Poker is one of the most popular games in the world, and not just because of the cash prizes. It’s attractive to many people because it’s simple to learn but has an incredibly high skill ceiling.

That is, it can take a lifetime to master given the multiple layers of complexity present in every hand. While poker is usually a face-to-face game, online poker allows people to experience the freedom and flexibility of playing legal online poker in the US.

However, the US regulates online gambling strictly in general. It can be challenging to understand in which states online poker is legal. Some states offer regulated, legal online games, but most still only allow sweepstakes poker games for virtual coins.

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The online poker market is indeed expanding and is likely to become even more varied in the future. Here we will go over where you can currently play online poker, where it’s likely to expand to next, and what kinds of poker you can play on the Internet.

Best Online Poker Sites In The United States

Global Poker – Best Online Poker For Cash Prizes – Available in all states except Washington
WSOP.com – NV, NJ
PokerStars – NJ, PA, MI
partypoker – BetMGM, Borgata Poker, partypoker NJ

States With Legal Online Poker In The US

West Virginia – coming soon

Best Online Poker For Cash Prizes (All States Except WA)

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Global Poker operates under the sweepstakes gaming model, similar to Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Slots. Poker players from 49 states can play poker online for cash prizes. Global Poker offers cash games, tournaments, and sit n gos round the clock.

What Are Sweepstakes Poker Sites, And Why Should I Try Them?

Sweepstakes poker sites are online poker services where you can play poker with other people without competing for real money. This circumvents the illegal gambling laws in place in most states. Gambling laws in these states explicitly forbid games of chance where there’s real money on the line. Since sweepstakes games don’t have real money on the line, they’re technically not illegal.

Many people who are residents of states that don’t allow online poker games for money can still enjoy playing sweepstakes poker. Even better, sweepstakes will still let you to earn money or other prizes depending on how their sweepstakes coin plan works.

How Sweepstakes Poker Sites Work

Sweepstakes poker sites provide players with free “Sweeps Coins” or other types of play money coins. Sweeps Coins are usually free, although players can also buy additional virtual currency to bet with via the poker interface. The coins are for playing poker and replace chips or real money.

After you finish playing on a sweepstakes poker site, you can exchange your coins or virtual money for cash prizes or other rewards.

Most Popular Sweepstakes Poker Sites

By far, the most popular sweepstakes poker site is Global Poker. They use a sweepstakes model for ring games and tournaments. Players can purchase “Gold Coins” (play money credits) and then get Sweeps Coins as a reward that they can use in their poker games.

Global Poker is popular because of the variety of tournaments they offer, including multi-table or multi-day options. It does, however, only have a couple of different poker games for you to partake in: No-Limit Texas Hold ’em and Pot-Limit Omaha. That being said, they’re still a great choice for newcomers, especially since you get 5,000 free Gold Coins as soon as you verify your email address.

What States Have Legal Poker Sites Today?

Although poker is arguably one of the most traditional card games in the US, laws governing online poker are much stricter than you might think. Most states heavily regulate online gambling to the extent that several, like Texas, don’t allow you to play for money at all for most types of games.

One of the most highly-regulated games is online poker. At this time, there are only five states that allow you to play poker online for real money: Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Delaware. With some exceptions, it follows that players on online poker websites can play only with people from one of these five states, thereby limiting the player pool.

Three of the states (New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware) share online poker rooms because of deals struck between poker site companies. Michigan is the newest state to legalize online poker. It should be joining interstate poker pools later in 2021.

West Virginia also legalized online poker, but the launch of regulated poker sites is pending.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the states that allow online poker.

Michigan Online Poker

Michigan is one of the newest states in the United States to pass a bill allowing legal online poker sites and to launch poker apps. The first app launched in January 2021.

The law was signed into effect via the Lawful Internet Gambling Act in December 2019. This bill categorized interactive poker as an online casino-style game. It allows licensed gaming operators to pursue an online license for poker alongside other casino games.

The bill also specifically appointed the Michigan Gaming Control Board as the organization responsible for regulating online poker sites within the state. The board has constructed a timeline for meeting objectives so that it can properly regulate future poker sites.

Legal online gambling sites went live in Michigan on January 22, 2021. The MGCB announced the first online poker site, PokerStars MI, on January 29, 2021.

The Stars Group, partnered with Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Gaming Authority to launch the PokerStars App, alongside a FOX Bet Sportsbook App and PokerStars Casino app.

BetMGM Poker MI will also launch at some point, under the MGM Grand Casino license. That license has already launched a BetMGM-branded hybrid sports betting and online casino site.

New Jersey Online Poker

New Jersey is a great place to play online poker because it has a huge population of digital gamblers. In other words, it’s relatively easy to find full tables.

Furthermore, some poker providers allow New Jersey players to compete with players from other states that allow online poker. Gamblers in New Jersey are fortunate enough to be able to jump into games at almost any time of day without much effort.

WSOP.com – Partnered with the Caesars Atlantic City organization, WSOP New Jersey shares player pools with WSOP Nevada and the 888Poker Delaware network. This merged interstate network features the largest player pool of any legal US poker network.
PokerStars NJ – This latecomer to New Jersey’s online poker party, joining in 2016, is now one of the biggest online poker providers in the US. They’re a partner of Resorts Casino and have a pretty good site layout with innovative software and great table selections. Several sign-up bonuses make it an awesome deal for those looking to try out a new site.
PartyPoker – PartyPoker is another provider in New Jersey. It offers new players a $25 no deposit bonus and a $1000 match bonus on the first deposit. It has a reputation for having lots of tables for both amateur and casual players. However, they also offer several more serious tournaments.
888poker NJ – 888 provides the software behind the WSOP NJ platform, but 888poker NJ also operates as a separate platform. 888poker NJ functions as a standalone site, with an independent player pool not linked to any other site.

Pennsylvania Online Poker

Online gambling has been legal in Pennsylvania for some time, including casinos, lottery games, and sportsbooks. Online poker, introduced in 2019, is actually

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