The simple answer is: yes, online poker is legal.

Technically, there is no legal online poker Illinois supports, as there is no law that has been put into place to legalize online poker action throughout the state. However, there is also nothing on the books to make poker illegal either, which means that online poker throughout Illinois exists in something of a legal gray area. However, since they don’t mention that online poker is illegal, it still gives you as a player the opportunity to join these sites and access the poker features you desire most. Just because it is technically not allowed to play online poker, it does not be you would be at a disadvantage by joining one of the recommended online poker sites above. Poker has a long tradition in the US, from boom to bust. There is a new era in real money USA poker games as individual states license and regulate the games. So far, there are four legal states for real money online poker: Nevada, Delaware, Pennsylvania (where PokerStars launched in 2020 and PartyPoker is expected to follow) and New Jersey. Thus, I am playing online poker for the first time — not loving it, but I’ll get back to that — on an unregulated site while breaking the law by participating from the state of California.

Online poker is currently illegal in Texas. Even though the gambling law does not specifically state that online poker is forbidden, it is excluded from the list of approved forms of gambling and thus, automatically falls under the category of illegal gambling.

Online poker has a tumultuous history in the United States, but things are looking up. Four states, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware all legalized online poker and sites are up and running in each of those states. Others like Michigan and West Virginia legalized online poker and are working on launching sites soon.

Several other states are in the process of legalizing it too. This is a big 180 from where poker was a decade ago.

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in the United States, making it illegal for U.S. banks to do business with online gaming sites. Some sites left, others stayed. Then in 2011 The Department of Justice seized the domains of major poker sites for charges that included bank fraud and money laundering.

After that, online poker pretty much vanished from the United States until a federal judge ruled in 2012 that poker was a game of skill, not luck. This paved the way for Nevada to open up the first state-regulated online poker site and several states followed.

The floodgates really opened up after the Supreme Court struck down a ban on sports betting, letting states regulate it as they see fit. Many states have taken the opportunity to address online poker along with sports betting.

Where can I play Online Poker in the United States?

That depends on where you are. There are several different poker sites out there, some serve the entire United States while others are specific to each state.

If you’re in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware or Pennsylvania, you have access to a few extra state-specific sites. PokerStars is live in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and you can play WSOP Online in Nevada and Delaware. These sites have partnered up with local casinos to offer online poker and you have to be within state lines to play. New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have share player pools though. That means players from all three states play against each other.

More states are legalizing online poker, so this list will grow. We’ll keep it up to date as more sites launch in different states.

But a few sites accept players from all 50 states.

BetOnline, Bovada.lv,Ignition andAmerica’s Cardroom all accept players from any U.S. state. We’ve reviewed each of these sites in detail. So head on over to our reviews page to find out more about each one.

Didn’t the U.S. Ban Online Poker in 2006?

No.

A lot of sites did pull out of the United States after it passed though. The 2006 UIGEA made it illegal for banks and financial institutions to process payments linked to online gambling. The law was a little ambiguous though and there was nothing explicitly banning poker.

Some big sites, like Party Poker, pulled out of the United States, but other giants like PokerStars and Full Tilt stayed in the country. To process payouts for U.S. players, these sites had to break the law. Then, in April 2011, the Department of Justice seized the sites’ domain names and indicted a few key people on charges of money laundering, bank fraud and more.

Absolute Poker imploded, Full Tilt almost went bankrupt. PokerStars, on the other hand, paid the fine, bailed out Full Tilt and is now back in the United States.

New State Laws Regarding Online Poker

After a federal judge ruled that poker was a game of skill, not chance, Nevada took the first step to legalize online poker. The state paved the way for others to do the same. Delaware followed and also legalized lottery and casino games. New Jersey did all of this on an even larger scale. The latest to join the group was Pennsylvania, which passed its law in 2017 and finally launched regulated online poker in late 2019.

Michigan has passed online poker legislation but won’t launch until late 2020 at the earliest. West Virginia also legalized online poker and sites won’t be too far behind.

All these states have sites that are linked with land-based casinos. Several other casinos are developing sites too. We’ll see more develop as online sites keeps gaining popularity. The big question now is whether sites will share their player pools.

New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada have all signed up to share their player pool. Pennsylvania is the most populous state to legalize online poker, but it has yet to join the pool. A joint pool would be critical to creating large tournaments, a wide selection of cash games and a healthy poker ecosystem.

State-by-State Laws

We here at USPokerSites have been keeping tabs on several different states. Our list isn’t complete, but if you want to find out more information on where each state is regarding poker legalization, just search and click below.

Alabama – Arizona – Arkansas – California – Colorado – Connecticut – Georgia – Idaho – Iowa – Kansas – Maine – Maryland – Massachusetts – Michigan – Minnesota – Mississippi – Montana – Nebraska – New Hampshire – New Mexico – North Carolina – North Dakota – Ohio – Oklahoma – Pennsylvania – Rhode Island – South Carolina – Tennessee – Vermont – West Virginia – Wyoming

Online Poker Still Illegal In Usa

What About Online Sportsbooks?

Is Online Poker Still Illegal In The Us

Online sportsbooks have also been gaining popularity recently. Is that because of online poker? Well, not really.

In May 2018, New Jersey won a landmark Supreme Court that overturned a federal ban on sports betting. New Jersey quickly legalized online sports betting and other states quickly followed.

Many states are using the sports betting debate to reconsider other forms of online gaming, especially poker. So many states that are currently debating sports betting are also considering sports betting.

They don’t always go hand-in-hand, but they often do. Many sites that these days even offer both a sports book and an online poker room.

So, is it Legal to Deposit for Online Poker in the USA?

The answer is yes. The laws may be confusing, but we tried to break down the individual components of those laws. And as things change, we will update these pages with the most current information. You can check ourpoker reviews to learn about potential places to play.

If you’re ready to play poker, let’s get to it. We’ll see you at the tables!