USA Poker Sites

Playing Poker for Real Money In The United States

Many people search for “real money poker USA” because it is widely believed that online poker for real money in the USA is illegal.  This is completely false.  While it is difficult to find real money poker in the USA that has easy and reliable real money banking methods, there are several online poker sites that accept and cater directly to American poker players.

When someone searches for “real money poker USA” they may be searching for several things as “real money poker USA” is quite a broad topic.  When I see someone reach this site by searching for “real money poker USA,” there are many possible questions that person may want answered.  The more detailed questions that I think these searchers may be trying to find answers for are:

• “Is real money poker legal in the USA?”
• “What sites can I play online poker for real money in the USA?”
• “Are there casinos that I can play real money poker for in the USA?”
• “How can I deposit to play real money poker in the USA?”

I also see questions related to individual online poker sites and whether USA poker players can play poker for real money at these sites.  Many of these searchers probably signed up for the “dot net” version of the poker site (i.e., PokerStars.net), which all offer nothing but free play to US poker players.  No dot net poker sites offer real money poker to USA poker players.  Many of their “dot com” sister sites do offer legal poker for Americans and I will highlight the most popular ones below.  The most common search terms that I see for this site are:

• “Full Tilt Poker real money USA”
• “PokerStars real money USA” or “Poker Stars real money USA”
• “Party Poker real money USA”
• “Sportsbook Poker real money USA”

I will go over all of these topics on this page.  Just scroll down to the question you need answering in the sections below.

Is Real Money Poker Legal In The USA?

Yes.  While poker is legal in most of the United States, it is illegal or “possibly illegal” in 14 states. I say “possibly” because some states have old laws on the books that may define online poker as illegal if they were to be interpreted in certain ways.  The 14 states you should watch your back in are:

• Illinois – Misdemeanor offense and possibly more (felony).
• Indiana
• Kentucky – Governor tried to IP ban online poker sites.  That didn’t work.
• Louisiana – Felony to gamble online. 
• Michigan
• Missouri -  Most against online gambling but not a felony
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oregon
• South Dakota
• Utah 
• Washington – FELONY to play online poker for real money in the US
• Wisconsin

The bolded state names are the states that have concrete laws on their books that criminalize the act of playing real money online poker.  Although it may be legal to play online poker for real money in the other 11 states, you should NOT take any advice on this site as legal advice!  Seriously.  Check with your local government before playing any online poker or any other online gambling at all.  If you play real money poker in a state that you shouldn’t, it is your fault — Not mine.  …just to be clear. We list poker law websites in our poker directory.

What sites can I play online poker for real money in the USA?

There are dozens of real money online poker sites that accept USA players, but there are only a couple that I personally recommend.  The sites I recommend are in no way the only ones that are trustworthy and are certainly not the only poker sites that accept United States poker players.

My favorite real money online poker site for Americans is BetOnline.com.    BetOnline offers the easiest and most reliable deposit method for USA poker players: Instant E-checks.  To use an e-check, you simply enter all the info from one of your physical paper checks from your checkbook and money is instantly taken from your bank’s checking account and deposited into your online poker account.  You can read more about E-checks a little further down this page.

Other real money online poker sites that I recommend are Lock Poker and BetOnline Poker.  Both of these poker sites offer real money poker action to Americans and they are both easy to deposit and withdraw money from. 

Lock Poker is the best real money poker site to play at if you are an American and want to deposit money using a credit or debit card.  Lock Poker has been in business since 2009 and has boasted an 80% plus credit card acceptance rate the entire time.

Are there casinos where I can play real money poker in the USA?

There are lots of land-based casinos in the United States, most noticeably in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Up until about 2005 though, not many American casinos offered real money poker.  Sure, you could find video poker machines all over the place, but it was very difficult to find real live poker with a dealer against real opponents.  The best place to find real poker was in small local card rooms like the ones that popped up all over California in the late 1980’s.

Since poker “blew up” after Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003 though, almost every Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Indian casino have their very own live poker room now.  Real money live poker has become so incredibly popular that a lot of casinos take a loss just running their poker room to operate real money poker games to draw poker players into the casino, hoping that they will play other gambling games as well.

How can I deposit money to play real money poker in the USA?

Instant E-checks – As I mentioned before, “Instant E-checks” are the best way for USA poker players to deposit money online.  To use an instant Echeck for online poker, you simply enter the information from one of your personal checks and money is instantly credited to your online poker account.  The information that is commonly required to process an instant echeck is listed below:

• Bank name
• Checking account number
• Checking account routing number
• Social security number (SSN)
• Date of birth
• Phone number
• Deposit amount

Online poker sites that accept instant electronic checks instantly credit the money to your poker account, while the electronic bank transfer takes up a week to clear on your bank’s end, so make sure you take that into account when figuring your checking balance.

Credit cards – Credit cards are also an option to deposit money to play real money USA poker.  There are several U.S. poker sites that list U.S. credit cards as a deposit option, but there are only two poker sites that have high credit card acceptance rates.

Real Money USA Poker Sites

Many people search for terms related to whether individual online poker sites allow real money poker play to American citizens.  While it is true that the majority of online poker websites do not allow US poker players, several poker sites do allow real money poker for Americans.  We will go over several of the terms that internet users search for to find this page and the answer to each inquiry.

“Full Tilt Poker real money USA” – Full Tilt does not allow real money USA poker play on their website. 

“PokerStars real money USA” or “Poker Stars real money USA” – Pokerstars.com does not allow USA real money poker play.  In fact, Pokerstars has closed their doors to American players. Impressive enough, the poker room still has over 20,000 real money poker players online at peak traffic times, even without the US market. 

“Party Poker real money USA” – Party Poker does not allow Americans to play poker for real money.  PartyPoker allowed real money US poker prior to 2007, but stopped allowing United States players after UIGEA legislation was passed by the USA, disallowing some types of financial transactions relating to online gambling.  PartyPoker.com does not allow real money USA poker play.  If you would like to play poker for real money, visit any of the other poker sites listed on this page.