Supreme Court Hears Arguments Regarding Ontario Poker, Shared Liquidity

The future of Ontario poker has long rested on the prospect of shared liquidity. The Supreme Court of Canada will soon have its say on whether that happens, and what it might look like.

The Court heard arguments from both sides in Atlantic Lottery Corporation v. Attorney General of Ontario, which seeks to decide if Ontario can proceed with plans for international shared liquidity. The biggest impact will be regarding online poker, which relies heavily on shared liquidity to increase potential payouts.

The Atlantic Lottery Corporation brought the case against Ontario in response to its plans to open up its potential customer pool. Under current laws, any money wagered through Ontario’s third party platforms must physically come from Ontario. With Alberta following Ontario’s framework this year, those provinces are the only two that do not operate under provincial government control.

That’s a potential problem for other provinces. The ALC, consisting of the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, alleges that Ontario opening its markets puts their provincial monopolies at risk. Their concern is that a lack of geographical boundaries could see their potential customers head to Ontario, where they have more choices.

How Is Ontario Poker Affected In This Lawsuit?

Poker operates differently than any other form of online gambling. Both sports betting and iGaming can offer fixed odds that let a player compete against the house. While sportsbooks and iGaming set odds to maximize action, the amount a player can win isn’t tied to how much action the provider takes.

For example, if an Ontario sportsbook sees that the Ottawa Senators are drawing most of the action against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they can adjust the odds accordingly to entice people to bet on the Leafs. But whether or not that happens doesn’t affect a bettor’s potential stake.

Online poker, however, depends on the amount of money that players are willing to bet. All a site can do with Ontario poker is set table limits and run a fair game. After that, the stakes are entirely dependent on the number of players and their willingness to gamble.

That’s why the concept of liquidity matters so much for poker. The bigger the player pool is, the more potential customers there are, making games more enticing. If players don’t believe they can win much money, they’re not going to spend time trying to play.

What Is Ontario Poker’s Goal In This Process?

Essentially, Ontario wants to open up its player pool for Ontario residents. Through the concept of shared liquidity, Ontario would allow poker players to bet against anyone in a jurisdiction that Ontario has an agreement with. This would definitely include Alberta, and could further open to markets in the United States and Europe.

That concept works in the United States for its online poker market. New Jersey, Michigan, Nevada, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia all operate under the shared liquidity concepts for online poker. In practice, that takes Michigan, which neighbors Ontario, from a potential player pool of 10 million to just over 38 million. For online poker, that makes a huge difference.

What Is the Case’s Existing Framework?

The Ontario Court of Appeal declared Ontario’s setup of poker liquidity legal in Nov. 2025. It ruled 2-1 that provinces have the right to choose their own forms of gambling, and Ontario had legally done so.

How the Court rules could have major implications. If the Court rules against Ontario, it could severely restrict online poker in both Ontario and Alberta. That would lead to limited wins for Ontario poker players, and it could lead providers to decide it isn’t worth offering the game.

Conversely, a win for Ontario could fuel other provinces to consider following its model. Quebec could be the closest to doing so. Even though Loto-Quebec joined the ALC’s lawsuit, its recent provincial election could be the first step toward establishing private legal gambling in the province.