1. Real Online Poker for US Players Things are changing fast for online poker. There are four states that have regulated games — Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania – plus legal, sweepstakes poker games in other areas. While the boom of 10 years ago is over, online poker for real money in the US is on the.
2. The popularity of poker and the ease of playing online have made online poker rooms some of the most populated of all USA online gambling sites. This has made players question the legalities of online poker in the United States more than anything else.

1. Online Poker Illegal In Us
2. Legal Online Poker In Usa
3. Online Poker Illegal In Us
4. Online Poker In Us Legal

In the United States, the North Dakota House of Representatives passed a bill in February 2005 to legalize and regulate online poker and online poker card room operators in the state. The legislation required that online poker operations would have to physically locate their entire operations in the state.

Is online poker legal in the USA today? The answer is depends on what state you live in.

State-regulated, real-money online poker is legally available in only a handful of states.

As of July 2020, players in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Delaware enjoy access to legal online poker sites. Michigan and West Virginia have passed legislation to make online poker legal, but the launch of products is pending in those states.

The following is a brief overview of US states with legal online poker, as well as the specific poker sites that are available in those states.

Click to jump to a section:

The 4 USA States with Legal Online Poker

1. New Jersey

New Jersey hosts the largest legal online gambling industry of any US state.

Players in the Garden State can choose from an extensive selection of legal online casinos and sportsbooks. New Jersey is also one of four US states with online poker.

Online poker launched in New Jersey in November 2013. State-regulated online poker sites in New Jersey include:

WSOP/888 Poker Network

WSOP New Jersey and 888 Poker NJ operate as two different skins, but both contain the same player pool. This player pool also links to WSOP Nevada and the 888 Poker network of poker sites in Delaware.

World Series of Poker online bracelet events can be played through the WSOP/888 New Jersey network.

Borgata Poker Network

Four different poker platforms under the Borgata banner share the same player pool. Players on Borgata Poker, BetMGM Poker, partypoker NJ, and Pala Poker all compete against each other. This New Jersey-only network doesn’t link to any other player pools outside of the state.

The Borgata online poker network includes multiple skins in New Jersey

PokerStars NJ

PokerStars NJ functions as a standalone, New Jersey-only platform. The player pool doesn’t link to any other international or domestic poker client operated by PokerStars.

2. Nevada

WSOP Nevada launched in September 2013, and operates as Nevada’s only legal online poker site. The WSOP Nevada player pool shares liquidity with the WSOP/888 New Jersey network, as well as the 888 Poker network in Delaware.

Online bracelet events for the World Series of Poker are available to play on the WSOP Nevada platform.

3. Delaware

Delaware players enjoy access to one legal online poker platform, operated by 888 Poker. The network incorporates three skins, which include Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway.

Playing on any of the three skins links to the same network. The 888 Poker Delaware network also links to the WSOP Nevada and WSOP/888 New Jersey player pools.

While the player pools are linked, Delaware players cannot play World Series of Poker online bracelet events.

4. Pennsylvania

PokerStars PA launched in November 2019. The platform operates as a standalone site, and only accepts Pennsylvania players. PokerStars PA players are not in a player pool with PokeStars NJ players.

The PokerStars PA platform doesn’t link to any other PokerStars network. The launch adds Pennsylvania to the list of states with legal online poker.

Why Some States’ Players Can Play Together

Poker players in certain legal states get to play together, growing the site player pools, thanks to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.

Delaware and Nevada lawmakers agreed to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) in March 2015. The agreement merged player networks from the 888 Delaware network, and WSOP Nevada.

New Jersey agreed to join the MSIGA in October 2017. The three-state merged platform went live in April 2018, offering shared player liquidity among WSOP Nevada, WSOP New Jersey, and the 888 Poker Delaware network.

The merged network allowed New Jersey players to compete in World Series of Poker online bracelet events for the first time at the 2018 WSOP.

Matthew “Mendy” Mendez became the first player to win a WSOP bracelet while playing outside of Nevada in 2018.

States With Laws Against Online Poker

Indiana

Outside of states with online poker, most other US jurisdictions don’t have laws in place explicitly making online poker illegal.

Indiana is an exception, as online gambling in the Hoosier State is expressly outlawed. State-regulated online sports betting sites operate legally in Indiana, but any kind of online gambling outside of those legal sportsbooks is punishable by law.

States That Will Eventually Offer Legal Online Poker

West Virginia and Michigan

West Virginia became the fifth US state to legalize online poker in March 2019. The launch of the state’s online poker platforms could happen by 2021.

Michigan will eventually join the fray as the sixth state with legal online poker. Lawmakers in Michigan signed of on online poker legalization in December 2019, with the launch of products pending.

This win for Michigan players was hard fought. Just days after the initial online poker bill passed back in 2018, outgoing Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed the bill as one of his last acts before his gubernatorial term ran out.

Legalization in Michigan, with its 10-million population, would be a huge victory for supporters of online poker. Snyder’s veto put things on hold in Michigan for a little while, but it’s back on track as of late 2019.

Former Michigan Senator @MikeKowall who led efforts to legalize internet poker/gaming in MI authored a great op-ed that lays out the case for the state legislature to pass a bill again and send to the new Gov (this time with NO VETO) https://t.co/zbHplaZkUR

— Poker Alliance (@ppapoker) January 10, 2019

When online poker is finally up and running in Michigan and West Virginia, operators in those states could eventually sign into the shared liquidity agreements with the other states offering legal poker.

If enough states legalize online poker, a merged player pool among the states could create a legal online poker network that somewhat resembles the pre-Black Friday online poker scene in the U.S.

Looking into the future, PokerStars (already operating in New Jersey and Pennsylvania) has entered into an agreement with US casino operator Eldorado Resorts, Inc., with intentions of operating online poker in 11 other states (Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and West Virginia).

Of those 11 states, only Nevada and West Virginia have legalized online poker, so the other nine states would have to go through the process of legalization before a hypothetical PokerStars USA network could come to fruition.

Is It Legal To Play On Pokerstars from the U.S?

You cannot legally play on the main PokerStars platform from the U.S.

PokerStars New Jersey and PokerStars Pennsylvania are different, U.S.-regulated poker sites that are legal to play within the state borders of NJ/PA. Its player pool is not connected to the main PokerStars player pool, which operates in many countries and is the world’s largest online poker site.

It’s been nearly a decade since the shutdown of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet, and U.S. players are still waiting and hoping that the online game returns to the glory days of the 2000s at some point.

The “poker boom” of the early 2000s ushered in an era of unprecedented options for online poker within the U.S., but those glory days were numbered after the U.S. government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.

Partypoker, one of the world’s largest online poker operators, quickly shut off access for U.S. players after the UIGEA passed, while PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet continued operating in the country throughout the remainder of the 2000s and became the three largest U.S.-facing poker sites.

On April 15, 2011 (known as Black Friday in the poker community), the U.S. Government seized the domain names of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, and U.S. players have had significantly fewer options for online poker ever since.

PokerStars has still thrived in spite of not being able to allow accept U.S. players and is home to the largest online poker player pool in the world. If you live in the U.S., you have to physically relocate to a jurisdiction where PokerStars can legally allow you to play, in order to have access to the site.

Online Poker Sites Operating in a Grey Area

If you’re playing online poker in the U.S. in 2019, chances are you’ve played on the Winning Poker Network, Ignition Casino or Global Poker at some point.

These poker sites, and any other online poker site outside of the legal, regulated sites from Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, are not technically legally able to offer online poker to U.S. players, but they exist nonetheless.

Online Poker Illegal In Us

The Winning Poker Network is a collection of skins that include America’s Cardroom, Black Chip Poker, and True Poker, among others. WPN has been operating since the early 2000s and has continued to be available to U.S. players, even after the passage of the UIGEA and Black Friday shutdown of major U.S. sites in 2011.

Ignition Casino has operated under many names since its inception in 2004, most notably as Bodog and Bovada, before settling in on its current branding. This site offers the largest player pool available to U.S. players.

Global Poker arrived in 2017 with a business model that has players using “Gold Coins” (play money) and “Sweeps Cash” (real money). Players can purchase Gold Coins with real money, and also receive an equivalent amount of Sweeps Cash. It’s basically a loophole that allows them to take deposits.

Playing on any of these grey area sites is a risk. If you decide to do so, make sure you proceed with caution and don’t keep more money on the site than you’re comfortable losing.

Final Thoughts

U.S. poker players want options to play online, and we all would love to see the return of the glory days of the 2000s. It’s important to remember though – the “grey area” poker sites listed above can get shut down by the U.S. government at any time, just as PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker did on Black Friday.

Let’s hope that the recent DOJ reversal of opinion on the Wire Act is just a hiccup on the way to the rise of a new era for online poker in the U.S. If more states follow the lead of Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia we could one day have access to a shared player pool that makes the U.S. a great place to play online poker once again.

The legality of online poker in the United States varies according to your jurisdiction. Contrary to what some sources might have you believe, no federal law specifically forbids online poker. State laws, on the other hand, might or might not, depending on the state. Only one state (Washington) has a specific law explicitly forbidding online poker, while only Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey have legalized and regulated it.

Our goal is to provide the facts about where you can play poker online legally in the United States. You should know up front that our site isn't run by lawyers or anyone with any kind of governmental authority. If you need actual legal advice, you should contact an attorney. The information provided here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We're not responsible for anything that happens based on your use of the information here.

That being said, the information here is accurate and reliable to the best of our knowledge.

Washington State

We thought it would be a good idea to get this out of the way right away. It is illegal to play poker online for money in the state of Washington.

The state of Washington passed a law in 2006 making online poker a felony. Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars responded by no longer offering services to residents of that state, but they continued to operate in the rest of the country. If you live in the state of Washington, it's a crime to play poker online for money. In fact, it's a serious crime. Our advice to poker players in Washington state is to not play poker on the Internet.

We don't know why the state of Washington has taken such a draconian stance against Internet poker, but if you live there, it's probably best not to play, even if you can find a site which would accept you as a player.

Games of Skill vs. Games of Chance

The amount of controversy surrounding whether or not it's legal to play poker on the Internet in the United States is strange, especially in light of the similarities between the game and the free market system, which is one of the cornerstones of the American way of life. Poker is even commonly called 'America's card game.' Expert players consider it a mind sport. Even the general public considers poker a sport; that's why it's the subject of televised events on ESPN, a TV channel that specializes in sports programming and reporting.

In August, 2012, Judge Jack B. Weinstein, a federal judge in Brooklyn, ruled that poker is predominantly a game of skill rather than chance. The reasoning is that the money doesn't flow to the luckiest players at the table, at least not in the long run. In the end, the most skilled players win the most money. The skills used in poker include reading other players, concealing your own intentions, and evaluating the odds that your hand is the best.

According to Judge Weinstein, 'The most skillful professionals earn the same celestial salaries as professional ballplayers.'

Of course, this doesn't mean that playing poker doesn't constitute gambling, at least not colloquially. What makes a game 'gambling' is the activity of betting money. Skill becomes a consideration from a legal standpoint, though. In many jurisdictions, contests of skill are treated dramatically different from games of pure chance.

You might be the best poker player in the world, but on any given hand, you face an element of risk. The same holds true for other bettors who use skill to get an edge. Blackjack card counters, expert video poker players, and skilled sports handicappers all sometimes lose.

The Interstate Wire Act of 1961

Does the Wire Act make online poker illegal?
The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, sometimes called 'the Federal Wire Act', was passed in September, 1961 in an attempt to thwart organized crime.

In 2005, the Justice Department sent threatening letters to Internet publishers and broadcasting companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Infinity Broadcasting. Their contention was that accepting advertising from companies involved in online gambling was 'aiding and abetting' illegal activities. They used the Interstate Wire Act as justification for this.

In December, 2011, The Justice Department reversed their position, stating that the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports betting, not to poker.

So the short answer, until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, is no, the Wire Act does not make online poker illegal.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006

Does UIGEA make online poker illegal?
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed as part of the Safe Ports act. The law made it a federal crime to accept payments connected with illegal Internet gambling. It did not define 'illegal Internet gambling', and since the Wire Act only applied to sports betting, no federal law makes it illegal to play poker on the Internet for money.

So the short answer again is no, UIGEA does not make online poker illegal unless state laws make it illegal (which they seem to do in the vast majority of the states).

As a practical matter, though, UIGEA has made life harder for online rounders. Some companies, including Pacific Poker, Paradise Poker, and Party Poker, stopped accepting real money players from the United States. Other companies, including Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, and the Cereus Poker network, continued to accept players from the United States. Eventually, even those companies had to capitulate to the prevailing anti-gambling sentiment from the current U.S. governmental regime.

Black Friday

Did the events of Black Friday make online poker illegal?
In 2011, an estimated 2 million Americans played online poker for money on a regular basis. On Friday, April 15, 2011, The Justice Department eliminated most of this play when it shut down the three most trafficked poker sites (Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker, and the Cereus Network) with charges of money laundering and fraud. The US government contended that the companies had violated UIGEA, but the poker companies operated under the understanding that online poker wasn't illegal and therefore didn't constitute a violation of the act.

The Department of Justice not only seized control of the websites for the three companies, they also froze the assets in 76 bank accounts in 14 countries. Both civil and criminal charges were filed. In July, 2012, the U.S. government dismissed 'with prejudice' the civil complaints, but not the criminal indictments. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker settled without admitting wrongdoing. As part of the settlement, PokerStars bought Full Tilt Poker.

No, the events of Black Friday didn't make online poker illegal, but they had a chilling effect on the actual play. The industry still hasn't recovered, but there are reasons to be optimistic.

The Poker Player's Alliance

The Poker Player's Alliance (PPA) was founded in Washington D.C. in 2005 as a non-profit political advocacy group to protect the rights of poker players in the US. Their goals include overturning UIGEA and passing legislation legalizing and regulating poker on the Internet. From their about us page, their mission is as follows: 'The PPA's mission is to establish favorable laws that provide poker players with a secure, safe and regulated place to play.'

Legal Online Poker In Usa

Multiple bills have been proposed in Congress to amend UIGEA with an exception for online poker and other skill games but none have passed. We encourage the civic-minded members of our readership to visit their site, consider donating, or use their other resources to write to the lawmakers who represent them in the government. If it is the will of the people, safe and regulated online poker can become a reality sooner rather than later.

Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey

Three states, Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey, have passed laws explicitly legalizing and regulating online gambling.

Delaware taxes the first $3.75 million of online gambling revenue in a year at 100%, which means that casinos need to generate a tremendous amount of activity to earn any money from online gambling activities. To legally gamble online in Delaware, a player must be of gambling age and operate their computer (or smartphone/table) within the state. The online poker market there is correspondingly small as a result, but state officials are confident that revenues from online gambling will grow as it catches on there.

Nevada has legalized online poker for two sites: UltimatePoker.com and WSOP.com. These two sites have exclusive rights to run online gambling in the state. As in Delaware, players must be of legal gambling age and operate their computer within the state. Nevada taxes online gambling revenues at the same rate (6.75%) as all other gaming revenue.

Websites offering online gambling in New Jersey are required to have a relationship with a physical casino within the state. They tax this revenue at 15% (compared to the 8% they tax their physical casinos). All gambling activities, including poker, are legal within this context, but revenues have been lower than expected. This disappointment is, at least in part, a result of credit card companies' lack of cooperation in processing these transactions.

These are not the only states where it's legal to play poker. They're just the only states to have laws on the books specifically legalizing the activity and regulating it. In the United States, an activity is legal unless a law prohibits it, so the lack of laws on the books in some states does not equate to the committing of a crime. At least nine other states have proposals to legalize and regulate poker on the Internet.

Online Poker Illegal In Us

Can You Legally Play Poker for Money on the Internet in the US?

Online Poker In Us Legal

State laws vary. If you live in the state of Washington, playing poker online for money is a felony. In most cases, general state gambling laws make online poker illegal as well. To our knowledge, no one in the United States has been indicted or convicted of a crime related to playing online poker for money so far. This, of course, might change in the blink of an eye. We recommend that you only participate in online poker if it's legal where you live.