Ever since the Black Friday incident hit, many poker pros considered moving elsewhere in order to maintain their lifestyle. The idea was pretty appealing, considering that the alternative would have been to give up online poker for now and wait for the government to resolve the issue – which would, by the way, take forever. Some, not liking the idea of moving to a different country and wanting to stick with good ol’ America, decided to wait it out. However, there were some pros who found a perfect solution: move to Canada. Not so different from the US but infinitely more tolerant towards online poker, Canada was the logical choice for poker players who wanted to continue earning their income through cards. Dan “Jungleman12” Cates, biggest earner in online poker last year, was one of them.

Deported or Denied Entry

With the WSOP over, Cates had decided that it was high time for him to move to Canada in order to continue playing online. In his Twitter account, Cates posted “leaving Vancouver tomorrow, time to crush online again.” The excitement was palpable through his post, having undoubtedly missed playing online as if he had lost a limb – just like the rest of the big time poker players. However, Cates was in for a big disappointment when he discovered the next day that he would be unable to enter Canada. Frustrated, he immediately took to his Twitter account and posted “In a ridiculous twist, I have been deported from Canda for being an illegal immigrant. Going to Seattle tomorrow to try to get temp visa.” Of course, he was mistaken in thinking that he was deported. Cates was merely denied entry. His next move would be to get a visa or to hire an immigration lawyer in order to help him smooth the wrinkles out of his migration attempt.

A Possible Hurdle

The fact that Cates is having trouble means that others have probably met the same hurdle as well or will probably meet the same hurdle. That doesn’t mean that migrating to a different country is impossible, however, because other pros have already been successful in their attempt. Phil Galfond is one of them, a rumor confirmed through a post in his Twitter account. There are still several other poker professionals who have not made the move, however, and it’s possible that they never will. Moving to a different country, after all, is a huge decision, and one that can’t be taken lightly.