US Online Poker Sites – Where You Can Play & FAQs

On April 15, 2011, now known as Black Friday, the FBI, as part of an ongoing investigation, shut down the largest U.S.-facing poker sites and blocked their access to American players. The companies were forced to cease operation in the country and players here struggled to get their accounts refunded.

After a few years, legal, regulated online poker finally arrived in the U.S. in 2013. This version 2.0 of the industry saw individual states regulating poker sites within their own virtual ring-fenced borders. To date, the vast majority of the country still has no access to legal poker sites, but the outlook is improving.

Whether you are in a current poker market or one for the future, we will keep you up to date with major news, legislative progress, and general information on the world of online poker.

Which states in the U.S. have access to legal online poker?

After an initial flurry that saw three states (New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware) legalize online poker within their borders in 2013, it’s been slow going for the industry.

In fact, it wasn’t until 2017 that a fourth state, Pennsylvania, chose to regulate the game. Further, it took until November 2019 for the first hands to be dealt in the Keystone State. The newest state to join the legalized online poker “game” is Michigan. Legal, regulated poker sites went live in the Wolverine state on January 29, 2021. West Virginia passed legislation authorizing online poker but virtual hands have yet to be dealt in the state.

So whose next in line? Now that online gambling (particularly sports betting) is becoming more widely accepted, it’s possible that more states will move towards regulated poker sites. However, as we’ve seen, it isn’t always a quick process.

To find out whether online poker sites are legal and regulated in your state, waiting in the wings, or being debated by legislators, check out our map below:

Pennsylvania Online Poker

Legal poker sites launched in the Keystone State back in November 2019 when PokerStars entered the market. Since that time, legal PA poker sites has gained several operators including BetMGM, WSOP.com, PokerStars and Borgata Poker.

Regulated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), online poker in PA has yet to join other states in shared liquidity compacting. This means that players 21+ who are located in Pennsylvania will only be able to compete against a restricted online player pool that’s physically located within the state.

Aside from the limited player pool, Pennsylvania online poker players will also find that they cannot access real money games while located on a licensed PA retail casino property.

Michigan Online Poker

PokerStars’ decade-long battle to achieve U.S. interstate shared player pool liquidity finally became a reality in January 2023.

Thanks to an agreement with officials in New Jersey, online poker players in Michigan can now enjoy increased game selection and bigger online tournaments at PokerStars.

The online poker behemoth has cultivated a fervent following of Michigan players in its first few months of operation in the Great Lakes State.

The PokerStars MI-NJ “WCOOP” online tournament series is scheduled for September 2023. It promises to attract thousands of players between the two states – while PokerStars remains a ring-fenced operation in Pennsylvania.

If you’re in Michigan and looking for another site to play on besides PokerStars, you can try out BetMGM Poker or WSOP.com MI. However, these two sites are currently ring-fenced exclusively to Michigan and do not share player pools with any other state.

New Jersey Online Poker

In November 2013, New Jersey formally legalized poker sites within the state. At the time, the move promised to spark a wave of U.S. state-regulated poker sites. However, momentum quickly fizzled until recent years when Pennsylvania and then Michigan came on board.

New Jersey players who play on WSOP.com NJ can join the shared player pool that the company offers between Nevada and Delaware..

Yet the “real action” is now on PokerStars NJ, which combined its player pool with PokerStars MI in early 2023. What’s more, the PokerStars software is second to none… especially when you consider how lackluster the WSOP.com NJ mobile app is..

Other legal NJ poker sites include partypoker NJ, BetMGM NJ, and Borgata Poker. These three poker sites combine their respective liquidity, but only within their own Garden State player base.

Nevada Online Poker

WSOP.com has a monopoly on Nevada poker sites and uses the 888poker software suite.

If you’re 21+ and located in the Silver State, you can sign-up for a WSOP.com NV account and compete against 888poker players in New Jersey plus Delaware..

Despite being the first site to participate in New Jersey’s MSIGA interstate poker compact, player traffic activity is underwhelming at WSOP Nevada. With this said, you will see a spike in game selection and player pools if there is a live World Series of Poker bracelet or ring event going on.

You’ll want a laptop or desktop PC to gain full access to the WSOP.com service in Nevada..

The WSOP brand (a subsidiary of Caesars) may have legitimate competition in Nevada at some point in the future. But at this time, it is the sole option for legal poker sites in NV.

Delaware Online Poker

Remember that time when PvP internet gamers demanded an in-person registration process to play on online poker sites for real money.

Neither do we.

If you want to play online poker in Delaware, you’ll need to visit one of the state’s three licensed “racinos” and complete the sign-up process on-site..

Once that’s taken care of, you can play online via the 888poker software and compete against players in Nevada and New Jersey – with some restrictions.

Where is Online Poker Coming Next?

West Virginia is one state that could potentially see legal online poker activity in the future. The state already passed legislation – in 2019 – that paves the way for online poker operators to offer real money games.

Yet the state’s small population combined with a lack of clarity on interstate shared liquidity continues to be a setback for any WV online poker launch.

The same “tiny player base” issue (even IF online poker were to become legal) is relevant to a handful of small statewide jurisdictions located in the northeastern part of the country.

More populous areas such as Texas, California, Florida, New York, and Illinois would each attract relatively large player pools with formal regulation – but there’s no current legislative momentum for legalizing real money online poker in those states.

US Online Poker Game Selection

Players located in select states have a wide selection of poker variants, stakes, formats, and tournament types to choose from.

Different Poker Game Variants

• TEXAS HOLD’EM – By far the most popular poker game on the planet. Each player gets two hole cards to use with five community cards that are dealt on the flop, turn, and river.
• OMAHA – A game similar to Texas Hold’em, except players are dealt four hole cards instead of two. To make the best 5-card hand, each player must use exactly three cards from the community board plus two cards from their own unique holdings.
• 3 CARD POKER – An easy to learn poker game that is played between the player’s hand and dealer’s hand, the objective is to beat the dealer’s hand with three cards. Players can also win with simply by having a good three card hand.
• 5 CARD DRAW – A standard, introductory poker game in which each player is dealt five cards and has to ante and bet in order to create the most effective 5 card hand amongst competitors.
• SEVEN CARD STUD – Each player has a unique hand. Two face-down hole cards are dealt to each competitor, followed by four face-up “door” cards and then one final face-down hole card. Each player must make the best 5-card hand out of the seven cards received.
• HI/LO GAMES – Players can compete for half of the total pot by forming the best “low” hand. A qualifying 5-card “low” hand must not contain any card higher than an 8, and cannot have any cards repeated.

Different Poker Game Tournament Types

Following are the different types of tournaments that U.S. online poker players can compete in.

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs)

If you’re looking for a chance for a BIG WIN for a relatively low entry cost, MTTs are your best option. Compete against hundreds (if not thousands) of players in the same event, and strive to take down the online tournament by finishing in 1st Place.

Sit and Go Tournaments (SNGs)

A shorter, more abbreviated take on MTTs. Sit & Gos typically last less than an hour and begin with one or two tables of competitors. 

Cash Games (Ring Games)

Take a seat at a virtual table and compete at the stakes of your choosing. Online cash games are great for players who desire to enter or leave a game at their own convenience.

Lottery-Style Sit and Gos

A great option for casual players who want a quick game with a chance to win a huge jackpot. Take a virtual seat at an ultra-turbo, 3 or 4-handed, winner-take-all single table contest. If you happen to be seated at a “jackpot” table, the payouts can be enormous.

Major Online Poker Tournaments

Thanks to more “shared liquidity” U.S. poker sites, major online tournaments can guarantee larger cash prizes while spreading satellite events into marquee, big buy-in live events as well.

PokerStars

Now that the PokerStars Michigan and New Jersey player pools are combined, bigger prizes will be awarded during the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) series.

WSOP

Players in New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada can compete online to gain entry into actual WSOP live bracelet events, Circuit tournaments, or even win a bracelet for taking down a major online tournament. 

BetMGM and Borgata

BetMGM and Borgata share player pools in NJ and PA and offer a spring and fall tournament series that offer millions in prizes. Check back with USBets for the full breakdown when announced by BetMGM and Borgata.

Note that major tournament series offered by PokerStars and WSOP/888 are seasonal. If you are looking to participate in a “weekly” major online tournament from within the United States, both sites offer guaranteed prize pool events each Sunday – but these typically do not achieve the entry numbers when compared to the seasonal online tournament series.

Key benefits of legal online poker

For a long time after Black Friday the only online poker available in the U.S. was on unregulated, unsafe offshore sites. These black market poker rooms have plenty of drawbacks, and lack general protections for players. Licensed, regulated sites have your back and offer an overall superior experience. Prime benefits include:

Safety of funds

Legitimate poker sites in the U.S. are operated under strict oversight by the state’s appointed gambling authority. Thus, every poker room must first prove they have secure systems to hold your funds, and are required to process payments in a timely manner. Licenses are tied to an active brick-and-mortar casino or lottery program, which further assures that transactions will be properly honored.

On black market sites there have been significant issues with providers failing to pay in a reasonable timeframe, or in some cases at all, and when this happens there’s little recourse or accountability.

Identity protection

Everything on a legal site is legitimate. You have to confirm your identity before you can play, as do your opponents. Before you can fund your account and play, the site needs to know who you are. In addition, online poker rooms use casino-level security to protect this private info.

If your personal data is compromised with an offshore site… tough luck.

Responsible gaming protocols and game fairness

The rules and protocols on legal sites are carefully monitored and enforced, with serious consequences for the operator if there were ever a transgression. An unregulated site would have the freedom to manipulate their policies, bonus offers, even potentially the outcome of the game itself.

There is no authority that can enforce fairness on the part of black market poker sites, so when a player is mistreated, there’s little that can be done.

The Multi State Internet Gaming Association History

2014

In February 25, 2014, Nevada and Delaware entered into a compact to share online poker liquidity between the two states.

2017/2018

After years of negotiations and working out technical details, New Jersey was able to join the other states, signing onto the compact in October 2017. Full liquidity sharing between the three markets went live on May 1, 2018.

While the Nevada/Delaware pact briefly boosted poker activity, it did not significantly improve Nevada’s long term traffic numbers. It was, on the other hand, extremely useful for players in Delaware. As a significantly smaller market with only about a million people, access to out-of-state competition was essential to the efficacy of online poker in the state.

The addition of New Jersey was a major development. So far only WSOP/888 powered sites have been able to take advantage of the agreement, but it quickly propelled the network up the NJ charts, rivaling PokerStars NJ. It also enabled the network to start supporting some truly massive tournament guarantees — not quite as large or as frequent as they were prior to Black Friday, but a forward step nonetheless.

Pennsylvania joining the liquidity sharing compact is extremely important to PokerStars. Since the operator kept its international site accessible to U.S. player post-UIGEA, it was delayed in launching a site in New Jersey until March of 2016 and is still barred from operating Nevada. Thus, being able to link its Pennsylvania and New Jersey sites together will likely significantly increase U.S. revenues.

Pala Poker is also expected to benefit majorly from a Pennsylvania union. Currently its New Jersey site is a distant last place in the market with many believing it was only launched so the Pala brand could get a head start in other states.

2020

In July 2020 the multi-state functionality was put on full display as players in Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey were all able to compete with one another for real World Series of Poker bracelets through official WSOP.com online tournaments. Events like the 2020 online WSOP provide a glimpse into the future of what a unified, country-wide online poker market could look like.

Generally speaking it’s the players who benefit most from shared liquidity. The potential addition of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association could tip the scales away from the black market for good.

US Online Poker FAQs