PokerStars Canada Download & Canadian Review
April 2024

PokerStars Real Money Review

Can Canadians Play at PokerStars for Real Money?

Yes Canadians can play at PokerStars for real money - PokerStars.com is the real money poker site and PokerStars.net is the play money poker site.

PokerStars Bonus for Canadians

PokerStars Canada offers a sign up bonus for real money players of 100% up to $600 on your first three deposits.  You have 60 days in which to make your deposits and 4 months in which to clear your bonus. 

The $30 Free bonus requires a minimum deposit of $28 CAD, and you will get paid $5 per day for 6 days. Days 1-4 will be paid out in tournament tickets with a total value of $5 per day. On days 5&6 you will get paid in cash bonuses to your account.

Minimum deposit to claim the bonus is $20 USD which is about $28 in Canadian Dollars.

To claim your bonus enter PokerStars Marketing code "PSP10732" and PokerStars Bonus Code "STARS600" at every deposit.  The bonus is good and the fact that you can make up to 3 deposits makes it a better deal than many other poker sites.

PokerStars Canadian Marketing Code

The PokerStars Marketing code lets PokerStars know who is sending them traffic. By using my marketing code you are helping support a fellow Canadian to be on the lookout for unsafe rigged poker sites that may help protect you in the future.

PokerStars Marketing Code: PSP10732

PokerStars Bonus Codes

There are two PokerStars bonus codes - The deposit bonus code for $30 free, and the 100% deposit match bonus code for your first deposit.

100% Bonus - PokerStars Bonus Code: STARS600

Free $30 Bonus - PokerStars Bonus Code: THIRTY

Deposit and Withdrawal Options

PokerStars Deposit Methods for Canadians Include:

Visa, Pre-paid VISA, MasterCard, pre-paid MasterCard, Instadebit, Instant e-Checks, MuchBetter, Neosurf, Paysafecard, ecoPayz, INTERAC, but NOT PayPal.

PokerStars Withdrawal Methods for Canadians Include:

Visa, Instadebit, Instant e-Checks, MuchBetter, ecoPayz, but NOT PayPal.

Recommended: VISA or Instadebit.

Poker Game Variety

Game Variety

PokerStars has the largest game variety of any online poker site - including multiple variations of Hold em, Omaha, Stud, Badugi,  as well as mixed games like HORSE, 8 game mix and HOSE.  With the highest player traffic volumes of any online site you can find your favorite game going on anytime.

Cash Games

PokerStars does not have games in Canadian Dollars, but does have games in US dollars, Euros and British Pounds.

Cash game rakes are 3.5% on micro stakes ($0.01 - $0.02) and 4.5% on low stakes ($0.10-$0.25) these rake levels are lower than at all other online poker sites. All other games are raked at 5% which is the same as other poker sites for medium and high stakes. The cash game rake cap varies by stakes and ranges from $2.00 - $5.00.

The number of players at the games is the standard heads up, 6 max or 9 max tables. Formats are regular speed and fast fold Zoom poker.

Tournaments

PokerStars has a staggering amount of tournaments running around the clock with buy ins running from as low as $.01 to $10 000 and prize pools that in the main Sunday Tournament exceed $1.5 million. You will find a huge diversity of tournaments in different games like 7 card Stud as well as sit n gos, heads up, turbo tournaments, 2X turbos, rebuys, multi table tournaments, deep stack tournaments, 6-max, 4-max, freeroll and satellite tournaments -including the most satellite tournaments to the WSOP of any online poker site. PokerStars also runs online tournaments just for Canada.

WSOP Satellites

PokerStars WSOP Satellites are what Chris Moneymaker won to get his seat at the WSOP Main Event. Canadians can play satellite tournaments to win the money to play at the main event and it does not have to be a specific package. The 2024 WSOP Satellites for Canadians are in the spring and allow you to win your seat for as low as $1.

PokerStars Live Events

Qualify online to play at Live PokerStars events in Live Card Rooms or Major Tournaments. Live card rooms include: Macau, Manila or the Hippodrome Casino in London. Major tournaments are the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP), The Asia Pacific Poker Tour, The European Poker-tour or The PokerStars No Limit Holdem Championship. Watch Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu's greatest moments playing PokerStars live poker events.

Party Casino & Sportsbetting

PokerStars Casino

PokerStars Casino it turned off by default in the poker software, you can enable it in your settings to show the casino. The casino offers casino poker games, blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat and online slot games for real money.

BetStars

PokerStars sports book has real money betting on popular sporting events like hockey, football, baseball, gold, tennis, basketball, soccer and more. You can enable BetStars in your settings as a separate tab in your PokerStars software.

A Closer Look:

Traffic and Growth

PokerStars is the largest poker room in the world with more players than any other site.  PokerStars is an independent poker network featuring its players exclusively.  There is often over 140 000 tournament players and 40 000 cash game players at peak hours.  Growth is constant with new players signing up on a regular basis.

Software and Graphics

The PokerStars software is very reliable and smooth running.  It is straight forward and easy to use and features a number of themes that you can download and install.  Filters are available to screen though the games and tournaments to find open games that meet your selection criteria.

Players can also upload their own avatars which can be easily changed. on the downside, sometimes when trying to get into a low limit sit n go or cash game it can be a bit difficult because of the high volume of players.

Promotions and Loyalty Programs

PokerStars has a random VIP program and frequent players will receive more chances to get very good rewards including cash based on your luck. At the higher levels the rewards become very lucrative. PokerStars reload bonuses do occur but they are not as big as the initial sign up bonus most of the time. Many of the promotions and rewards are in the form of special tournaments tickets including freerolls and satellites to larger events.

Support Quality

PokerStars Canada customer support is offered 24/7 via email.  Support times are fast with most questions answered within a few minutes.  Response quality is excellent with competent expert answers from their support staff. Dispute managers are also on hand to handle any problems that may arise at the table.

Weak or Tough Competition?

PokerStars has weak competition at the lower limits but it gets tough, very tough as you move up the levels. It is not as tough as Full Tilt and there are many ATM's that just hang out spewing out cash. Although there is a lot of weak players there are some sharks present at the tables at higher limits. At the micros stakes PokerStars offers several games and tournaments that are rake free - so if you are just starting out and learning how to play, PokerStars will let you play for free.

Do Not Play at PokerStars if...

There may be better online poker sites for you to play at:

Bitcoin or crypto is not accepted here and you would be better off at ACR or at Bodog who are very fast with deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrencies.

You want to be profitable at middle stakes. At low stakes the games here are pretty weak but both tournaments and cash games are easier to beat at other poker sites for $2-$4 to $10-$20 games. The average tournament win percentage for the best players here is only 10% but 15%-20% on 888 Poker.

No download is not available at PokerStars so if you want to play poker games on somebody else's computer and not download the software, you are out of luck here. Your best options are either 888 poker or ACR, both have excellent no-download software.

Review and Rating - 8.25 / 10

PokerStars is the worlds biggest online poker site. You can play poker for free at micro stakes and take PokerSchool to learn how to play which makes it great for beginners. The software, Low stakes rake, support, tournaments and sign up bonus are very good. The site is Canadian friendly with many deposit / withdrawal options and offers special tournaments just for Canadians. PokerStars is overall a very good site and every poker player should have an account there. Visit PokerStars Canada at www.pokerstars.com to create a new account of for further information.