Are you looking for the best US legal online poker sites or a real money poker app? If the answer is yes, then you came to the right place. This is one of our many online poker reviews where you can find more about the best online poker options.
Partypoker has been a leading online poker site for the better part of the past decade with good player volume in both cash games and tournaments. Partypoker has maintained a number of juicy games over time thanks to a constant influx of beginners and gamblers from the casino looking for action. Partypoker also offers great promotions and newly upgraded software that has dramatically improved the poker experience overall. The safest online poker sites are regulated by international gambling authorities. Look for a stamp of approval from places like Gibraltar, Alderney, and Malta.
Without further ado, keep reading to discover how to play the best online poker for money and how to form an online poker strategy. So, let’s get started!
Contents
Best Legal Online Poker Sites
- WSOP
- PartyPoker
- PokerStars
- Pala Poker
- 888poker
- Global Poker
Is online poker legal? It's not always the same as legal online casinos and legal online sportsbooks. All new players who decide to explore the vast universe of real money poker sites should know that federally, online poker sites are illegal. However, on the individual level, online poker is legal in some of the states.
Some websites such as Global Poker (which is a sweepstakes poker site) are allowed in 49 out of 50 US states. Only Washington does not allow it. At the moment of writing our online poker reviews, only four states offer legal online poker websites in the United States. These are the following: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.
For more information about some of the available sites, make sure to consult our Global Poker review.
US Legal Online Poker: State by State
Is online poker legal in your state? If the answer is no, keep in mind that the situation can change pretty quickly. Unsurprisingly, Nevada was the leader of regulated online poker. Once the ice was broken, the domino-effect followed.
One by one, many states tried or are still trying to pass the legislation. As you can see, some of them even succeeded. The last one to recently pass online poker is West Virginia, and we expect more legal US poker sites to be launched in the future.
When it comes to future predictions, we believe that chances are pretty good for some of the states to overcome all the legal obstacles and finally launch real money poker sites so their residents become able to play legal online poker.
Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, New York are some of the states that’ll probably make some innovations when it comes to the possibilities of playing poker online. These are the states that have active supporters of online poker in the state senate.
What’s more, regulated real money poker sites in neighboring states can only have a positive effect on public opinion. Additionally, within the borders of the aforementioned states, you can find a considerable number of land-based casinos.
Many of them come with the best online poker rooms where you can play various variants of poker, including the most popular one - Texas Hold’em. In other words, these poker offline options make it easier to launch legal poker sites and eventually start to offer legal online poker.
States Where Legal Online Poker Seems Like a Distant Dream
From this point of view, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah are just some of the states where we can see a certain legislative hostility towards online gambling. Therefore, we don’t believe that we won’t be able to play Texas Hold’em online there for quite some time.
Sweepstakes Legal Online Poker - Play Poker Free No Matter Which State You’re In
As said before, Global Poker, a sweepstakes legal online poker site, can be accessed in all US states except for the state of Washington. This legal online poker platform was launched in 2106, and since then, many players use its services. The virtual currency gaming business model is what makes it unique.
Instead of playing for real money, players play poker free, using gold coins or sweeps cash. That’s why Global Poker often appears when players search for “play poker free” or “play poker online, free”.
To understand how sweepstakes poker works, let’s start with some poker basics and make sure to understand sweeps poker terminology clearly. There’s a difference between gold coins and sweeps cash, and there’s a reason for which “play poker online, free” is actually a bit of a misnomer here.
Gold Coins are the name for the virtual currency in Global Poker, and they are equivalent to what regular legal online poker sites usually call “play money”. In other words, you can’t cash them out, but you can use them to play Texas Hold’em online or participate in some of the available tournaments with other players. On the other hand, “$weeps cash” is a promotional, virtual currency that can be cashed out through PayPal.
To sum up, you can buy gold coins that don’t have any monetary value and can’t be cashed out. “$weeps cash” is obtained as free of charge once you buy Gold Coins. Because of this virtual currency online poker model, Global Poker is not quite considered an online gambling activity. Therefore, it’s allowed in almost all of the US.
Where Can I Play Legal Online Poker in the US?
Pennsylvania is the last state where online poker had become legal when PokerStars was launched there at the end of 2019. Right now that’s also the only available option to play online poker for money in Pennsylvania.
If we don’t count Global Poker, which can be accessed in 49 states, all the other legal online poker sites come with pretty restricted access. For example, Pala Poker and PartyPoker are only available in the state of New Jersey.
However, they are not the only NJ poker sites one can access. WSOP, America's top legal online poker site, is available in the Garden State, and it’s also accessible to all Nevada online poker fans as well. Likewise, PokerStars NJ, available both independently and within the FOX Bet app
Claim the WSOP promo code in New Jersey and Nevada to get a $1,000 signup bonus!Where Can I Play Poker Live?
Most of the land-based casinos across different states include special poker rooms where you can play live poker. Playing Texas Hold’em online is definitely the most popular option. After all, poker is an American thing, so it’s no wonder to see it available in the vast majority of mortar and bricks casinos.
In fact, instead of listing all the states where you can sit back, relax and try out your luck with live poker, it’s better to list all those where you can’t play poker online. It’ll be easier to remember this list:
- Alaska
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- New Hampshire
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
We must add that in Texas, private poker clubs aren’t forbidden. As long as no house makes a profit from the game, poker can be played in private places for fun.
US Online Poker Basics
When talking about the current status of legal US poker sites, there are two especially important laws that you should be aware of. Let’s take a look at these two federal laws that govern online poker in the country.
The Wire Act
The first one is the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, often called the Federal Wire Act. As you can see, it passed long before online poker or even the internet existed. However, it prohibits certain types of betting businesses to operate via wired communications.
In 2011, the US Department of Justice concluded that the scope of the act was limited to sporting events. Therefore, states, where online poker is now regulated, found that the bill didn’t apply to online poker nor other forms of gambling.
However, in 2019, the US Department of Justice reversed its opinion. The new opinion concludes that the Wire Act applies to all types of online gambling.
The UIGEA
The other relevant law is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) from 2006. This law made it illegal for US banks to proceed with transactions for offshore gambling companies. That’s how they were pushed out of the market.
History of US Legal Online Poker
Online casinos started to appear back in 1994. They were usually situated in Antigua or the Isle of Man. However, the vast majority of their users were US-based customers. Two years later, in 1996, online gambling was also brought to the North American market soil.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission was established just outside Montreal. They started issuing licenses, and pretty soon, it was possible to find hundreds of new online gambling websites.
Once again, two years later and again in Canada, the first-ever poker online website saw the light of day. Planet Poker was the favorite source of fun to thousands of Americans who were spending endless hours playing the first real-money online Texas Hold’em.
Over the next few years, thanks to technological advances, better online poker software was developed, while the number of websites kept increasing. These online poker operators also started to offer various tournaments and cash games and got a solid fan base all over the world.
The Industry Kept Growing & Then It Collapsed
Even though there were different interpretations of the law, especially of the famous Wire Act, the newly developed industry kept growing.
The year 2003 is especially important in the evolution of online poker. Using an account from Tennessee, Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker after participating in the event through an online satellite. In Chris Moneymaker's case, we guess, it's okay to say that name determines destiny.
This online poker strategy was live-streamed on ESPN. Suddenly, the whole nation knew about Chris's story. A good number of Americans were hoping to be the next. All of a sudden, poker was everywhere on TV. Live games were followed carefully, and commercial breaks had one purpose: promoting online poker for money and playing Texas Hold 'em online.
The great number of promoted sites were, in fact, offshore online poker sites. A lot of them disappeared from American browsers after Congress passed the above-mentioned UIGEA in 2006.
However, even though a lot of sites weren't accessible anymore, online poker couldn't be erased that easily. Some of the offshore gambling companies had found a way around the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, but not for long.
In 2011, some of the largest online poker operators, including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet, were accused of violating UIGEA and money laundering. These websites were definitely excluded from the significant US online poker market, which seemed to come to an end at the time.
Legal Online Poker Sites Rise Again
Also in 2011, the DOJ released a legal opinion that the Federal Wire act exclusively applied only to one form of gambling: sports betting. A few states saw this as a possibility, paving the way to regulated online casinos and legal US poker sites.
In 2012, Delaware was the first state that managed to do just that. Then, in December 2013, Nevada followed the example of passing online poker legislation. A week later, the Garden State became the third to legalize online gambling, and plans for NJ poker sites were made.
The first-ever regulated US online poker site was launched in Nevada in April 2013. Delaware and NJ poker sites went live that same year, a few months later. In 2017, Pennsylvania became the fourth state to join this group. West Virginia is the fifth state where online poker was regulated in 2019. Probably, more states will try to do the same thing in the near future.
Which State is Next?
Is online poker legal in California or New York? This is one of the frequently asked questions that people search for in the USA. They also search for different terms of poker terminology that sound unfamiliar to them. However, that’s another question that we could discuss on some other occasion.
Let’s get back to our question of legal online poker sites and the possible new markets in the USA. Michigan has made significant efforts to legalize online gambling, particularly online poker, while California, New York, and Massachusetts also seem to be moving in the right direction.
Real Money Poker App: How to Find the Best Poker App
It doesn’t matter if you are a Pennsylvania online poker fan or a regular visitor of NJ poker sites, the good news is that you can play poker whenever you want, anywhere within the borders of one or the other state.
Many of the best online poker websites have launched a dedicated real money poker app that you can easily download and install on your device. The best poker apps are available for both iOS and Android operating systems.
In order to find the best poker app, make sure you visit one of the websites we listed at the beginning of our review.
Also, before you replace your poker offline adventure with the one that can be found on the internet, make sure to read some of the online poker reviews and get to know the poker terminology used by the players worldwide. After a brief introduction to the poker basics, it’s time to create your own online poker strategy and join one of the legal online poker communities!
Las Vegas is the epicenter of land-based gambling, and that includes poker. Nearly every Las Vegas casino spreads cash games or hosts tournaments. You can find the largest poker games in the world in Vegas.
But there are also downsides to live casino poker, which we’ll talk about later. It’s because of these downsides that we recommend you play poker online, too. And to do that, you’ll need an account with one of the best Nevada poker sites.
| Rank | Poker Site | Exclusive Bonus | Get Started | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 888poker | 100% Up To€400 | Visit Site | Visit Site |
Think about the highest stakes poker cash games and the largest, most prestigious tournaments you can play in the United States. What state comes to mind?
Nevada, obviously.
There are many reasons to visit Vegas, and playing poker is certainly one of them. It’s a great experience. But are the live poker rooms the best options for poker players that live in Nevada? Maybe not, when you consider the advantages of playing real money poker online.
We’re going to talk about why we prefer to play poker tournaments online below, but we’ll also discuss a few reasons why you should consider playing live. We’ll cover some useful information, too.
By the time you’re done reading everything, you’ll know why you should consider playing poker online in Nevada if you’re not already, and you’ll know exactly which real money poker sites to join.
Let’s start this guide with a small section that explains how we choose the best Nevada poker sites to recommend to our readers.
How do we find the best Nevada poker sites?
It’s not an easy task. Before we recommend any online poker site, we ensure it’s a worthy replacement or addition to the live poker games you can play in Nevada. Otherwise, what’s the point of playing online?
Here’s what every NV poker site must have before we recommend them to you.
- Lots of cash games and tournaments
- Reasonable rake (the percentage and cap)
- Games other than Texas Hold’em (like Omaha, Stud, Razz, etc.)
- Several variants (turbo, heads-up, guarantees, etc.)
- A kickback program (cashback, rebates, etc.)
- Lots of features (four-color deck, hand re-player, odds calculator, note-taking capabilities, etc.)
- Lots of traffic so there are games for you to play whenever you like
We won’t recommend any online poker rooms for Nevada if they don’t tick these boxes.
The next step is to ensure that a site is legit. This means checking to see that they use encryption software, have a proper license, and a positive reputation.
We take the handful of Nevada sites that tick these boxes, and we rank them according to their strengths and weaknesses. This process is time consuming because we review and test everything ourselves.
And that’s how we find the best online poker sites for NV. It costs us a lot of time and money to do this, but it’s worth it if you end up at a top-rated poker website that you’re excited to use.
Playing Live at Nevada Poker Rooms
There are many reasons to play live poker in Nevada, specifically in cities like Reno and Las Vegas. Cash games and poker tournaments run daily. And you can get high stakes action that’s hard to find elsewhere.
But there are also frustrations that you might experience playing at the poker rooms in Las Vegas or elsewhere. Here are some of the biggest frustrations we have experienced or heard of.
When it comes to playing poker tournaments in Nevada, poker rooms only have so much square footage. This limits the number of games and events they can run which, in turn, limits how many people can play.
Most Nevada poker rooms have a waiting list for when their games are full. Get your name on the list, and they might call your name in 20 minutes… Or not at all.
Read some poker room reviews online and you’ll see that land-based poker waitlists can have over 100 players. If the games are good, and you’re down the list, there’s a strong possibility you won’t get to play.
Nevada poker sites have waitlists, too. But there are so many online poker rooms and tables to choose from that you never have to wait long to play, especially if you don’t mind moving up or down a level.
Cliques
Daniel Negreanu said on his blog that some games are political i.e. the other players will collectively decide if you can join their game.
The criteria they use includes your skillset, tendencies (do you play slow or fast), and if they know you.
If they don’t like you or you play excessively slow, then there are many live poker cash games you can’t join.
Check any real money US online poker room. There are dozens of poker tournaments under $50. Many of these tournaments have satellites, too.
You’ll struggle to find a live poker tournament in Nevada for less than $40 to $60. Factor in rebuys and add-ons and you can easily spend $200 for one lowkey poker tournament.
This isn’t too bad a price if you can play for over three hours. It’s better than what you’ll spend in the casino within the same amount of time. But if you bust within the first 30 to 60 minutes, you would have been better off playing slots or blackjack as far as entertainment goes.
The point, though, is that you’ll need a much larger bankroll to play live poker games in Nevada. This is frustrating for people who don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on poker.
Frequency and Availability
Another gripe we have with live poker in Nevada is how often games run.
Many Nevada casinos run only a couple of tournaments a day. If you can’t make it to one, or show up too late, you’ll have to wait until several hours later. Or the next day.
You can always try to play at another casino or dedicated poker room, but it’s not easy to go from one place to another in Las Vegas.
You can try cash games, but these are hit and miss. Show up too early and no one will be around to play. Get there too late or during peak hours and you’ll end up on the waitlist.
You can call ahead, of course, and put your name on several waitlists. But you’ll have to wait to hear from one of the rooms to know where the game is. And you’ll still have to get there fast enough to keep your seat.
Anyway, those are some of the most frustrating things we’ve experienced or have heard about from others about playing live poker in Nevada.
You won’t have these issues online, which is why we recommend you join the top poker sites in Nevada and play online instead. Or you can supplement your live play with online poker.
The one exception we’d make are for some of the poker tournaments you can play in Nevada. There’s not a real money NV poker website that can match what some of the largest poker tournaments bring to the table.
As we said earlier, we prefer to play poker online. But the one exception we make is to play in some of Nevada’s larger poker tournaments.
We’re not talking about the $50 tourney you can play at Treasure Island or Excalibur. We’re talking about huge and prestigious tournaments, such as the ones that are a part of the World Series of Poker.
Here’s why tournaments like these are so much fun to play.
- There are dozens of tournaments for you to choose from. The WSOP schedule has more than 100 different events you can play.
- You can play more than just Texas Hold’em. The World Series of Poker includes Omaha, Stud, and mixed game tourneys.
- The buy-ins vary so that everyone can find a limit they can afford or want to play. Players on a budget can play an event for $500. High rollers can play for $250,000.
- The WSOP is always adding new games and formats. There’s always a reason to come back and play next year.
- You can rub shoulders with your favorite pros. You might even bust one or get busted by one and have a great story to tell your friends and family.
- You can win hundreds of thousands of dollars if you run deep. Millions, even.
- Win a WSOP event and you’ll also get a bracelet.
- Play the WSOP Main Event and you’ll likely win at least $1 million for making the final table and north of $5 million for winning the event.
- You might become a slight public figure for winning a tournament, especially the Main Event. Your name will forever be immortalized on the pages of Wikipedia, too.
If you can’t put up the money for the event you want to play, many Nevada casinos and poker rooms host satellites. You can win a WSOP for a fraction of the street price.
There are many examples of players who have done this. The most famous is Chris Moneymaker. He won his seat online at PokerStars, and went on to win the 2003 Main Event.
The WSOP isn’t the only big tournament or series you can play in Nevada. There are many others. And they’ll share many of the same benefits that we listed above.
We don’t think poker tournaments is an either/or situation, especially if you’re playing in Nevada. Both formats offer plenty of benefits that are too difficult to ignore.
We highlighted some of the benefits to playing the larger and more popular live tournaments. Now, here are some of the benefits to playing online poker tournaments.
- You can play for smaller buy-ins. Many poker rooms have tournaments you can play for less than $5.
- You can satellite into the $50 to $200 tournaments for less than $20 at most poker rooms.
- Every Nevada poker website we recommend offers promotions like deposit bonuses and VIP programs. Deposit bonuses are pure profit for breakeven (or better) players.
- Online poker rooms offer tools and resources to help you play better. This includes hand re-players, odds calculators, hand histories (you can download), forums, and more. Many also allow you to use heads-up displays (HUDs).
- It’s easier and faster to switch poker rooms.
- Tournaments run ALL DAY online. These won’t have $50,000 or $1 million guarantees. But many of them will have $500 to $10,000 guarantees.
- You can play more than one tourney at a time. Many online poker sites for Nevada let you play an unlimited number of tables simultaneously. You can get through variance faster and overcome boredom.
As we said, there’s no right or wrong way to play poker tournaments in Nevada. There are tons you can play live if you can look past some of the frustrations we mentioned in the last section. And if you’re thinking about playing the WSOP, we recommend you do.
But don’t ignore online tournaments. There are benefits to playing online poker for real money that land-based poker rooms can’t match either, such as tools, software, and promotions.
This is definitely one of those situations where we recommend you do both, if possible.
When is the World Series of Poker?
The World Series of Poker usually starts in May and runs until July or August.
It depends on the year, the number of events, and how the WSOP plans to run the Main Event final table.
Yes.
All the Nevada poker sites we recommend offer real money poker.
Are Nevada poker sites safe?
The ones we recommend are, yes.
The best online poker sites for NV as per our list have been thoroughly vetted. They’re only there if they are safe and reputable sites.
How much money do you need to play poker in Vegas?
There are many variables. What are you going to play, cash games or MTTs? How much are you going to play? What stakes are you going to play? What variants? Where are you going to play?
At a bare minimum, you can find an MTT for around $40 to $50. If you buy in for the max at a cash game (which we recommend you do), you’ll need $200 to $400 depending on whether you play $1/$2 or $2/$4.
It goes up from there. You might need $100 or you might need several thousand.
Playing online can be much cheaper than playing live if you want it to be.
The top Nevada poker sites typically run real money freerolls, so you can try to build a bankroll without spending anything. If you want to play with your own money, you can usually deposit as little as ten bucks. There are plenty of low stakes tournaments and cash games available online.
Play Poker Online for Real Money in NV
Nevada is THE gambling epicenter of the world. You can gamble on nearly everything here. That includes poker. You’ll find tons of live poker action in this state.
But there are pros and cons.
One upside is that you can play in huge, prestigious events like the World Series of Poker or high stakes cash games in Bobby’s Room. You can play with your favorite pros and potentially win millions of dollars.
But there are downsides, too. For example, many poker rooms have long waiting lists, run few tournaments, and have high buy-ins.
That’s why we recommend you supplement your live poker by playing online poker for real money. Join the top Nevada poker sites and you’ll have more games, variants, stakes, and promotions to choose from. You’ll also have access to tools that will help you play better.
Best Online Poker Gambling Sites
So, if you want to play online poker in Nevada, your next step is to join a trusted poker room. You’ll save time and money, and you can rest assured knowing you’re playing poker at one of the safest poker sites online.
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Pick a real money poker site and create your account now. You won’t regret it.