Poker Real Money Us

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Poker Real Money Us Average ratng: 6,7/10 513 votes
  • US Players Accepted
  • Online poker sweepstakes for real cash prizes
  • Visa/Mastercards Accepted
  1. Now, real money online poker legislation is moving forward state-by-state with Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey currently the 3 states where real-money online poker is licensed and taxed like any other business. States like California, Pennsylvania and New York are close behind, though.
  2. Online poker for real money is legal in four states in the USA: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Nevada. Top poker rooms like 888poker and PokerStars accept card players in those states. But, US players in other states need honest reviews of offshore card sites.
  3. Real money US poker sites have a lobby area that will list every discipline of poker that is available on the site in a cash game format. Texas Hold’em, Omaha Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, Pineapple, and other variants (including offshoots of each, including Hi/Lo versions) will be found here.
  4. Here are the most popular US poker sites in 2020 where you can play Hold’em, Omaha, and other online poker games for real money. Best Online Poker Sites Accepting US Players in January 2020 Overall there are still many online poker places available for US players.

The Best USA Online Poker Sites for 2020. If you live in the United States and play online poker I think you’ll agree that it isn’t easy, no matter what you read elsewhere. The “truth” about legal real money online poker rooms still open to USA players can vary depending on where you look.

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US poker sites ranked by traffic

Poker SiteOnlineCash24 H Peak7 Day avgLast WeekPlay Now
WSOP/888 US111375220425,371,330Play Now
PokerStars NJ76254100227,257,169Play Now
PartyPoker NJ339989,9,9Play Now
PalaPoker0,0,8Play Now

There are currently 4 states that offer legal online poker in the United States – New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Pennsylvania became the latest to join this group when PokerStarswent live in the state on Nov. 4, 2019.

WSOP/888 US is currently the only poker site that shares online poker players between all three legal online poker states (NJ, Nevada & Delaware). It’s currently the #1 US online poker site by traffic.

Online Poker Real Money Usa

Poker Stars – New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Party Poker – New Jersey only

Pala Poker – New Jersey only

US States launching soon

With the official launch of online poker Pennsylvania, there remains only one state that has legalized online poker. West Virginia legalized online poker in 2019, but wasn’t expected to go live until 2020.

The Mountain State, however, has a small population and launching an online poker room with a large number of players may be difficult without a shared liquidity pool with other states.

That may be resolved through litigation regarding the federal Wire Act.

Sweepstakes Online Poker – Available to all US Players

Global Poker – Uses a unique sweepstakes model allowing for online poker for real cash prizes and is available in all US states.

What is or is not legal in US?

Playing online poker is not strictly against any US laws. Therefore, a number of offshore sites continue to find creative ways around the banking issues created by UIGEA and continue to accept US customers.

In the years following the 2011 indictments, four states have also passed bills legalizing and regulating the activity in fenced-in markets inside state lines. Three of those states have also signed an agreement to share player pools.

In the meantime, Global Poker, which started accepting US customers in December 2016, uses a sweepstakes and virtual-currency online poker model. As a result, it is not considered online gambling, leaving it outside the purview of the UIGEA.

Where can I play poker online in the US?

Outside of state-licensed online poker sites in Delaware, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, there’s really only one legal online poker site for US players.

Global Poker

Global Poker offers what amounts to real-money online poker to players inside the United States. The site launched in December 2016 offering a form of virtual currency gaming. The virtual currency can later be converted into real money on PayPal, but players don’t start out on Global Poker buying into tournaments and cash games with real dollars.

Instead, they purchase Gold Coins which come with bonus sweepstakes prizes called $weeps Cash. The $weeps Cash can be used to buy into $weeps Cash tournaments and ring games. Any $weeps Cash earned can then be cashed out through PayPal. There are also Gold Coin poker games, but no real money available down that road.

Global Poker uses its own custom-made poker software incorporating its patented sweepstakes technology. It’s glitchy, but serviceable.

The site is strictly No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha, but there are cash games, tournaments and sit and go’s. Global Poker runs various freeroll tournaments and promotional leader boards. All of the banking is done through PayPal.

Where can I play poker live in the US?

Poker is America’s game. As a result, most states have tribal casinos, commercial casinos or card rooms where you can expect to be able to play live poker.

In fact, it’s much easier to list the states where you can’t legally play live poker. Although, even in that list of states below, you likely won’t have to look too hard to find an underground game, or a casino in a neighboring state with a poker room tucked right up next to the border.

  • Utah
  • Texas*
  • Hawaii
  • Tennessee
  • Alaska
  • New Hampshire
  • Georgia

*Texas is experimenting with poker in private social club settings. The state attorney general has declined to issue an opinion so far, leading to sizable operations opening in major cities. However, a recent raid in Houston has cast considerable doubt on the longterm viability of the clubs.

Individual states with online poker offerings

Up to and including January 2018, there are just four US states with laws legalizing and regulating online poker.

Delaware was the first state to do it, passing the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act in the summer of 2012. It approved both online poker and online casino games.

In February 2013, Nevada became the second state to come on board, authorizing the issue of online poker licenses. Within a week, New Jersey became the third state to legalize online gambling. It authorized the issue of licenses to casinos in Atlantic City that allowed them to operate both online poker and online casino sites.

In April 2013, the first-ever legal and regulated online poker site in the US went live in Nevada. The site’s name was Ultimate Poker. An offshoot of Station Casinos affiliated with the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts organization ran the site. By November of that same year, legal and regulated online poker sites also went live in Delaware and New Jersey.

Pennsylvania jumps on board

Pennsylvania became the fourth state to authorize online gambling. It passed online poker and online gambling legislation as a part of a comprehensive gambling expansion bill in October 2017.

Since then, there has been much legal and regulatory maneuvering in the state. There has even been an external threat that arose after the Department of Justice revised its opinion about the Wire Act’s applicability.

PokerStars officially launched in Pennsylvania on Nov. 4, 2019.

West Virginia makes it five to go

West Virginia is now the fifth state to legalize online poker. The Mountain State did so with the passage of H 2934, the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act.

The bill became law after Gov. Jim Justice declined to sign. However, the appearance of online poker (and casino) sites in West Virginia is not imminent.

Lottery officials must still promulgate regulations for the new industry. It is likely to be 2020 before any site will possibly launch.

Activity in other states

Of course, a number of other states, including California, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois have all seriously considered various forms of legislation that would legalize and regulate online poker over the past few years.

In 2018 and 2019, Michigan also made significant pushes to legalize online gaming, including poker.

Poker

The federal government has succeeded in pushing the largest global online poker site operators out of the US market. However, several offshore online poker operators still accept US players.

US online poker overview

There are essentially two federal laws that govern online poker in the US.

The Wire Act

The first is the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, aka the Federal Wire Act. The law essentially prohibits the operation of certain types of betting businesses using wire communications. Its original aim was to stop interstate gambling and end organized crime’s interest in the business.

The act passed decades before the internet or online poker even existed. However, since it governed the loosely-related act of betting or wagering using wire communications, many believed it had some jurisdiction over online gambling.

In September 2011, in response to questions regarding the legality of online lottery sales, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a formal legal opinion on the scope of the act. The opinion concluded that interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a sporting event or contest fall outside of its reach.

Interested states took it to mean the act did not apply to online poker or other forms of online gambling. Now, four of those states have passed legislation legalizing and regulating the activity.

That may be changing, however. In January 2019, the DOJ reversed its opinion to say that the Wire Act, in fact, does relate to all online gambling.

In June 2019, a New Hampshire federal judge threw out the opinion as it relates to two litigants – the New Hampshire Lottery Commission and an associated vendor. However, the ripple effect of this judgment is unclear at this point.

The UIGEA

Bovada Poker Real Money Usa

The second law is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Congress passed UIGEA in 2006. It made it illegal for US banks to process transactions for offshore online gambling operators. The law effectively pushed a number of online poker sites out of the market.

Other sites stayed in the US. However, the DOJ forced the largest remaining sites in the industry, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet out in 2011. The DOJ charged them with various illegal gambling and money laundering charges, partly under UIGEA.

History of online poker in the US

Online gambling first hit the internet when online casinos started opening in 1994. The operators were mostly based in places like Antigua or the Isle of Man, but they still took customers from the United States and were only too happy to accept US cash.

In 1996, the Mohawk Territoryof Kahnawake, a First Nations group based just outside of Montreal, Canada brought online gambling to North American soil for the first time. It set up a gaming commission and started issuing licenses to online casino sites. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission helped the number of online gambling websites around the world go from a handful to hundreds.

In 1998, a Canadian entrepreneur launched the first-ever online poker site. Planet Poker advertised in CardPlayer Magazine in the US prior to its Jan. 1, 1998 launch. The first ever real-money online $3/$6 Hold ’em game was filled with US players.

By 1999, the US Senate realized online gambling was widespread across the US and sought to do something about it. The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was introduced, but it did not pass. Poker texas holdem free online.

Over the next few years, sites introduced more sophisticated online poker software, and new sites launched around the world, offering cash games and tournaments.

In 2002, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled the Federal Wire Act prohibits sports betting, but not necessarily online gambling. At the time, the DOJ disagreed, claiming online gambling was illegal, However, the industry kept growing.

The poker boom

In 2003, online poker’s popularity really took off. A Tennessee accountant aptly named Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event after getting into the tournament through an online satellite. Coverage aired on ESPN, and Moneymaker’s story became a national obsession. Millions of Americans thought they could be next.

Poker was suddenly everywhere on TV, as the advent of hole-card cameras made live games more watchable than ever. Most shows were branded, and the commercial breaks were filled with spots for offshore online poker sites. The productions sold the game to the American TV-watching public and they bought it.

Then, in 2006, Congress took another shot at taming the wild beast. It passed UIGEA, making it illegal for US banks to handle transactions with offshore online poker sites. It certainly pushed a handful of operators out of the US market, but it didn’t eliminate the market altogether.

Several sites still accepted US players and found ways around the banking issues. Online poker continued to grow until April 15, 2011.

On that day, three of the largest online poker operators in the world were indicted on various illegal gambling and money laundering charges, including violating UIGEA. The sites included PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet. Access to the sites from the US was shut down, and the massive US online poker market was effectively closed.

However, it wouldn’t take long before efforts to open it up again began.

US legal and regulated online poker

In response to questions regarding the legality of online lottery sales in December 2011, the DOJ released a legal opinion that the Federal Wire Act only applies to sports betting. Several states took this to mean they could consider licensing and regulating online poker and casino sites if they wanted.

Delaware was the first state to do it, approving both online poker and online casino legislation in 2012.

In February 2013, Nevada became the second state to pass online gambling legislation, authorizing the issue of online poker licenses. A week later, New Jersey became the third state to legalize online gambling and made plans to issue licenses for online poker and online casino sites.

In April 2013, the first-ever legal and regulated online poker site in the US went live in Nevada. Legal and regulated online poker sites went live in Delaware and New Jersey in November 2013. Pennsylvania became the fourth state to legalize online poker when it passed a comprehensive gambling expansion bill in October 2017.

Now, as sites jump through the regulatory hoops to get games up and running in Pennsylvania, even more states are considering similar online poker legislation.

Choosing between real money poker sites can create a dilemma – particularly if you are making the transition from play money to real money online poker. Whereas many players may look at the headline bonuses and make their decision that way, there is more involved to choosing between US real money poker sites if you want to avoid blowing your bankroll in a short space of time.

The level of skill required, the volume of traffic and the integrity of the site are all considerations that should be taken into account when choosing between poker sites where you can play for real money. There is also a massive gulf between playing online poker for play money and playing for cash – so we will concentrate on that first for any novice players reading this page.

What Are The Best Real Money Poker Sites?
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No Skill at Free Play Sites

There is no lack of free play poker opportunities. As well as the play money sections on real money poker sites, there are thousands of poker apps available that provide players with the opportunity to play poker for free. This is fine if you want to play recreational poker with no fear of loss, but the standard of poker played on free play poker tables is not at all representative of what you will find on real money poker sites.

Poor play is evident everywhere on free play poker tables. Players get involved in too many hands with poor opening cards, remain in hands longer than they should and make bad betting decisions based on there being no loss (other than some play money chips) if their decisions are wrong.

Sometimes the worst possible thing can happen – bad players win big pots with bad cards. This gives them a false sense of how to play poker properly and encourages them to get into real money cash games of poker with the wrong impression. Furthermore, because play money poker is a recreational pursuit, little consideration is given to important elements of the game such as position and noting your opponents betting actions.

If you want to make the transition from play money poker to real money poker without losing a whole stack of money, your best option is to start off playing in micro-stakes games. Even if you have the bankroll to play at much higher stakes, most micro-stakes players take the game sufficiently seriously to give you a good introduction to playing online poker for real money.

How to Deposit at US Real Money Poker Sites

Online poker sites try to make it as easy as possible for players to fund their accounts and offer many different deposit options. The options vary according to different jurisdictions, but typically include the most commonly accepted credit and debit cards, P2P money transfers and e-wallets. Many online poker sites also offer the option to deposit and withdraw via Bitcoin – the Bitcoin value being converted into dollars to play with at the tables.

The process for depositing with an online poker site is also made as easy as possible. Usually there is an unmistakable icon to click on that will take you to a secure web or in-client cashier. There players are given the choice of which option they would like to use and asked to input the amount they wish to deposit. Most deposits are processed immediately (P2P money transfers being the primary exception), after which the funds are ready to use.

Whenever possible, withdrawals are paid back to the same source as was used for funding the account. So, for example, if you have made a deposit using Bitcoin, any cashouts you request will automatically be paid back to your Bitcoin wallet. Where a withdrawal to the funding source is not possible, the option of a check or wire transfer is usually available. Whatever source of funding you use, you must verify your account prior to requesting a cashout.

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Here is a quick overview of US poker sites by deposit method:

Real Money Online Poker – Which Site to Choose?

The options currently available to online poker players are much slimmer than they once were prior to Black Friday in 2011. However, some excellent choices remain that allow players to enjoy a potentially lucrative poker experience.

We mentioned above that the level of skill required, the volume of traffic and the integrity of the site are all considerations that should be taken into account when choosing a real money online poker site. But how do you find out about all of these factors without creating an account and playing real money online poker?

Poker Real Money Us

Naturally I would suggest that you read poker site reviews to determine the level of skill required, but – on some sites – you can download poker room software and cancel the login procedure.

By cancelling the login procedure you will be able to observe tables without having to take part in the games or risk any money. Observing the tables will give you a good indication of the level of competition you are likely to encounter.

By cancelling the login procedure, you will also be able to see how many players are present at the tables, what format of game they are playing, and what stakes they are playing at. This is a far more accurate way of determining player volumes than referring to a traffic monitoring website, as you will also be able to see extra factors such as:

  • The number of players waiting to join a table,
  • The average pot value per hand,
  • The percentage of players seeing flop each hand, and
  • The number of hands being played each hour.

Unfortunately there is no accurate way to confirm the integrity of online poker sites – regulated or unregulated. Online poker forums exist that allow players to share their experiences but, as in other areas of life, the majority of contributors have negative comments to write. Few players share positive experiences about their poker sites because they have chosen the right site to play at and they are too busy winning money!