How to Legally Play Online Poker in the US

How to Legally Play Online Poker in the US

Poker is quite simple on its surface – newbies can actually get to learn all about the actual rules of the games in just a single round of player. Despite its simplistic outlook, poker is one of the games that involve some rather deep strategy implications. That is, the game is a battle of skills that pits the players against each other with incomplete information and this combination of the known and the unknown is what makes it such an exciting game to play. No wonder it is so popular all around the world.

These days poker has surpassed a lot of limitations and evolved tremendously especially in the online space where it continues to thrive and grow beyond what anyone would have imagined. Come to think of it, the popularity and growth of the game in the early noughties happened to coincide with the spread of the internet as a technology. These two aspects combined are what made online poker an inevitable phenomenon that is not going anywhere any time soon.

In the early days, quite a number of people were skeptical about the idea of making a game as deep and intricate as online poker available on the internet. The main concerns were trust and doubts about how it was possible for two players to engage in a game of poker without being in the same physical location. However, the very first online poker sites showed that the idea was indeed viable and since then the industry has blown up. Well, at least in most places.

Enter Regulation

Back in the noughties when the online poker industry was just beginning to flourish, concerns begun to arise with regards to how fast the activity was spreading. At the time, poker sites from all around the world could easily open for business and serve customers from anywhere on the planet so long as there was a good internet connection. This did not sit well with quite a number of governments and in response, they began to pass laws to regulate the industry or, in some cases, completely do away with it. A few others opted to remain in a quasi-legal status and things slowly begun to take a turn for the worse.

One of the places where the online poker industry took the hardest hits was the United States. People are still able to access hundreds of online poker sites but things are certainly not what they used to be. While the United States’ stance when it comes to online poker is rather easy to comprehend, it goes without saying that not many people have been able to fully understand it. To that effect, one of the biggest questions posed by many gamblers is about how best they can gamble legally in the country. Here is how:

Play at Free Online Poker Sites

In most part, online poker is not considered to be an illegal activity unless real money is involved. This means that if you are willing to just enjoy the game in a casual or friendly space where real money is not involved, then you should be all good. Fortunately, there are literally thousands of free to play poker sites and poker apps that you can get access to and most of them offer gaming experiences that are just as good as their real money counterparts.

Most of these sites are purely for recreation and therefore players should not expect any tournaments or grand prizes. Still, they can be great pass times if you are simply looking to pass time.

Go to a State with Legal and Regulated Real Money Poker

Online poker enthusiasts in the United States have very limited options when it comes to real money online poker since it is not regulated in most states in the country. Currently, only Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada have regulated real money online poker industries and you can enjoy the full perks of the game so long as you stick to the best legal poker sites – we have a source of updated poker laws for each state you can use for reference. Other than the three states mentioned above, there are a few other states including Pennsylvania and New York that have either legalized or been considering the legalization of online poker which means that gamblers will have even more real money online poker destinations to choose from.

Also, all the three states have signed an interstate online poker agreement that allowed more liquidity across all three states and created larger overall players pools which offer larger tournament guarantees and more cash game options. Real money online poker players in these states, therefore, get the very best that the country has to offer when it comes to online poker.

Taking Risks

One thing that the United States’ poker scene has never been able to get away from is the looming shadow of legal ambiguity that hangs over online poker. For instance, the only states where playing online poker is considered to be a crime are Washington and Utah while only the three states mentioned above have fully legalized and regulated real money online poker industries. As seen above, the legality of online poker in the country varies according to jurisdiction.

As it turns out, there are actually no federal laws, rules or statutes that criminalize online poker (unless you are in Washington or Utah, of course). This, therefore, implies that poker players can sign up on unregulated online poker sites and bypass such restrictions as payment services so as to enjoy the games. However, this is a very risky option not because it is illegal but because of the very fact that the fringe online providers are usually not regulated. It is very easy to lose your funds to shady online gambling operators and since they are essentially not recognized as approved gaming entities, it will be impossible to file complaints.

For the best experience playing online poker legally, you will want to stick to the legal and regulated real money gaming websites (you will have to be in a favorable jurisdiction for this) or you could just stick to free-to-play online poker sites.