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GGPoker Ontario Festival Returns With Over C$6 Million Guaranteed

GGPoker Ontario Festival Returns With Over C$6 Million Guaranteed
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Iva Dozet News Editor
  • Fact Checked by: PokerListings
  • Last updated on: May 14, 2025 · 3 minutes to read

Ontario’s largest online poker series is back for the third year in a row — and (as expected) it’s bigger than ever. The GGPoker Ontario Festival returned on May 4 for its third edition, bringing with it over C$6 million in guaranteed prize money and nearly 700 scheduled tournaments. The festival runs through June 10 and has already become a fixture in the local poker calendar.

For those who haven’t been following along all that regularly, GGPoker Ontario’s series has grown substantially since its first run, with this edition marking its biggest yet. Officially, the site advertises C$6 million in total guarantees — but a closer look at the full schedule reveals the actual number crosses the C$7 million mark. For Ontario’s regulated online poker market, no other operator currently comes close in terms of scope, prize pools, or sheer volume of events.

Three Buy-In Tiers, Hundreds of Events

Like previous editions, the GGPoker Ontario Festival is split into Low, Medium, and High buy-in tiers — each offering over 200 tournaments and featuring its own dedicated leaderboard. There’s C$25,000 in leaderboard prizes up for grabs per tier, adding another C$75,000 in value for consistent performers.

  • Low Tier: Buy-ins from C$3 to C$25, including staples like the C$5 Ontario Mini MILLION$ (C$20K Gtd).
  • Medium Tier: Buy-ins between C$25 and C$150, with the C$50 Ontario MILLION$ Mini Main (C$100K Gtd) among the top draws.
  • High Tier: Buy-ins above C$150, featuring several six-figure headline events and the prestigious C$1,500 GG Ontario Championship (C$200K Gtd).

Across the entire schedule, the average guarantee per event is around C$10,600, with formats going f+from PKOs and Mystery Bounties to Freezeouts, Turbos, and Omaha variants.

The Marquee Events

Eight tournaments in total offer six-figure guarantees, split evenly between C$100K and C$200K headline events. Here are the standouts:

TournamentGTD
C$1,500 GG Ontario ChampionshipC$200,000
C$525 Mega Mystery MILLION$C$200,000
C$500 Ontario MILLION$ High RollerC$200,000
C$210 Ontario MILLION$ CloserC$200,000
C$50 Ontario MILLION$ FestivalC$100,000
C$52.50 Mystery MILLION$C$100,000
C$1,050 GGMasters Festival High RollerC$100,000
C$50 Ontario MILLION$ Festival EditionC$100,000

Most of these use a multi-flight format, with Day 1s running regularly until the final stage.

Ontario-themed tournaments like CN Tower Sunday Superstack, Maple Leaf Madness, and Timmy H’s give the schedule a regional flair, while recurring events like the C$105 Sunday Bounty King Ontario (C$50K GTD weekly) provide structure for regular grinders.

Part of a Bigger Picture

While the Ontario-exclusive series plays out on its own regulated client, it runs in parallel with the GGPoker World Festival (GGWF) on the global platform. The GGWF boasts $250 million in total guarantees and spans more than 1,600 tournaments, making it one of the largest festival rollouts in online poker history.

The Ontario series won’t share liquidity with the global platform, but it mirrors much of its structure, down to the phased formats and bounty mechanics. It’s clear that GGPoker is investing in both its global brand and its provincial markets — with Ontario now operating as a distinct ecosystem, but one still in step with GGPoker’s broader ambitions.

Leaderboards, Growth, and What’s Next

Each of the three tiers comes with a C$25,000 leaderboard, meaning players don’t need to win a flagship to walk away with added prizes. Simply showing up consistently and making deep runs can lead to a leaderboard payout by the end of the series.

The GGPoker Ontario Festival has more than doubled in size since its launch, both in number of events and total guarantees. Last year’s edition offered around C$3 million in prizes — this year, it’s C$6 million minimum. That kind of growth speaks to the strength of the Ontario market and the clear demand for large-scale tournament series.

No other operator currently running in Ontario — including PokerStars and BetMGM — has matched GGPoker’s festival footprint in 2025.

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