- Best Legal Online Poker Sites
- What States Allow Online Poker
- Why Is Online Poker Illegal
- States Where Online Poker Is Legal
- What States Have Legalized Online Poker
With online poker having faced some difficult circumstances in the last few years, 2020 will be a big year throughout the United States. While some states are pushing for laws and regulations to be put in place, others are trying to veer away from online poker altogether. Not only is it complicated for states to try and push for legalization, but it’s a gray area for majority of players too.
It’s tough to say where online poker will end up over the course of the year, but we’ve managed to research the situation in every state throughout the US. So, if you’ve had questions burning up inside you and haven’t yet found the answers, we can provide them for you. No matter which state you’re in, we have the ins and outs of the current state of online poker.
Alabama
Apr 20, 2009 Re: States where online poker is illegal. I can tell you that in the 13 states where it is expressly illegal, many of them have it their state constitutions. Also many of these states have Indian or local gaming which is the reason why online gaming is illegal. Tampering with a Lottery ticket us states where online poker is legal is a Class 3 felony punishable by law., free twin win slot machine, jogo de poker texas hold download, single slot in ovens, newgrounds slots, cliff millard poker um leben und tod zusammenfassungThe conventional slot machine games are currently ousted by current computer chips, and this has resulted in innumerable diversity. US Poker Laws - State Gambling Laws in the United States. When it comes to gambling in the United States, the federal government has no laws on the books that address the question. Indeed, the federal government has adopted a permissive stance that places responsibility for banning or expanding gambling opportunities within the jurisdiction of each individual state.
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Best Legal Online Poker Sites
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
What States Allow Online Poker
Online poker is alive and well in the US, as many states simply allow US poker players to enjoy the game of their choice online.
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Read First: I’m not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. This is my understanding based on past events that I’ve observed, having read many legal papers, and common industry opinions.
Short Version: Yes, Playing Poker Online is Legal in the US. There are no federal laws that make online poker illegal and no poker player in the United States has ever been prosecuted for playing this game.
This is probably the #1 question everyone looking to play poker online has. The answer is that yes, playing online poker in the US is perfectly legal, with the exception of a few states that have specifically banned it (like Washington state).
Why Is Online Poker Illegal
So why is this such a hot question? and why do many people state that playing online poker is “illegal”?
The main confusion comes from a law passed in 2006 that president George W Bush added, at the last minute, to the Safe Port Act. The law is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 or UIEGA for short. You can read about it in detail in the references below, but the act does not specifically ban online poker or make it illegal for US citizens to play poker online. The law was designed to restrict financial institutions from processing payments to online gambling business, something that financial institutions had being doing voluntarily for years. UIGEA relies on gambling to be unlawful under existing federal or state law. There are currently no federal laws making online poker unlawful, as the US DOJ has reversed their position on the Wire Act applying to poker. There are only a handful of state laws that specifically make online poker illegal. Information on each states laws can be viewed here.
Also adding to the confusion is the Wire Act of 1961 which the Department of Justice had long argued applied to online poker. Well that was how they “interpreted” the law for a long time but then in December of 2011, the US DOJ seemingly did a complete 180 turn on their long held position stating that they now believed it only applies to sports betting. Why was the US Department of Justice confused on how the Wire Act applied to online poker? It’s because of how they were “interpreting” the law, as the law does not specifically make online poker illegal.
The good news is that although it is harder to transfer money to a poker room from your bank account, there are still a number of poker rooms that cater to US players, accept money for US players, and host thousands of poker players from the US who are playing online right now.
States Where Online Poker Is Legal
Further Reading – If you want to know more about either the UIGEA or the Wire Act, the links below are some of most well researched available.
UIGEA
What States Have Legalized Online Poker
Wire Act