U.S. POKER WEBSITES & LAW YOU CAN TRUST
TRUSTWORTHY POKER WEBSITES
May 24, 2010 59 Comments on “Is Online Poker a Scam?” peewee September 21st, 2011 at 2:35 pm. Dont fool yourself there not paying out all that money every month. Try finding the guy thats won the big tourments there. Ya theres a winner every month the site. Re: Online Poker Cheating Scam Unraveled Possibly, but for some, it's also a money maker. I had a couple of friends in college who were literally making thousands of dollars a month playing part time. The history of Internet poker started back in 1998 with Planet Poker. Planet Poker was the first real-money cardroom A and took their first clients on Jan 1 st, 1998, dealing a game of $3–$6 limit Texas Hold’em to a few select customers. The site continued growing from there.
Owner Note: This website is maintained daily as a full guide to state online poker law for use for free prior to playing online poker in the United States. This knowledge stems from over a decade (10+ year) long experience within the gaming industry. To your left are state by state laws updated daily as new bills deem necessary with their estimated legalization dates. The complete first page of Google shows results that were written by spammers and retarded hired monkey writers that by no way should be writing legal articles – or anything for that matter.
The recommendations below are for sites located outside of the US but are still offering services to U.S. players. It is Federally legal to play on these sites. If you live within NJ, DE, NV, or PA then you have the alternate option to play for real money at poker websites licensed by the state. The bulk of players within NJ, DE, NV, and PA borders are doing so at WSOP.com, Borgata, or PokerStarsNJ.
The New York Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee unanimously voted to move an...
The results of several studies into the future of sports betting in the United States...
I assume you are here to not just know state laws but what sites to play at. With all the regulatory news that comes out many are misinformed and misrepresented as to where they can play by state or by nation. We’ve taken the guess work out and simplified it into exactly what you need with a few of my best choices, not by who pays me the most but whom most players judge as the best site. I wouldn’t recommend more than 3 (three) poker sites at the moment, the others are just scams that occur online. I never have nor will I compromise my strong morals for ad dollars. Here are the voted best from among our peers within the poker industry.
- Highest Trust with money for the USA
- Easy to get money on and OFF
- Easy money at the tables, bad players!
- Negative: Spotty customer support
UP TO
$2,000
- Accepts players from all 50 US States
- All credit cards accepted for depositing
- Consistently gains player liquidity
- Negative: Hasn’t been around long
UP TO
$2,500
POKER SITE | OVERALL RATING | BONUS | ACCEPTS USA |
---|---|---|---|
3 | 100% up to $1000 | ||
4 | No CurrentPoker Bonus | ||
5 | 100% up to $1000 | ||
6 | 100% up to $1000 | ||
7 | 200% up to $1000 | ||
8 | 110% up to $600 | ||
9 | No CurrentPoker Bonus |
STATE LICENSED SITE | OVERALL RATING | BONUS | US STATE |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 100% up to $600 | New Jersey Only | |
2 | 100% up to $400 | DE, NV, NJ | |
3 | 100% up to $600 | New Jersey Only |
EXPECTED DATE OF LEGALIZATION
Wsop Online Poker Scam
Sportsbook Poker Scam
Last year, four online gambling bills (HB 271, SB 524, SB 477, and HB 392) were introduced in Pennsylvania. On May 23, 2017, a bill (HB 271) to legalize online poker and casino games passed the Senate Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee (11-3 vote) and the Senate Appropriations Committee (24-2 vote). The very next day on May 24th, the full Senate passed this bill by a 38-12 vote. Two weeks later on June 7th, the House passed this bill by a 102-89 vote. Changes were made to the bill by the House, mainly the tax rate percentage on revenue, so it went back to the Senate for vote approval. On October 26, 2017, the Senate passed the bill and the governor signed it into law four days later on October 30th.
Internet poker bills in January and February last year were introduced in New York. On February 15, 2017, one of the bills passed the Senate Gaming Committee by a 11-0 vote. The bill then went to the Senate Finance Committee which passed by a 27-9 vote on May 9th of last year. A month later on June 13th, the full Senate passed this bill by a 54-8 vote but did not receive a vote by the Assembly.
A bill, SB 203, to regulated internet poker and casino games in Michigan was introduced on March 1, 2017. This bill passed the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee a week later on March 8th by a 7-1 vote and it went to the full Senate for a potential vote but did not receive one. Another online gaming bill, HB 4926, was introduced on September 12, 2017. Michigan is making good progress on passing an iGaming bill and more movement is expected to happen this year.
On January 10th, West Virginia presented a bill (HB 3067) to legalize online poker and casino games. The bill currently sits in a House Committee awaiting a hearing and potential vote.
Around March 1st, Louisiana introduced a bill (SB 322) to legalize online gambling.
It appears California will not be introducing any online poker bills this year. Last February, Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer introduced AB 1677, a bill to legalize and regulate online poker. It looks like the same bill as the previous year (AB 2863), and unfortunately, it didn’t make anymore headway last year. Legislators made some additions and revisions to the bill to please the racetrack industry, which they were successful in doing so.
The Illinois Senate passed a bill, HB 479, to regulate and legalize online gambling (poker and casino games) on May 31, 2017 by a 42-10 vote. This bill then went to the House of Representatives but it did not receive a vote.
In 2017: Senator Bruce Tarr introduced a bill, SD. 618, in late January to legalize online gambling in Massachusetts. It’s only two pages so more details will need to be filled in, but it’s a start. In Hawaii, Senator Will Espero introduced a bill (SB 677) on January 20th to legalize internet poker. A Senate Committee in Washington met on January 18th to discuss the possibilities of passing and regulating poker online. New Hampshire introduced HB 562, a bill allowing online gambling in the state, on January 25th. Unfortunately, none of these bills advanced last year.
Live Poker Site Traffic
Our main focus as you can see is on the legal prospect concerning poker websites in the United States. Currently, only the four states we have in our top navigation went forth to legalize and regulate online poker on the state level. Twenty three (23) U.S. states have, or had, bills in their state legislature process actively seeking to also legalize online poker sites.
Online poker is still in its “Rebirth” or “Second Coming” in the United States. Increasingly more states are beginning processes to regulate and legalize the activity. If a bill on the Federal Level (not state) is passed to legalize the game nationwide we could be in for a dramatic resurgence of internet poker websites and new players. The first to happen in 15 years, since 2003.
Our goal at PokerWebsites.com is to be the most trusted and cited authority on state law data condensed for the purposes of online gambling. We keep you posted on pending bills across all 50 U.S. states by updating our articles daily, or when information is received.
We also have breakdowns of the poker room we believe is the best choice for your state, whether they might be based offshore or are state licensed, and we are confident in their safety otherwise a “No Recommendation” will be displayed. Today is an exciting time for online poker in this country, and we hope you will enjoy the ride with us.
Our criteria for evaluating sites are listed below:
There is a lot of fraud out there and for the most part the cardrooms we mention have high standards in security. There has been security breaches at just about every poker site, but in today’s advanced technology it’s pretty rare to financially get hurt playing online poker because of cheating or other bad things on the web. Here is an article about poker scams and sites we think are the worst. Over the millions of dollars I’ve handled only once did I get hurt by fraud and I was quickly refunded the $10,000 the person attempted to take from my account. We believe in honest websites and support the Poker Players Anonymous financially, and other player ‘guard dog’ sites.
Is Online Poker Legit
Laws, laws, laws. Probably the most common question second to how you get paid and deposit. I get asked at Brick and Mortar poker rooms whether poker is legal or not. The answer is yes, it’s absolutely positively 100% legal to play online poker. Poker websites that accept transactions are the only ones that are breaking any rules. The way you deposit is by VISA, MC or AMEX like anywhere else.
This is very important for players who are either impatient or want to play against the most players possible to reduce the risk of collusion. At the time of writing this page, one exciting concept evolved into online poker where you never have to wait for a hand to be dealt. You fold, and you’re moved to another table where you instantly get another hand dealt to you. It’s not for the novice who wants to just relax and play poker, but it can increase a winning players “ROI” exponentially.
Bonuses can look attractive, but bigger is not always better; no pun intended. One bad example of a bonus is the World Series of Poker. In poker it’s all about how fast a bonus is released. Yes, some poker websites will give the money instantly, others will make you play poker for 10, 20, 100 hours before they give you the bonus stated. That’s why release rates are so important. Paypal has returned to state based poker sites which will make payouts immediate (currently allowed in NV and NJ only). For offshore sites, credit card deposits remain at 80% popularity with an average 65% success rate.
There are very limited options for customers located in the United States to play at mainly because most pay very slowly or are not paying at all. The ones recommended above have a 2-9 day payout rate on average.
It’s very annoying waiting a few days to get a simple email answered and my view of the poker sites safety diminishes – quickly. It’s very annoying to wait a day to get an email answered. Heck, to me it’s annoying to have to wait longer than an hour. I want live customer support and while these poker sites are making millions of dollars a day in revenues you will be surprised at how bad some of their customer support is. On the other hand, some have live customer support inside of their software, or a phone number you can call to get your questions answered when you want it.
I am easily contacted by the email on pokerwebsites.com “about us” section. There you will find our qualifications to run this website.
It’s reasonable to ask, “Is online poker legit,” because cardplayer pay a lot of money into online poker rooms. This is a two part article, first covering online poker and second examining which sportsbooks are legit. I recommend www.IgnitionPoker.eu (previously known as Bovada) for poker and Bovada.lv for sports betting, and so does everybody else who isn’t paid off. If you only consider a legit site, one run by state or Federal licenses, then you must by physically located in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. For those that live there the PokerStars, Borgata, and WSOP are the most active in the 4 licensed states.
I didn’t just pull these sites from nowhere, I’ve been in the gambling business for over 10 years now. I’ve seen and dealt with all sorts of millionaire and billionaire scum bags; people that should be on the TV show “American Greed”. The only legit poker sites I suggest are mentioned on my homepage or on the ‘safe list‘. You’ll notice the list is pretty darn short, and I’ve dealt with approximately 45-60 gambling sites. PokerStars is the largest online poker site there is. Borgata is powered by Party Poker, while WSOP.com uses 888poker software. If you consider a non rigged, legit poker site to be one run from the United States, then you will have to be physically located in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, or Pennsylvania to be able to play. But I can point to unregulated poker rooms that which gives
But Aren’t U.S. Licensed Sites Legit?
It’s debatable. In fact, in total I’ve had $147,116 taken from me by the U.S. government. The money was not stolen by offshore poker sites but THE U.S. GOVERNMENT! The process of legalized poker in the U.S. was a complete scam. They attempted to shut down every online poker site that was running for US customers, simply because they wanted zero (0) competition as they launched their own poker sites.
Let me ask you this. How is it that the Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC) – which has nothing to do with online poker – was the first to open up an online poker room in Nevada? How is it that poker sites like Bet365, Paddy Power, Everest Poker – which are traded on the London Stock Exchange and have market value in the billions of dollars – were not given priority in the immediate launch of poker in the US? Those 5-star poker sites never accepted US customers after UIGEA and adhered to all laws both domestic and international.
Yet the UFC gets the first poker license in Nevada. Not only that but the operations at “Ultimate Poker”, UFC’s poker site was light years behind any poker site based offshore that is legit. The Nevada Gaming Commission helped the local business already making them and the state money, because UFC was affiliated with Station Casinos (at the time). That is governmental corruption at its finest. Did I mention UltimatePoker went out of business, because they didn’t know how to operate a poker site?
Legit Poker Sites
Beginners might wonder what a legit poker site needs, so let’s define our terms. Below is a short list of the factor you should consider, always with explanations for why they’re important. Don’t use poker rooms if they don’t check off everything on the following checklist.

- Player Traffic: Without traffic, sites can’t have a selection of high stakes, mid stakes, and low stakes cash games, tournaments, and sit’n go events.
- Good Software: Top software means fewer issues, plus access to features like Bovada’s Zone Poker, which increases your hands per hour.
- Experience: This entails everything from software support to customer service to knowing how to monitor cheaters at the table.
- Banking Options: It often comes down to sensible payment options, including credit cards, web wallets, and crypto-currencies like Bitcoin.
- Other Games: If poker websites offer casino gaming or sports betting, it means lots of casual poker players (soft competition).
Which Poker Site is Not Rigged?
My buddies ask me all the time about this because it’s my job and one of the sites I most often recommend is Ignition Poker (previously known as Bovada). Having met the owner personally, he is an honest person and puts himself in the public spotlight when others hide under rocks. His previous ownership, now owned by Morris Mohawk is probably worth about 1-2 billion USD. In a closed meeting, he discussed how if anything ever went bad, he would personally make sure all his players and employees got paid from his own checkbook. On top of that the site has the most player traffic going by PokerScout and has an Alexa rank of 9,730. For a comparison, HBO has about a 4,600 Alexa rank which means millions of people use it. Most sites are in the million number ranks – which is terrible.
If you are in Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Delaware, then the answer might be different in 3 or 4 years from now as the WSOP grows its player base. The WSOP is now forced to be legitimate and all licensed poker sites in the U.S. look like the saviors of safe poker sites. In truth, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was an unnecessary federal law which shut down poker sites, drove out legit online cardrooms, and dismantled a perfectly well run market. If lawmakers had not stepped in we would still be playing at Party Poker and making money would be just as easy as it was all those years ago. But lawmakers must justify their jobs and business owners must deal with the fallout the best they can.
Be Careful of Scamming Affiliates
I could go on for hours about how people to this day are crummy affiliates who are touting poker sites to play. They are getting large up-front chunks of cash in the $100,000+ range to mention their poker rooms because they rank high for popular terms in Google and Yahoo by using spammy search engine optimization techniques over and over again to maintain rankings and visitors. I have email chains proving certain companies insolvency and forthcoming bankruptcy, yet they continue to operate. The most recent mass scale offenders were Lock Poker. This was one of the longest running scams, but U.S. law enforcement agencies never took action. Eventually, journalist John Mehaffey brought Lock Poker’s abuses to light. Players left the platform and the site shut down in 2015.
Thus, poker review sites serve a useful purpose. With honest reporting and the facts on their side, card players can make informed decisions about online poker rooms. US Poker Sites continues to monitor legit sites here, so players have the info they need. We are pretty straight forward, so we hope this site helps.
For what it’s worth, I do not believe any poker sites are ‘rigged’m but cheating and collusion goes on regularly and will never stop. Legit poker sites takes steps to eliminate collusion, but cheaters find new and inventive ways to collude. It’s a cat-and-mouse game that will never end entirely. It’s better just to play for small amounts of money – however you define “small amounts” – you don’t mind losing one way or the other.
Is Ignition Poker Legit?
So if legitimate poker sites try to make games safer, then you might ask which card rooms you should trust. Ignition Poker is the top option for American online poker players, so I’ll use it as an example. Ignition Casino launched in the spring of 2016. A few months later, Ignition bought Bovada Poker’s player pool, instantly establishing itself as the second largest online gambling site which accepted US poker players. Since then, Ignition Poker vaulted to the number one spot.
Ignition Poker therefore has all of the elements of a world class online poker site. It’s linked to an online casino, so many soft players or fish join its cash games and tournament events. The gaming platform uses Bovada proprietary software, so Ignition uses trusted and well-tested technology. It has the most player traffic of any poker site which accepts US players.
The Bovada-powered poker room includes several features that make it popular with players. Here’s a few of those features:
- Quick Seat: Choose a poker game like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or Omaha Hi/Lo and the stakes and Quick Seat automatically puts you at a table.
- Anonymous Tables: Players can’t use Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) to track your hand history. Instead, you use your skills and perceptions to get a read on opponents the old-fashioned way.
- Zone Poker: A fast-fold feature where you’re assigned to a new table once you fold a hand. Players should fold most hands, so you don’t wait on bets and showdowns most of the day.
- In-Software Casino Games: If you prefer to sit through hands, you can play In-Software Casino Games like blackjack, roulette, video poker, or 3D slots.
- Mobile Poker: Play poker anytime, anywhere with the mobile poker apps for Android and iOS. Jackpot Sit-and-Go games cater to mobile poker players with possible 1000x winnings while you’re on the go.
- Softer Opponents: Ignition Poker has a huge community of recreational players. Unlike some sites, it allows expert poker players to play against casual players, so skilled players have high odds of facing lesser opponents.
Deft readers might notice that Ignition Poker is newer, so they might be thinking the site doesn’t meet the criterion of experience. Ignition’s owner has been in the online poker business since the 1990s, so the poker room has more experience than the other online poker rooms which accept US players from any state.
Free Poker Sites
Poker players can find all the information they need with free poker sites. To learn more about online poker, watch live streamed poker games on Twitch and YouTube. Both platforms have a seemingly endless amount of channels which provide all-day coverage of online and live poker events. One of the best is FuryTV.
FuryTV, a YouTube channel with the best compilations, highlights, and hands from poker events all around the world. Fury ETC Ltd is affiliated with the official Twitter page of partypoker, @partypoker, and the official home of partypoker live events, Part@partypokerlive. Watching a YouTube feed like FuryTV improves your knowledge and skills at poker.
Keep reading USPokerSites for the latest advice and trends. Like our recommendations on Ignition Poker or FuryTV, we give honest opinions and detailed reasons to support those attitudes. When the latest trends and updates happen, we reasses the landscape and give our readers the best information available. Our goal is to provide reliable poker advice on the latest topics. You might not always agree with us, but like the opinions above on corrupt politicians and scamming affiliates, you’ll walk away with new ideas and information to consider. Keep studying online poker, and keep reading about the poker sites we recommend.