Over the past 5 years the online poker market in the United States has changed drastically due to a number of laws, regulations and seizures occurring throughout the industry. That being said, there are still a number of poker sites that accept US players and allow you to play for real money online. On this page we'll cover the best US poker sites currently operating in the market and also provide you with an in-depth overview of the past, present and future outlook for the market to put everything into context. Below you'll find some of our top recommendations of sites that are currently accepting all US players as well as more details on the current market with frequently ask questions.
Frequently Asked Questions from US Players
Below we've compiled some of the most frequently asked questions by players related to playing online poker within the United States, please note that it's up to you alone to decide if playing online is legal within your jurisdiction:
- Is Online Poker Illegal in The US?
The short answer is NO, not in most US States. The legality of online poker is still very much a grey area in terms of US law. While the UIGEA and Black Friday had a significant impact on the market, there is no Federal law that states playing the game is illegal. Instead this is left to State level legislators and in most states there is no defining law on the subject. To date no one in the United States has ever been arrested or charge for playing poker online and it seems extremely unlikely this would ever actually happen. - Which US States Have Laws About Online Poker?
Currently the only US States that have defined legislation affecting Online Poker include Illinois as well as Washington where playing can be considered "illegal". That being said, no one has ever been charged or arrested with these laws to date. Kentucky also tried to IP ban gambling sites for state residents however it's been largely unsuccessful since introduced due to a number of easy methods to avoid the IP block that was imposed. - How Do I Deposit and Withdraw From US Poker Sites?
There are still a number of poker deposit methods that are friendly to US players easily allowing you to make deposits and withdraw from poker rooms. Some of the most popular include credit cards, eChecks as well as a number of other methods that we've conveniently listed on our deposit options section with more information.
United States Online Poker 2006 - Present
2006 - Introduction of The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
Up until 2006 the US online poker market for the most part was largely ignored by law makers not only in America but also around the world. The first major jolt to the market came in 2006 when the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) was proposed and passed by the US Government. This piece of legislation aimed to accomplish a few key financial restrictions which were believed to be necessary in crippling the market. Specifically, the UIGEA legislations mandated the following laws be observed:
- American financial institutions were legally required to deny the opening of bank accounts that were to be used for the purposes of facilitating money transfers on behalf of online gambling entities both on and offshore
- It was now illegal for US Banks to process any transactions that were suspected of being related to gambling sites, meaning that these transactions must be blocked
While on the surface these regulations in theory would accomplish the goal of the legislation the reality told a much different story. The reason for this that all poker sites use 3rd party companies called "processors" to facilitate deposits and withdrawals for them. Because of this, it was nearly impossible for the banks to figure out which companies were conducting regular business and which companies were working on behalf of the online poker websites.
For this reason, the UIGEA in the eyes of many has been a complete failure and even to this day there are still millions of dollars processed daily through US Banks on behalf of the major gambling operations. The reason the UIGEA was an important stepping stone for lawmakers was that it opened the door for the next major crackdown on US online poker which is otherwise known as Black Friday and occurred on April 15th, 2011.
April 15th, 2011 - US Seizes Major Poker Room Assets (Coined Black Friday)
Nearly 5 years after the UIGEA was successfully passed in US Congress the Attorney for the Southern District of New York State unsealed a major indictment against the largest poker room operators in the world including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB and Absolute Poker. The indictment called for the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in assets from the operators, the arrest of the principles from each site and the seizure of related domains.
On the day the indictment was unsealed all of the major poker rooms lost control of their domains effectively shutting down their operations. This combined with the seizures and arrests of related payment processors paralyzed the market and left thousands of players scrambling to figure out what was going to happen to the funds in their accounts. As with any industry during trying times you see the true colors of a business and unfortunately for many US players the reality was that most of the operators were ill prepared for the blow.
PokerStars - At the time PokerStars was the largest site in the world with hundreds of thousands of players on the site at any given time. Once Black Friday occured, PokerStars lost its' domain along with millions in the seizures. As a well run site that has always had a reputation for honesty, the site was able to negotiate with the US Department of Justice to re-acquire their domain name and continue operating outside of the US market. No arrests were made of PokerStars principles and it's widely expected a settlement is in the works.
Full Tilt Poker - Full Tilt was the 2nd largest poker site in the world when Black Friday occurred and didn't fare as well as PokerStars. Although the company managed to make arrangements to regain control of their domain, once this happened it started to come out that Full Tilt had been grossly irresponsible with their accounting practices. Due to the seizures in which they lost over $200 Million it came to light that they had not been segregating player funds from profits and the company directors had taken out over $400 Million in dividend payments. This in addition to the loss of their Alderney Gambling license has basically doomed the site and hope for the return of player funds has faded. Although there has been talk of angel investors taking over the company, to date no one has received any of the funds from their accounts & most of the founders are currently under indictment.
UB & Absolute Poker - The last major operators to be hit by the indictments were UB.com and Absolute Poker who already had a murky past due to the Superuser Scandal. When news of Black Friday hit these sites basically shut down operations having their offices in Costa Rica searched by authorities who found they'd basically closed up shop. Keeping in line with their shady reputation the sites restricted withdrawals to pitiful amounts and have basically exited the market stealing remaining balances from their existing members.
2012 and Beyond - The Future of US Online Poker
Although Black Friday seriously crippled the US poker market it's widely believed that this was a first step in the regulation, legalization and eventual taxation of online poker in the United States. By cutting out the competition from the get go the government as well as various lobbying groups (tied to Vegas casinos) are in a prime position once/if full regulation occurs to get a virtual monopoly on the entire market. With states like New Jersey as well as California introducing bills to legalize the game online it seems it's just a matter of time before the market becomes fully regulated and freely available within American borders.