Legal Poker Sites for US Players

I think every poker player that resides in the United States is waiting for the day that poker in the US is regulated. Proponents of regulated online gambling have welcomed the introduction of a regulated market but for now they’ve had no choice but to fold their hands and wait for another day.

There have been many online gambling bills that have been submitted for consideration after working with groups such as the Poker Player Alliance (PPA). The PPA and many other groups are adamant the UIEGA bill that was passed in 2006 does not make online gambling and online poker illegal in this country. All it does is make it illegal for the banks and financial institutions in the USA to process payments made to online gambling sites, but the operators and players are not the ones who are doing anything wrong or breaking any laws for simply playing real money poker on a USA site.

Part of the problem was the vagueness of the UIEGA, leaving many people confused about the law and the whole poker situation. However, due to the uncertainty of whether or not playing poker in the United States is legal, some major players decided not to take the risk and left the U.S. market, leading some people to believe this was an admission of guilt.

Regardless, there are still numerous legitimate online poker rooms that allow players from the USA, with players still able to select from a good selection of games in varying stakes to suit players of all skill levels. Although the online poker market in the USA is still an unregulated market, these sites are fully licensed and regulated in order to be able to legally provide online gaming services to players in the US and from around the world.

As a result of the UIEGA, the major change to the industry apart from the shakeup of the major sites was the difficulty with depositing funds into player’s accounts. The legal US poker sites that are available have multiple depositing poker options so if one payment method doesn’t work, you still have a way to get funds onto the poker site. The best legal USA poker rooms know that the most important thing for players is being able to efficiently deposit and withdrawal funds from their account. Without being able to do this, nothing else matters really.

Is Poker Legal in Your State?

In terms of the legality of playing poker on the internet, the biggest issue that US players need to be mindful of is state specific poker laws. The online gambling laws in different states tend to differ. In some US states, poker is considered to be gambling, making it illegal to make bets and wagers on the internet.

That said, most states have ambiguous gambling laws and don’t specifically prohibit online poker. You would need to check specific gambling law in your state to know if would apply to you. It’s also worth nothing that when you choose to play real money games at a licensed and regulated US poker site, you will automatically be rejected if you happen to reside in a state where online poker is not legal.

If you consider yourself more of a tournament poker player, then you would be happy to know that many of these legal US poker sites host satellite tournaments with seats up for grabs in major live events like the World Series of Poker. A huge number of US players have won their seat into the WSOP Main Event by playing at legal US online poker sites. So if you can play at one of the many legal US poker sites, why not take a shot?