Canadian Poker Players Hit by Damaging Double Whammy

All is not well for poker players in Canada following a double whammy of issues that have raised massive questions surrounding the opportunities to participate in live and online poker events within the country.

Firstly, Canadian customers of Full Tilt Poker could well become caught up in the problems relating to the struggling poker website’s licencing troubles following the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC)’s decision late last month to review Full Tilt’s Secondary Client Provider Authorisation in an attempt establish whether the company’s licence will be continued.

This follows the US Department of Justice (DoJ) decision to suspend all activity on the poker website and the freezing of every American customers’ accounts when shutting down several [geolink href=”https://www.pokernewsreport.com/online-poker-rooms”]poker websites[/geolink] on ‘Black Friday’ – including Absolute Poker and PokerStars – in relation to alleged violations of gambling laws when processing money transfers, as well as the suspension of Full Tilt’s licences by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) last month.

Now, it has emerged that the Quebec Poker Tournament League (LTPQ) has been forced to shelve all activities due to an imminent legal action that has been brought to the attention of the North American country’s Superior Court following a dispute between the LTPQ and the state-run Loto-Québec.

The LTPQ – which has about 40,000 members – has a partnership deal with Loto-Québec through the state’s espacejeux.com online interest, but that is in danger of collapsing after the league released a statement on their website related to a supposed dispute over missing sponsorship and service payments by Loto-Québec.

In response, Loto-Québec began the legal action when citing damage to its reputation and is now claiming CAD$175 000 (approximately $184,599/£113,244/€128,578) from the LTPQ and French-Canadian owner Andre Boyer – who won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet back in 2005 in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.

The Quebec-based pro – who is probably best known in Canada for his commentary with cable channel Réseau Des Sports (RDS) on the WSOP between 2003 and 2008 – was also a major player in establishing the Canadian National Poker Tournament League (CNPTL).

Loto-Québec would not comment on the issue until the Canadian Superior Court has reached a decision, while the LTPQ itself has assured their members that updates will be provided as soon as possible.