No. The new sites would have to follow OLG rules just the way Fallsview already does now. There aren't any OLG rules prohibiting no limit games. If there were, Fallsview wouldn't be able to run them either. The private casinos need OLG approval for any games they want to run too. OLG management just decided not to offer no limit at their own sites for whatever reason. As far as I understand, any new site should be able to offer whatever games they choose, just as Fallsview does. I think it's possible that when this is done, every casino in the province could have no limit poker.

@Value...
Godfrey was on the fan590 today and apparently said a casino will be up in 5-6 years. Thoughts on this?

Yeah, I was surprised to read that. In the meeting they did mention having some temporary sites open during this whole process. Maybe it's the temporary sites they want open in 18 months and then the actual casino ready to open later. I'm off for a couple days now, but when I go back to work on the weekend I'll see what new info they have for us and try to clarify about that.

I read a godfrey quote noting that new casino would be "las vegas style" and would "cater to the players".

Im guessing that means all the bull**** rules will go out the window.

And maybe we'll even see a decent tournament series or two or three throughout the year.

They should go have a look at the Borgata and emulate everything they do there.

I admit I dont play at Fallsview often enough to have an opinion.. but what are we referring to? Just the lack of food and drink in the card room? And dis allowance of electronics?

Thanks for all the info so far!

one time!

is it olg or fallsview/niagara that doesn't allow straddles (have to 'blind raise') and no headphones or phones in the poker room?

also a real tournament series would be awesome

I'm pretty sure it's OLG

No, it's actually Fallsview. They can't just decide they want it and start doing it one day, but they can apply to change their rules to allow straddles. Obviously the OLG doesn't have any reason not to approve it because we started allowing a live straddle in Brantford a while ago.

The no electronics at the table rule is an OLG thing though. That's the same in every casino. That shouldn't be any different in Toronto so I'm not sure what he means by a "vegas style casino". Maybe all he means is that they'll offer higher betting limits and whatever games they choose like Niagara does.

No problem. I know a lot of people are interested in what's happening. I am too. It's exciting news. I'll try to let you guys know if we're told anything new.

hey guys, so what is happening to online poker in canada?

It looks like Ontario will have it's own online poker site for its residents in 2013 similar to BC.

I'm starting to get worried that they will pass a law which will restrict us to play on offshore sites i.e. Pokerstars and restrict us to play on the province's own site.

what's ppl's thoughts on future taxation laws on poker winnings?

mine is that it will happen as the reason for OLG taking this action is to create tax revenue, so it seems obvious taxing poker income will happen

I hope they put the temp casino in Woodbine Racetrack, it would take no time to set it up since everything is pretty much there already. Then when the actual Vegas Style casino open, they don't have to do anything to the temp casino, therefore we will have two casinos, yeahhh. Any news on my other suggestion, the red light district? Can that come true as well?

In the meeting we had a couple days ago, they made it sound like they wanted all the properties sold to the private sector AND have at least a temporary site running in Toronto within 18 months, but today I was told something different. Now we're being told that the 18 months figure was only for privatizing all of the OLG locations. Right now there's still no timeline set for opening the casino in Toronto other than the 5-6 years that Godfrey mentioned. They did mention that there was very high chance that a temporary site would be opened in the area much sooner, but there's no timeline or confirmation for that yet.

If they give us any new info at work before it's announced I can let you guys know, but in the meantime this is a good page for updates...

http://media.olg.ca/?p=nmm_news

Cool, thank you for the updates. Seems kinda nutty to me that they need 5+ years to build a facility with similar blue prints, but is what it is.

An update on some of the pokerrooms:
Rama, 1/2nl, 2/5nl and lol 2/5 minbet, always busy on the weekend.
Great Blue Heron, all limit games, 5/10, 5/10 with full kill, 10/20 with half kill, 20/40 with half kill, omahahaha 20/40 with half kill, busy on the weekend.

What are the players in the Omaha(haha) like these days? I have been up in a couple of years. It was great action for a while, then it faded out.

still great action. there was pineapple for a bit but i think it's died down and omaha is back to being the preferred flavour. 10/20 lists are insanely long on the weekdays but 20/40 is fine and games are great

what are the rules for holdem in this casino?

I am a supernova elite on PokerStars and I am moving to Toronto in the beginning of May. I was wondering if anyone could suggest some good places to eat and areas to live. PM me or reply on the post please.

In what ways would you expect them to be different from anywhere else?

Can you tell us more about what you're looking for?

What days does GBH have a NLHE tourney? Are they still just doing the big one at the end of the month?

I am just looking for overall good dining. I do not like your 5-10 course set meals. I like the good dive places that serve quality food at a good price. I want to know all the places the locals go to. Thank you very much for all your help.

Mandatory Stop #1