US Poker Rooms: The Best Legal Online Poker Sites in the United States

Ever since 2011, online poker players based in the United States have faced many challenges when it comes to finding sites on which to play their favorite game. Some offshore 'rogue' sites currently available to players in the US operate in a legal gray area that can make playing on them risky for American players. While we recommend you to avoid those sites, the good news if you are living in the United States there are now an increasing number of US eligible poker sites on which you can play legally.

On the whole, online poker is pretty much banned in most of the states of the country, although players are not prosecuted for taking it upon themselves to access offshore online poker rooms. The only locations that provide legal online poker options are Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Dec 28, 2018  Once voted as the Best Online Casino at the AG Awards, BitStarz is one of the very best new online Casino sites on this list. Not only you find here all the best Casino games you can play online.

Right now there are four states that offer legal and regulated online poker — Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In addition to the sites in these states — many of which feature some of the best online poker software around — there are other poker sites for American players that offer subscription-based poker which in most cases is legal in other states as well.

Our comprehensive US Poker Map includes everything you need to know about the status of online poker in all 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia. There you'll find a ton of information not only about the four states where online poker is currently legal, but also about states where online poker has been legalized but regulation is pending, states where online poker is not legal but currently under discussion, and those where it is not legal and not presently being discussed.

Legal US Poker Sites

When it comes to Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, members of the PokerNews editorial team have provided in-depth analyses of each state's offerings, including explanations of the software they use, the promotions they feature, the traffic and game selection they provide, the support and banking options they offer, and much more to help you decide which among them are the best US poker sites where players can play for real money on these state-regulated online poker sites.

Additionally, we are constantly monitoring these sites and others for the latest changes and promotions, to make sure our reviews of the top US poker sites remain the most up-to-date in the industry.

If you are new to online poker, finding a room with great promotions and excellent software should be on the top of your list when it comes to deciding which are the best US online poker sites. Also, keep in mind that a room with a great customer support is always a good start. At the same time, more experienced online poker players should be hunting for poker rooms with the best games, biggest traffic, closely followed by great software.

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Click below to read about current, state-regulated online poker sites:

As you'll discover by following the links above, New Jersey and Nevada currently provide the most options for US poker players, while online poker players in Delaware have three sites from which to choose, all of which use the same platform although each offer different bonuses and promotions.

Pennsylvania just launched its first online casinos in July 2019 with the first online poker sites not going online right away. As a much bigger state than Delaware, Pennsylvania has better potential for attracting larger player pools and thus may well start to challenge Nevada and New Jersey when it comes to providing the best poker sites for US players.

Speaking of player pools, it is worth pointing out that thanks to an interstate compact between Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, players in each state playing on WSOP.com/888 sites have been able to play against each other in combined player pools. It's possible Pennsylvania may also be allowed to become part of that interstate compact as well, making for even better liquidity for those playing in those four states.

Another point worth making clear to US online poker players — you don't have to live in the states with legal and regulated online poker in order to play on the sites. You only have to be within those states' borders in order to be allowed to create accounts and take part in the games.

Meanwhile if you are a US-based online poker player who doesn't live in Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania, you should look into subscription-based online poker as this is your only legal option.

The Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 changed the landscape by which online poker operators could legally operate, specifically prohibiting 'gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with the participation of another person in a bet or wager that involves the use of the Internet and that is unlawful under any federal or state law.' Subscription-based sites in the US are not covered in this US law since there is no entry fee for any of the tournaments or ring games. While widely legal throughout the United States, some states do prohibit play on subscription-based poker rooms.

The software on many subscription-based sites is easy to use whether you have played poker online or not. Since the software was designed with the recreational player in mind, it is often web-based and not conducive to multi-tabling. The games are not only fun due to the casual setting, but you can often have opportunities for big prizes including packages to take part in land-based poker events, as well as cold hard cash.

Reputation is everything nowadays. By this we mean, what are players, watchdog groups, forums and other websites saying about a room?

You can ignore the dumb stuff – things like ‘this site is rigged’ or ‘my aces were cracked 5 times by 72o’ – and things like that.

Instead, you want to look for answers to the following questions:

• How long has the site been around?

  The longer, the better, because you have more history, for one thing. And you can be sure the first 3 months of positive experiences wasn’t a fluke.

• How do they handle player complaints?

  Do they take care of their customers, or do they tweak terms, argue with them, lock accounts and childish other and/or roguish things?

• Do they pay their players?

  Has the poker had any delays paying their players? How have they handled those situations?

• What companies do they work with?

  Do they work with other reputable companies, or do they work with questionable or outright shady companies like FutureBet?

And you don’t want to stop here. Research the company thoroughly. Make sure you leave no stone unturned.

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Now, the poker site doesn’t need to have a spotless record. Few legit companies do. In fact, you might be even more worried if a site appears to be perfect (what are they hiding?). You just want to make sure whatever issues they’ve had were temporary; that they took care of their problems and their customers.

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The bottom line – if a poker site has a bad reputation, nothing else on this page will help you. Nothing else matters if you join a poker room capable (and willing) to screw you over.