Online Poker For USA Players
Here at PokerForUSAPlayers.com, we like to focus on everything that is related to online poker in the U.S.. We have a large team of people that have over 20 years of experience in the online poker industry. We were here when PartyPoker left the U.S. market and we were here on Black Friday when all of the large online poker sites that accept US players. Basicly, we have been around since the beginning of the online poker boom and we are here to help other players like us learn more about legal online poker for U.S. players.
Now it is more important then ever to keep up with everything that is going on in the online poker world. There's new online poker laws trying to be passed, free poker rooms (that you pay for), and best of all there are a few new places to play online poker in the USA for real money. We have a staff who does all they can to make sure that they are keeping up with all of this so that you don't have to.
As you look through this website, you will find all kinds of things related to playing online poker in the USA. The most important thing to know though is that all of the online poker sites we list accept players from the U.S. and they are all trusted and licensed online poker rooms. The ones we list have lightning fast payouts, large poker tournaments, easy deposit and withdrawal methods, and much more. Take a look and see how much you can learn about legal online poker for U.S. players.
History Of Online Poker In The United States
The online poker industry in the United States was big and growing at an astounding rate back in 2000 or so. There was new USA friendly poker sites popping up all the time and there was some that had over 100k people online at any given time. This went on for about 10 years, which is when the government made their stand against online poker.
Internet poker's Black Friday, a day when the US government cracked down on some of the biggest names in the online poker industry, was a dark for American poker players. Overnight, millions of poker players had their accounts frozen and their access to online games severely restricted. This caused massive panic amongst poker players, which were left without getting paid and without another poker room to play with.
The good news is that there are online poker rooms that were unaffected by the Black Friday crackdown, including poker sites that still accept U.S. players. Online poker for US players does still exists and we are here to help you learn all about it. Although you won't find any US poker sites with 100k people online, you can still play at certain online sportsbooks, some of which have over 25k people online during peak hours.
Legal Online Poker Sites That Accept USA Players
All of the poker sites listed below were completely un-affected by the events of Black Friday. These sites are the best for US online poker players: they accept American customers and offer deposit and withdrawal methods available to Americans. In fact, our site's writers and poker pros play at these sites every day; we consider these the most trust-worthy and feature-packed sites for online poker for US players.
- Play With Over 25k Other Poker Players During Peak Hours
Bovada Poker Room - Play Poker, Bet Sports, Play Casino Games All In One
Bovada is one of our favorite American-facing poker rooms. The events leading up to Black Friday, investigations into the way payments were being processed, forced megasite Bodog's hand, and they announced before the end of 2011 that US poker players online would no longer be welcome. To capture a share of the American poker market back, Bodog opened Bovada.lv, a site aimed specifically at North American online poker players. That means Bovada Poker is designed with the American poker players in mind, featuring bonuses, games, deposits, and withdrawal methods all targeted to the US online poker scene.
Banned States At Bovada: NY, MD, WA
- 25% Poker Bonus On The First Deposit Players Make
BetOnline Poker Room - 25% Bonuses Up To $900 + Reload Bonuses
Unlike Bovada, BetOnline Poker is not made for US online poker play only. BetOnline is open to players from hundreds of countries. Because BetOnline was not a target when the FBI and Department of Justice teamed up for the Black Friday crackdown, you shouldn't fear account seizure or any other sort of headache--BetOnline followed the rules and managed to stay out of the FBI's crosshairs. With a wide variety of poker game variants, a healthy promotional program that rotates depending on the time of year, and acceptance of American online poker players from any and all 50 states, BetOnline is one of our favorite poker sites.
BetOnline Accepts U.S. Players From All 50 States
Black Friday - The Day That Online Poker In The U.S.A. Changed
On Friday, April 15, 2011, the US Department of Justice, working with the FBI, arrested the owners and operators of five major offshore poker site operators for alleged crimes related to payment processing. Though the actual case is still being worked out in federal court, the allegations include money-laundering and other illegal financial activities. The Department of Justice had long been looking for a way to shut down online poker for US players, and the alleged financial misdeeds of the world's biggest poker sites were justification enough for the events of Black Friday to transpire. The immediate result was that mnost US players lost access to their poker room of choice and had to deal with the headache of account freezes and seized URLs and domain names.
But online poker in the US, post-Black Friday, is still available. The only thing the events of Black Friday did was to make it a little more difficult for US poker players to make deposits to the handful of poker rooms still accepting American customers. Poker junkies who still wanted access to the game they love online simply had to find a new poker room to join.
Online Poker Laws In The United States
In the United States you have two sets of laws to deal with when it comes to online poker: federal and state. At the federal level, there are two relevant laws for online poker gamblers. However, these laws really do nothing and do not effect legal online poker in any way. The internet was not even invented when the wire act was wrote and the UIGEA has nothing to do with players playing online poker.
The WIre Act Of 1961
In 1961, the US government enacted the Wire Act, making it illegal to place bets "by wire." The purpose of this law was to ensure that organized crime was not involved in professional sports. Luckily for US online poker players, the Wire Act has recently been clarified to focus mainly on sports betting and other aspects of the Internet gambling industry. We have a more detailed explanation of the Wire Act here.
The UIGEA - The Bill That Does Not Do Anything
The UIGEA was an empty attempt by radical members of Congress to effectively outlaw US online gambling by making it illegal for banks to transfer funds to "known gambling websites." The UIGEA has caused its fair share of headaches for US online poker fans, requiring the use of third party funds transfer systems to make deposits and get withdrawals from American-facing poker rooms.
What this means is that the UIGEA makes it illegal for the bank to process payments from poker rooms. The problem is that it has not worked at all since there is no way to tell if a check is from an online poker room. The UIGEA does NOT make it illegal for players to play poker online for real money.
Using The Cashier At USA Online Poker Rooms
One of the most important parts of online poker for US players is using the cashier. Making deposits is a must and players need to make sure that they are able to cash out the money that they win. Our website contains articles about how to make poker deposits as well as the best ways to withdrawal from online poker rooms. Here is a little detail about what to expect when using the cashier.
Poker Deposit Methods For USA Players
Special poker deposit methods are needed for Americans who want to play online poker because the 2006 UIGEA bill effectively outlawed payments via credit card or bank transfer. Some USA poker deposit methods work for some customers and not others, leading to a lot of confusion among America's online poker players. Refer to the list below to see specific options.
Poker Withdrawal Methods Available To USA players
Like deposit methods, Americans need to use special third party groups or other American-friendly withdrawal methods when they want to collect their winnings. Some withdrawal methods work for a handful of American players but don't work in other parts of the country. The confusion has led to plenty of problems depositing and withdrawing funds from fully-legal poker rooms. Refer to the list below to see specific withdrawal options.
The State Of Legal Online Poker In 2013
Online poker for US players is not gone forever; in fact, changes to federal and state law may soon mean that online poker fans have more options than ever. Right now there is only a few online poker sites that accept US residents, but that number will multiply several times over once there is regulations in place. For now, you'll need to use special deposit and withdrawal methods to get around existing state and federal laws and just use the few options that are available.
