Canada Welcomes Migrating US Poker Pros
After April 15th, 2011, which became known as Black Friday, US poker pros suddenly found themselves with a much more limited market to play in.
Top sites such as Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars were not accepting US players anymore, and there was less chance of making a living playing professional poker for these players.
At the time, many predicted that in order to keep earning, they'd need to move to a different country, and Canada became a viable option due to its close proximity to friends and family, its open poker markets and its growing gaming industry.
A number of top poker pros from the United States now call Canada their new home, including Daniel Negreanu, Olivier Busquet and Phil Galfond.
Galfond seemed to disappear from the radar for a few weeks, and there was no sign of him under his usual online moniker "OMGClayAiken" at Full Tilt Poker.
However, the player resurfaced recently, beginning with a Twitter to his fans: "To everyone asking, I moved to Canada to play."
It seems that the move has been good for Galfond's career because, after a starting hitch where he lost over $300,000 over a couple of sessions, Galfond posted a $215,000 win this past weekend.
More Opportunities
The Canadian poker market offers these professionals more freedom of choice, and the opportunity to continue earning a living through the game that they love so much.
Migrating US players who set up home in Canada are able to continue playing at sites such as Poker Stars, something which they are not able to do if they continued living in the United States.
Only one player seems to be having trouble setting down roots. Daniel Cates was refused entry into Vancouver by Canadian Immigration for the time being, but he is said to be preparing the proper paperwork from his home in Seattle and hopes to make another attempt soon.
