The World Poker Tour’s online sweepstakes poker site ClubWPT Gold has finally launched in beta mode in Canada.
The company confirmed to Canadian Gaming Business that it began play north of the border on Oct. 30, before ClubWPT Gold’s social media pages announced it on Oct. 31. It is live in every province other than Québec.
ClubWPT Gold is a free-to-join sweepstakes online poker platform from the WPT. It had been accepting pre-registrations from Canadian residents since it first went live in the U.S. in early 2025. It is available in 44 states but not in Canada, but it teased an upcoming Canadian launch in recent weeks on its social media channels and through its brand ambassador, pro poker player Doug Polk.
Until recently, ClubWPT Gold utilized the kind of dual-currency system that is typically seen on sweepstakes gaming platforms in North America, combining Gold Coins in-game currency with Sweeps Coins that can be redeemed for cash prizes. Players can participate in tournaments and games for a chance to win real cash prizes.
However, in late September, it announced that it was scrapping Gold Coins. Instead of using Gold Coins on free-play tables, users can now buy a poker training tool to analyze hands they have played on the site. For every dollar spent on hand analysis, users earn a dollar in chips that can be used in ring games and poker tournaments, where users can win real-value prizes.
That move came after several U.S. states banned dual-currency gaming in 2025, including Connecticut, Montana and New Jersey. ClubWPT Gold no longer operates in any of those states, and it is also offline in Louisiana, Michigan and Washington, where gaming regulators have been proactive in trying to stop sweepstakes casinos doing business. California also signed a ban on sweepstakes gaming into law in October, but ClubWPT Gold did not list the most-populous state as a prohibited area as of the time of writing.
Regulated Ontario included in launch
In Canada, there is more leniency towards the sweepstakes model of online gaming than in some of those states, and there is far less angry noise about the vertical than there is south of the border. Sweeps gaming is deemed in Canada to be non-real-money gaming and is permitted nationwide without regulatory oversight. The exception to the rule seems to be not the regulated iGaming province of Ontario but Québec.
The WPT already offers its real-money WPT Global site in most of Canada except for Ontario, which requires online poker platforms to be licensed and limits player pooling of approved operators to within the province’s borders. In other provinces, WPT Global allows Canadian players to compete in a player pool of more than 100 countries.
It seems that ClubWPT Gold will accept players from Ontario, and that players there will be able to compete with players in other provinces and the U.S.
ClubWPT, a subscription-based free-play platform, is also available across Canada.
One in, one out in Canada’s sweeps poker landscape
ClubWPT Gold had jumped into the hole left by fellow sweepstakes poker site Global Poker’s exit from Canada this month.
Global Poker’s parent company VGW told Canadian Gaming Business in August that it was shutting down its Canadian operations, taking Global Poker and the Chumba Casino sweepstakes casino platform offline by late October. The full withdrawal was completed on Oct. 23.
VGW told CGB the exit was not due to any kind of regulatory pressure in Canada but was “a difficult but strategic, isolated decision” reflecting the fact that it wanted to shift away from its comparatively small Canadian business to focus on the vast majority of its players and business in the far larger U.S. market.
Global Poker previously accepted players from across Canada except Québec, like ClubWPT Gold now does. It was the clear leader in online sweepstakes poker in Canada; now, ClubWPT Gold inherits that status, with the brand power of the World Poker Tour behind it.
