TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GGPoker, the worlds largest online poker room, successfully brought its Game of Gold: Poker All-Stars reality series to Canadian broadcast television, delivering strong national viewership. Originally released on YouTube, the series expanded its reach with its Canadian broadcast TV debut last fall on primetime television. During the finale, internationally renowned poker pro Maria Ho was crowned as champion, marking a standout moment for women in elite competitive poker.
Game of Gold: groundbreaking reality TV
Game of Gold reimagines poker as a reality competition, combining high-stakes poker gameplay with team-based strategy, personality dynamics and elimination-style drama. During the 13-episode series, 16 elite international poker players are split into teams to compete in various poker format games, from traditional tournaments to Indian poker. Behind the scenes, teams interact while watching the games, giving viewers a look into the unique personalities and mindsets of these professional competitors. Navigating not only good hands, but team dynamics and strategy, the show blends excitement and mental focus and shows how each player deals with these elements differently.
“GGPoker is on an ongoing mission to bring fun back into the game of poker and find angles to showcase poker as a social, skill-based and internationally popular form of entertainment to a broader audience,” says Sarne Lightman, Managing Director, GGPoker. “The continued popularity of reality TV gave us an opportunity to demonstrate that poker is more than just a game. It allows us to see into the minds and personalities behind poker masters when they are forced to interact and play together.”
A champion is crowned
Maria Ho was crowned the winner of Game of Gold: Poker All-Stars during the season finale, earning a prize of $456,000 USD (over $588,000 CAD). Beating out international poker all-stars including Canadians Daniel Negreanu and Kevin Martin, Maria’s win is especially significant in a traditionally male-dominated sport, helping to reshape perceptions of gender in poker by demonstrating that strategic mastery, psychological discipline and competitive excellence transcend gender.
“I play to win, and my track record shows that, but competing in Game of Gold adds a whole new level of complexity to consider when you not only have to play for yourself, but also for your team,” says Ho. “To succeed, I had to stay disciplined, focused and mentally tough, even when going up against some of the biggest personalities of the poker world.”
Ho’s performance reinforced that strategic mastery, psychological discipline and adaptability are the keys to success at the highest levels of competition.
Expanding Poker’s cultural footprint
Demonstrated by its successful Canadian broadcast debut, Game of Gold shows how poker can evolve beyond traditional formats, reaching new audiences through storytelling, personality-driven competition, and high-production reality television.
The complete season of Game of Gold: Poker All-Stars is available to stream at game-of-gold.com and on Sportsnet+. Poker fans interested in competing in Season Two can register for a GGPoker account and enable in-app notifications to receive casting updates and application details.
Interview availability
Maria Ho, Daniel Negreanu, Kevin Martin and GGPoker executives are available for interviews to discuss the series success, the evolution of poker as mainstream entertainment and what Game of Gold reveals about elite competition, strategy and mental performance.
Media Contact
For more information, please contact: Siobhan Girvan, Strategic Objectives sgirvan@strategicobjectives.com
About GGPoker
GGPoker is the World’s Biggest Poker Room, with a global player base. It offers a range of innovative games and features, such as the patented Rush & Cash poker, All-In or Fold, Flip & Go, Spin & Gold, Mystery Battle Royale, GGCare & GGCheers, integrated staking platform, SnapCam video messaging, PokerCraft, and Smart HUD, all designed to enhance gaming experiences and make poker more fun than ever.
In 2020, GGPoker hosted the world record-breaking WSOP Online main event and in 2022 became the world’s largest online poker room. As an exclusive partner of the World Series of Poker, thousands of GGPoker players annually win their way into the WSOP $10K Main Event in Las Vegas and WSOP Paradise $25K Main Event in the Bahamas – the poker world’s biggest live tournaments. GGPoker won Poker Operator of the Year at the EGR Operator Awards in both 2024 and 2025.
Find out more about GGPoker at GGPoker.ca and on Facebook, X and Reddit.
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