Where Is Online Poker Legal
A Las Vegas-based social gambling company is expected to launch the first legal, real-money poker website in the United States on Tuesday morning. The site, run by Ultimate Gaming, will accept. Although laws are saying gaming is legal only in several states, there have been no arrests or cases so far. Even in Washington state where playing poker is considered a criminal offence. Overall, it is safe.
Is Online Poker Legal In Illinois
Prior to 2021, most online gambling industry analysts would not have put North Dakota on the list of possible legal online poker states. States like Kentucky and New York, Connecticut and Illinois have been front of mind for most people.
But then North Dakota just came waltzing right in without a care in the world. And it is certainly turning heads with its online poker bill, moving right along and passing a committee this week, with State Representative Jim Kasper accompanying it.
North Dakota, how YOU doin’?
Looking Vaguely Familiar
While most won’t recognize North Dakota as a potential online poker powerhouse, PokerNews did recognize it. Chad Holloway recalled that Representative Kasper became interested in poker as many others, after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event in 2003. More than that, however, Kasper introduced a bill in 2005 to legalize online poker. It passed the House.
In fact, to put power behind the bill, Kasper invited poker players like 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer and Allyn Jaffrey Shulman to testify before a Senate committee in 2005. Not only that, they hosted a live poker education session and poker tournament for lawmakers.
Despite the good times, though, North Dakota Senators left a note on the nightstand with a 43-3 vote against the bill. They were wary of potential conflicts with the US Wire Act, issues that the US Justice Department did warn could be problematic.
Looking Good After All These Years
Kasper never forgot about online poker, but the industry has been in flux for many years. No state in America legalized online poker prior to the 2011 Wire Act opinion from the US Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, which stated that the Wire Act pertained only to sports betting, not lotteries or other forms of online gambling.
Even so, Black Friday put everyone on notice, and even as states like New Jersey and Nevada legalized online poker within their borders, Kasper didn’t feel that North Dakota lawmakers were ready to join the club.
Kasper saw a change in 2020 – several changes, in fact.
First, the coronavirus pandemic showed that land-based gambling has its limitations. The states with online gambling components weathered the pandemic shutdowns much better than others. While all lawmakers might not be prepared for full-fledged online gambling options, Kasper can defend poker all day long as a game of skill.
Second, more states joined Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware in recent years. Pennsylvania launched its first state-regulated online poker site in 2019. Michigan and West Virginia legalized online poker, among other games, in 2019.
Third, after the Trump Administration threw the Wire Act interpretation into chaos in 2018, states with investments in – or plans to invest in – any form of online lottery or gambling fought back. They supported a lawsuit by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission that won in the US District Court. And in late 2020, the US Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling that the Wire Act pertains solely to sports betting.
Fourth, a lucrative online poker market came into view. For years, only New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware offered online poker and connected one operator (WSOP) through an interstate poker liquidity agreement. But Pennsylvania added intrigue, and Michigan passed an amendment to ensure poker liquidity going forward. A large interstate poker market has great potential.
An Effort to Reconnect
On January 14, Kasper introduced HCR.3012, “a concurrent resolution to amend and reenact section 25 of article XI of the Constitution of North Dakota, relating to authorizing internet live poker.” The sponsors of the bill were:
–Rep. James Kasper (R)
–Rep. Claire Cory (R)
–Rep. Jason Dockter (R)
–Rep. Scott Louser (R)
–Rep. Corey Mock (D)
–Rep. Matthew Ruby (R)
The bill is considered bipartisan with only one Republican, as the North Dakota House of Representatives has 80 Republican members and only 14 Democratic members.
The first reading of HCR.3012 on January 14 was in the Judiciary Committee.
According to the resolution document, the bill seeks to authorize internet poker in North Dakota, licensed and regulated by the state. If the House and Senate approve it, it will go to the voters of North Dakota in the 2022 general election.
First Committee Hearing
The first House Judiciary Committee meeting for the bill happened on February 9. Kasper recalled his past efforts and explained the more recent Wire Act opinions. In addition, he noted that he spoke to current North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem about HCR.3012 and received confirmation of its legality under the current interpretation of the Wire Act.
Kasper explained how internet poker works and how companies protect players. He reminisced about his lifelong love of poker and the new interest in online games via the Moneymaker Effect. Then, he discussed the states that already legalized online poker and how interstate liquidity would work.
Currently, Kasper explained, people play subscription-based online poker, but North Dakota law prohibits any other kind of online poker.
Essentially, Kasper asked for the opportunity to put the issue before the people of the state.
A Little Clarification Needed
There are a few things that Kasper might want to convey to other members of the committee and the state legislature before votes.
–Calling the game “internet live poker” is confusing. Live poker means the kind of games played in person at a casino or card room, while internet poker is solely on the internet.
Where Is Online Poker Legal In The Us
–Online poker operators often have servers in other countries, but when they set up operations in a state, regulations often require that they set up servers in that state. Online poker operators in the new US market are flexible.
–The multi-state agreement needs to be specified in the final draft of the bill.
–Subscription online poker sites and current offshore sites that cater to US customers are very different.
–The Wire Act decision came in 2020, and the Appeals Court affirmed it just this past December. And the Biden Administration is unlikely to appeal to the US Supreme Court.
–There are numerous states that would be happy to discuss necessary regulations and oversight, states that already operate their systems effectively.
–Native American tribes must be included in the negotiations, and a stipulation must be included in the bill to authorize an amendment to their compacts with the state. Tribes in North Dakota cannot offer online poker for real money at this time. Michigan may be able to shed light on this process, as their bill did accommodate and work with tribes.
–Players may not have limits on their online poker play, but there are many ways that sites allow players to limit their play as part of responsible gambling programs.
Collette Brown testified in opposition to the bill. She is the Gaming Commission Executive Director of the Gaming Regulations and Compliance Department at the Spirit Lake Casino and Resort Devil’s Lake. She was very confused about online poker. She mentioned games like Three-Card Poker and other casino table games, not true poker.
Most of her concerns are handled by the online poker operators themselves. No licenses will be issued without investigations and background checks of every potential poker operator. Every other issue she addressed is very commonplace in other states, and any state regulator can answer all of those questions.
Essentially, she requested a study on the issue.
Mark Levitan, Legal Counsel for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, spoke in opposition due to the structure of the proposed revenue structure. He complained that most of the revenue will go to companies that are based out of state, without the bulk of the revenue benefiting North Dakota.
Levitan mistakenly assumed that most online poker operations involve house-banked games, but he misunderstood that poker is a player-to-player game. He, like Brown, is mistaking table game casino poker for online poker.
He also feels that online poker should be solely a tribal offering.
Online poker in the cards for North Dakota? https://t.co/bzez8XPtmR
— WDAY TV News (@WDAYnews) January 24, 2021
Companion Bill to Original
Importantly, there is a companion bill to Kasper’s HCR.3012. That bill is HB.1389, proposed by all of the above-listed members except Docktor. This bill will create a new chapter of the North Dakota Century Code to amend the definition of gambling and offer a few details.
The bill officially classifies “internet live poker” as a “lawful contest of skill” in the state code. Other than that, there are issues. Let’s start with the definitions section:
-1. “’Adjusted gross proceeds’ means any sums wagered in an internet live poker hand which may be retained by the licensed internet live poker establishment as compensation.” I believe they mean gross gaming revenue, but it’s unclear.
-2. This is where they define “internet live poker” in a way that should simply be internet poker.
-3. “’Licensed internet live poker establishment’ means a premises licensed by the attorney general pursuant to this chapter to conduct games of internet live poker.” Internet live poker is, again, misleading, especially when paired with a word like premises, which tends to mean a land-based establishment.
In the taxation section, everything is a bit confusing.
-4. Not only are the taxes on “adjusted gross proceeds” very low, the idea of charging a site a $10 annual licensing fee for every player who plays on the site is unusual. It also gives the state absolutely no idea of how much it will garner in revenue each year as it will depend on every single person who logs on.
As for the “internet live poker proceeds fund,” that is for the state to decide, along with tribes, especially considering their aforementioned concerns.
North Dakota could be one step closer to legalizing online poker.https://t.co/BhU0pPnFcm
— Valley News Live (@ValleyNewsLive) February 10, 2021
Kasper Needs Assistance
In the above video interview with Chad Holloway, Kasper admitted that he could use some industry experts to speak to other lawmakers and testify about online poker.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have an organization that lobbies for online poker in state legislatures and gives professional testimony in such situations? But I digress…
Hopefully, there are poker players or industry executives who will offer to testify. As evidenced by my notes in this article, there are numerous issues that need to be addressed with regard to the current bills. It seems Kasper is open to this.
There is great potential in putting North Dakota on the internet poker map in the burgeoning US market. If the poker community can help Rep. Kasper do this right, it might help spread poker to new parts of the country in the next couple of years.
Related Articles
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.
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!