in the business. Should you require any assistance, the customer support team is available around the clock, and are ready and willing to go the extra mile to ensure your time at PokerStars Ontario is enjoyable.
PokerStars Ontario Customer Service
PokerStars.com built a reputation for having the best customer support network in the online poker industry. PokerStars Ontario has picked up that particular torch and is running with it.
Signing up for a new online poker account can seem a little daunting to some people, but it need not be because PokerStars Ontario's customer support team can be with you every step of the way should you wish.
All contact with PokerStars Ontario customer support is via email. There is no live chat or telephone facility, which may disappoint some, but the team responds to emails quickly and works a 24/7 pattern to ensure queries and issues are fully resolved in a timely manner.
PokerSars Ontario Security
PokerStars Ontario takes security seriously and has many steps and procedures in place to protect you, your information, and your funds. PokerStars Ontario is one of a few online poker sites that has separate, segregated bank accounts for its customers' deposits. This means that PokerStars Ontario never uses customers' funds for day-to-day operational costs. In addition, should the unthinkable happen and PokerStars Ontario goes out of business (which will not happen) every customer's funds are safe and secure.
It is not only your funds that are under lock and key and well protected but also your personal data. PokerStars Ontario uses bank-level encryption of all personal data, making it impossible for anyone to access your details. Even if they did manage to get their hands on your data, the level of encryption PokerStars Ontario uses renders it entirely useless.
On the playing poker side of things, you can rest assured that PokerStars Ontario is 100% safe and secure. Indeed, the Random Number Generator (RNG) the online poker site uses to shuffle cards is regularly tested and verified by independent companies to ensure it is mathematically random.
The site's security and integrity teams work around the clock to ensure nothing untoward happens at the tables, preventing cheaters from profiting from games. Most poker players are honest people, but there are some that have questionable morals. PokerStars Ontario's team nips these in the bud and issues refunds if required.
PokerStars Ontario Player Resources
PokerStars Ontario legitimately cares about its customers regardless of the stakes they play for. They want each and every one of its players t fully enjoying playing online poker on Ontario. One way they do this is by putting your playing habits under your control.
You can set deposit limits, playing time limits, and even ban yourself from certain parts of the PokerStars Ontario family. It is also possible to take an enforced break for 24 hours or completely exclude yourself from PokerStars Ontario thanks to the responsible gambling tools at your fingertips.
Gambling is meant to be fun. If it isn't fun for you, it is time to stop.
PokerStars Ontario FAQs
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