New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada have all signed up to share their group of players. Pennsylvania is the most populous state to legalize poker sites, but it has yet to be added to the pool. A shared pool would be crucial to creating great tournaments, a wide selection of cash games and a healthy poker ecosystem. Real money online poker is legal within the borders of states that have expressly regulated it by law. Online bets between legal states also appear to be valid, as Department of Justice guidelines imply that poker is exempt from the Wire Act of 1961. Playing poker online for real money can seem intimidating at first. This is a very different form of poker compared to friendly games or even playing in a casino. You have many operators, games and variants to choose from and the competition is not as soft as in your home game in the neighborhood. But don`t worry, this guide will show you what to look for when choosing your real money poker site and what pitfalls to avoid when you start playing real money poker online in 2022. After that, gambling virtually disappeared from the United States until a federal judge ruled in 2012 that poker was a game of skill, not a game of chance. This paved the way for Nevada to open the first state-regulated poker site, and several states followed. As it would take you a bit of time to go through each bonus from each online poker provider in detail, we have done it for you and have compared all the first deposit bonuses from the major online poker rooms.

There are huge differences when it comes to first deposit bonuses, and that`s exactly why it`s worth comparing poker rooms. Online poker has been on a difficult roller coaster since the first hands of online poker were handed out in the late 90s. The biggest setback came in 2011, but after that it rose steadily and things are really improving. Four states, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, have legalized poker and websites operate in each of those states. Most states have at least discussed online poker, many have introduced laws, and Michigan and West Virginia have legalized online poker. However, sites for these states are still under development, but should be launched soon. In fact, it wasn`t until 2017 that a fourth state, Pennsylvania, decided to regulate gambling. In addition, it was not until November 2019 that the first hands were distributed in Keystone State. The latest state to join the legalized online poker „game” is Michigan. Legal and regulated online poker went online in the state of Wolverine on January 29, 2021. West Virginia has passed laws allowing online poker, but virtual hands have yet to be exchanged in the state. If you`ve mostly played live poker so far, you should start playing much lower real money online poker limits.

If you`re at a $2/$5 Hold`em table at a live casino, you still have a lot of weak and mediocre players. Online, almost all players at this limit are competent and experienced. In the best case, you can expect a fish at such a table online. Players under the age of 21 are not allowed in any U.S. online marketplace. Finally, we also evaluate the payment methods available in poker rooms. If you want to play real money poker online, it is important that you have a wide range of payment options. Admittedly, US-oriented sites are more limited than European poker rooms, but there are legitimate options. You can play at the big poker site 888 in New Jersey, DE and NV and Pokerstars in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. You can also play WSOP online once a year from qualified states. Playing on a licensed website brings great benefits such as security of funds and smoother transition processing. These licensed sites are much safer than any offshore or unlicensed poker room.

And the decks of cards that are distributed are legitimate and monitored for fairness. Playing at legal online poker sites is always better for the player. West Virginia has also legalized it and websites won`t be too far behind. Whether you are in a current or future poker market, we will keep you informed of important news, legislative developments and general information about the world of online poker. They don`t always go hand in hand, but they often do. Many websites that even today offer both a bookmaker and a poker room. More and more states are legalizing poker, so this list is going to grow. We will keep it updated as more websites launch in different states.

Another important factor when comparing poker rooms is the regulations and legal situation of the site. There are no global regulations for real money online poker, but many poker sites are licensed by EU countries, providing legal certainty to all players who can play them. Legitimate online poker sites in the United States are operated under the strict supervision of the state-designated gaming authority. Therefore, every poker room must first prove that they have secure systems to hold your money and that they are obligated to process payments in a timely manner. Licenses are tied to an active casino or lottery program, which ensures that transactions are properly accounted for. The disadvantage is that these state-recognized spaces are only accessible from these state borders. But it doesn`t matter if you`re a resident or a visitor – so you can easily visit for an online poker vacation. However, the poker site will use geolocation to enforce this, and they will become more susceptible to VPNs. It is therefore not so easy to move in this direction. The less rake a poker room takes, the better it will be rated by us. Currently, the only legal markets are Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. Online poker went live in Michigan on January 29, 2021.

West Virginia has passed a law allowing online poker, but there are no live sites yet. In 2006, the United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which prohibits U.S. banks from doing business with online gambling sites. Some pages disappeared, others remained. In 2011, the Department of Justice seized the domains of major poker sites for bank fraud and money laundering. Apart from licensed sites in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Delaware, global poker is the only real option for US players to play poker online. This poker site uses a unique model of lottery and virtual currency as legal justification. As a result, it`s not considered an online gambling site per se – and it`s available all over the US. It is actually a poker site disguised as a draw. So you can then play for real money prizes, which you convert via Mastercard, American Express or Skrill, for example. These aspects are especially important to us in real money poker software: everything on a legal site is legitimate.

You must confirm your identity before you can play, as well as your opponents. Before you can fund your account and play, the website needs to know who you are. In addition, online poker rooms use casino-level security to protect this private information. In virtually every European country, South America and Canada, online poker is regulated, licensed and legal. Therefore, most Europeans can open a poker account and play legally online with real money. The United States has unfortunately separated the online poker market and only some states allow legally licensed online poker with real money. At USPokerSites, we have several states in mind. Our list is not exhaustive, but if you want to know more about where each state stands in terms of poker legalization, just search and click below. Playing real money poker online can seem a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you have little experience with poker. But at the end of the day, it is very easy to create a real money poker account and you can play with a very moderate amount of money.

A $50 deposit can be all you need to start your bankroll and is a lot of money when you play the lowest bets. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed by Congress in September 2006 and signed into law two weeks later. They made it illegal for banks to process payments for illegal gambling sites. It wasn`t defined exactly what it was, and as a result, most publicly traded websites left the U.S. market after the UIGEA was launched. This included partypoker, however, many sites returned to the US market when states began regulating legal online poker.