What States Is Online Poker Legal
Online poker in the United States is a topic that generates lots of information, much of it conflicting but all that can be broken down by state, as we have here. As mentioned, legal United States online poker is not a black and white situation. Legal online poker in Delaware. Delaware (DE) is one of three states where online poker is fully legal and regulated. Nevada and New Jersey are the other two. Delaware legalized online gambling on June 28, 2013. Online casino games launched on Oct. Online poker went live on Nov.
- What States Is Online Poker Legal In
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- What States Is Online Poker Legal In
- Online Poker Laws By State
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Where can you currently play legal online poker in the US?
The following four states are the only ones to offer legal US online poker sites:
- Delaware
- Nevada
- New Jersey
There are some differences between the three regulated-poker states. Also, while Pennsylvania recently signed online poker into law, the state has yet to start running games. Pennsylvania is expected to launch in early 2019.
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Nevadaonly permits online poker.
New Jersey and Delaware also spread casino games banked by the house. Read more about NJ online casino operators and soon to launch Pennsylvania online casinos.
Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania allow the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos to operate online sites. In Delaware, the state lottery is the sole operator.
Finally, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have entered into an interstate online poker agreement. Players from the three states can compete against each other only on WSOP.com.
Background for legal online poker in the US
Legal US online poker sites debuted on April 30, 2013.
Ultimate Poker was the site that made history. Nevada was the first state to host fully legal online poker. Texas Hold ’em was the only game spread at Ultimate Poker during its first six months in business.
WSOP.com joined the Nevada online poker market on Sept. 17, 2013. The World Series of Poker’s online site brought the first games of Omaha, Omaha High/Low, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud High/Low to Nevada.
WSOP.com now controls 99 percent of the Nevada market. This near-monopoly was caused by the shuttering of Ultimate Poker in November 2014.
Delaware was the second state to launch legal online poker. There is one network powered by 888. The state’s three racinos – Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway – are skins on the Delaware poker network. Nevada and Delaware began pooling poker players in April 2015.
WSOP.com and 888 were the sites responsible for creating the first legal interstate online poker pool.
New Jersey became the third state with legal online poker on Nov. 21, 2013. There are currently three poker networks in New Jersey. One hosts Borgata and partypoker, the other has WSOP.com and 888 on it, and the third is made up solely of PokerStars NJ. All networks are about equal in overall size at any given point in time.
There were three additional poker platforms in New Jersey when the state launched regulated poker sites. 888 was originally a standalone site before it merged player pools with WSOP.com. Ultimate Poker was unable to gain more than 3 percent of the market share.
What States Is Online Poker Legal In
The Ultimate Poker site was shuttered on Oct. 5, 2014. The associated UCasino was also closed at that time. Betfair failed to attract any players and closed its poker site on Dec. 1, 2014. Betfair still operates an online casino in New Jersey.
After a long legislative battle, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill into law that legalized and regulated online gambling in the state of Pennsylvania on Oct. 30, 2017, making it the fourth state to legalize online gaming. The bill legalized online poker, online table games, online slots and daily fantasy sports. It also allowed for a number of other gambling expansions such as online lottery, tablet gambling in airports, video gambling terminals at truck stops and 10 satellite casinos. Players can expect to be able to play online poker in PA in 2019.
What other states are considering legalizing online poker?
Several states are actively considering regulating online poker:
Online Poker In New York
- New York
- California
- Michigan
- Massachusetts
Of the list above, most experts consider New York to have the greatest chance of passing a bill.
Why should I choose legal poker sites?
One of the biggest advantages to playing online poker at regulated sites in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey is that all player funds are just as safe as they would be at a licensed land-based casino in any of those states.
This is in contrast to offshore sites where poker players have a long history of seeing their funds held hostage or stolen altogether.
There are also ample deposit and withdrawal methods that are safe and secure.
Players can use Visa, MasterCard, electronic checks, bank wires, Neteller, Skrill, PayNearMe, prepaid card and cash at the associated licensed casino. Withdrawals are processed by electronic check, paper check, Neteller, Skrill, prepaid debit card and cash at the associated licensed casino. The method available depends on the state and participating site.
Finally, regulated sites undergo far more rigorous checks to ensure that games are fair and secure than unregulated sites.
Will the federal government ban online poker?
Federal law allows states to legalize and regulate online poker. This is specifically exempted from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. A September 2011 Department of Justice opinion confirmed this and explicitly gives states the right to permit intrastate gaming.
There was an attempt in Congress to reverse this legal opinion. The effort was spearheaded by Sheldon Adelson, founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of Venetian in Las Vegas.
Adelson’s lobbyists submitted the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). The bill failed in 2016 and does not appear to have much support in this Congress. Libertarian groups, states’ rights activists, governors, state lotteries and most of the gaming industry have come out in opposition to RAWA.
Since then, Adelson and company have been working through other channels to head off online casino and online poker play. It is extremely likely that the group effected some degree of influence over the Department of Justice’s January 2019 opinion to reinterpret the Wire Act.
In that opinion, the DOJ essentially reversed its prior position on the statute to say that the law actually pertains to all gambling, not just sports betting. Needless to say, there were many parties in opposition to this opinion.
So far, the opinion has not found much success in court. A June 2019 ruling from a New Hampshire federal court dismissed the opinion from affecting that state’s lottery commission and an associated vendor. Only time will tell if the precedent will ripple out to other interested and/or affected parties.
Nobody has even been arrested for playing real money online poker games in the US. This does not prevent the widespread belief that online poker is illegal. Federal laws exist which make financial transactions between banks and gambling sites illegal –though even these have never been properly tested. What the UIGEA in 2006 and ‘Black Friday’ have succeeded in doing is spreading the widespread misinformation that personally playing the game is illegal. This article gives you some history and an insight into both legal offshore poker sites and the newly regulated ‘in-state’ rooms.
You’ll find the history first below. This will give some context to better understand that playing online poker is perfectly legal. Next you can find a run-down of the biggest and best offshore sites and how you can deposit on them in context of the current banking restrictions. After that you can find information on the regulated sites in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware – followed by a look into the future.
Legal Poker Sites – 3 Dates Which Define the US Legal Poker Landscape
What States Is Online Poker Legal In
The first bill which still has effects for online poker rooms actually pre-dates the internet. The Wire-Act of 1959 was put in place to stop sports bets over state borders via telephone. It is the interpretation of what constitutes a ‘gambling transaction’ which has divided the pro and anti-poker lobbies ever since.
In 2006, online poker was booming and millions of Americans were enjoying the games – some as a hobby and others professionally. Then the ‘Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act’ (or UIGEA) was passed through the back-door via an attachment to a Port Security bill. The effect was immediate, with major sites at the time including Party Poker and MicroGaming pulling out of the US.
Poker bounced back, with new sites taking over. PokerStars and Full Tilt were two big beneficiaries – with Stars building much of the momentum which makes them the biggest poker site worldwide today.
2011 saw the landscape change once again, with a crackdown on the financial systems behind poker known as ‘Black Friday’. This effectively shut out PokerStars, Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. With the last two going bankrupt and disappearing. Fear of being indicted on money laundering charges is a big deal to the executives of some sites, and reparations have been paid on a Federal level to amend for past transgressions (without liability being admitted).
Poker is now in the process of bounding back once again. A new breed of offshore sites still provides games for US players. These sites are perfectly legal in their own jurisdictions and are building enough momentum to be able to offer a big selection of games and tournaments. At the same time there are individual States starting to legalize online poker games within their borders. Those sites have a marketing interest in calling out others as ‘illegal’, spreading yet more confusion for non-informed poker fans on the true legal state of US online poker.
Legal Poker Sites – Biggest Offshore Sites
Here are the biggest offshore sites currently available to US players, I have listed these in order of size. Wall street journal macau casino.
#1 Bovada: This site is part of the better known Bodog Brand and is the single biggest site offering poker from offshore. They accept players from all states, and focus on recreational games – even going as far as to put policies in place to make their site unfavorable for pro-grinders. You can deposit easily here and the promotions often involve live events and the infamous Bodog Parties.
#2 The Winning Poker Network: Also known as the ‘WPN’, this network of sites is growing fast and starting to offer bigger and better tournaments and promo as their player base grows. Sites include America’s Cardroom and True Poker. Players on this network can enjoy jackpots and progressive leader board promotions.
#3 The Merge Poker Network: This network is headed up by the cool Sportsbetting Poker, who run a lot online poker tournament events as well as hosting a huge selection of cash games. Daily cash-back and the biggest welcome bonus package of any site (including the worldwide giants) keep players coming through the door.
#4 The Chico Poker Network: This is a smaller network, though they have been growing recently. Sportsbooks use the back-end software at Chico and pool together their players to offer a great selection of poke games. Sites on this network include BetOnline and SportsBetting Poker.
There are some smaller networks coming through including the Equity Poker Network and the Revolution Network – which is currently rebuilding after a difficult 2013.
Legal Poker Sites – State Regulated Sites
Residents of Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey have regulated legal poker sites to play on from within their State borders. You’ll be IP and address checked before you can play. At the moment these sites are smaller than most of the offshore sites listed above. Growth is expected as more people become aware of the opportunity to play in a safe and regulated environment.
Delaware Poker Sites – Delaware residents can play on a platform powered by the software of industry giant 888. With such a small population, you will only find a handful of tables at the regulated sites. These are branded by 3 different casino owners at this point in time, with Dover Downs Casino, Delaware Park and Harrington Raceway all sharing a common back end.
Nevada Poker Sites – Nevada were the second state to offer regulated real money poker games within their borders and have been a testing ground for early adopters keen to perfect their technology before moving on to States with bigger populations. You’ll need to be inside Nevada to access these sites, which include WSOP.com (powered by 888), Ultimate Poker and Real Gaming’s SouthPointPoker – which is in soft launch at the moment and will be open to all in the near future.
Online Poker Laws By State
New Jersey Poker Sites – At the end of 2013, NJ joined the regulated States list. With 8 million residents, there has been a lot more interest from operators for this State than for Delaware or New Jersey. After a few months the tie-in between Party Poker and The Borgata Casino is emerging as the biggest site, this uses the new Party software – which has big ‘social elements’ in addition to the poker games. Other sites available include the 888-powered WSOP brand, who are leveraging their experience from being the debutant site in NV. 888 have also gone it alone in NJ, with 888Poker and WSOP both being powered by the 888 back-end. The remaining sites are Ultimate Poker (also in NV) and Betfair, who have yet to gain any significant traction.
With more sites preparing to launch, it will be interesting to see who emerges as the single biggest site 6 months from now.
Legal US Poker – The Future
There are at least 10 States who are considering legislation for poker sites, including the massive CA. This means we have a potentially exciting time for US poker over the next couple of years. For now you can play perfectly legally at the many offshore sites.