Online Poker United States

Online Poker United States Legal
Online Poker United States Real Money

The two major exceptions where playing online poker is an illegal activity are in the states of Washington (where playing is a felony) and Utah, (where it’s a class B misdemeanor). On the opposite side of the. Poker is the only legally allowed online gambling in this state so there’s a wide range of poker games online to play. Delaware – The First State launched legal poker cardrooms online in 2015. In fact, Delaware is the most permissive state in America when it comes to online poker real money USA legal sites.

In December 2011, the US Department of Justice released a legal opinion on the Federal Wire Act. The opinion stipulated the act only applies to sports betting.

This ultimately paved the way for individual states to allow lottery sales online. Since that time, five states have started online lottery sales programs. A handful of others are considering the idea.

Green states have passed online lottery bills.
Red states had online lottery, but suspended sales.
Blue states had an online lottery bill in 2017.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania passed an expansive gambling law in October 2017. As part of the sweeping measure, the state authorized online casinos, online poker, and online lotteries. The first batch of online lottery games went live on May 29, 2018.

Pennsylvania currently participates in both Powerball and the MegaMillions lotto. These games are not available online yet. Instead, the only online offerings are instant win games. These online games are very similar to a real-life scratch-off game.

As part of the expansion, the Lottery also offers Keno, which also launched in May. It offers virtual sports as well.

Lawmakers hope over the course of the next five years, the lottery will bring the state roughly $250 million in revenue to primarily benefit the state’s seniors. However, legal troubles could sideline the project. Seven PA casinos banded together to sue the state over the iLottery, claiming the instant games are too similar to online slot machines.

Read more about the Pennsylvania Online Lottery.

Michigan

After a successful pilot program in the summer, the Michigan Lottery launched online lottery sales in the fall of 2014. At first, the online games available online were only Instant Keno and electronic online scratch-offs.

In January 2016, the Michigan Lottery began offering online sales tickets for its most popular draw games, including Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto 47, and Fantasy 5.

Lottery Consultant Digital Gaming Group released a report in December 2016 calling Michigan’s online lottery sales program a success. The report showed online lottery sales moved past $8 million a week as of March 2016. Meanwhile, brick and mortar retail lottery operations set all-time records.

Read more about the Michigan Online Lottery.

Georgia

After approval in the summer of 2012, and a bit of a false start, Georgia became the second state to offer online lottery ticket sales. Its lottery went online in November 2012. The Georgia Lottery Corporation offers online ticket sales for draw games, including Fantasy 5, Mega Millions, and Powerball.

Plus, there are also Keno games and a selection of games exclusive to Georgia Lottery website called Diggi Games. These interactive games constitute a hybrid of social games and electronic scratch-offs. Diggi Games include crosswords and bingo games.

Georgia is among the top states in the country in terms of per capita lottery sales. The state maintained that status through the introduction of online ticket sales.

Read more about the Georgia Online Lottery.

Illinois

Illinois launched a pilot program offering online sales of Lotto and Mega Millions tickets in March 2012. At that point, Illinois became the first state to offer online lottery ticket sales.

Illinois then added online tickets to the popular multi-state Powerball lottery in December 2012. The Illinois Lottery website later expanded to include Daily Lottery Games and Instant Games as well.

On March 31, 2014, the Internet Lottery announced online lottery sales totaled $36.9million in the first two years of the program.

Then, in March 2016, the pilot program was actually set to end if lawmakers failed to pass new legislation authorizing continued internet lottery sales. However, Illinois Lottery Communications Director Steve Rossi decided the Illinois Lottery would continue to operate online. After a detailed policy and law review, Rossi determined continued internet ticket sales were permissible under current law.

Read more about the Illinois Online Lottery.

Virginia

The Virginia Lottery has operated in Old Dominion since 1987, resulting in over $12.4 billion in payouts since that time. Now, Virginia has seen online expansion with its lottery.

While also tasked with overseeing recently legalized online casinos and sports betting, the Virginia Lottery introduced online instant games in July 2020, allowing players to purchase and even play online lottery games through the Virginia Lottery website. Access to these game via the lottery’s app should become available soon.

The Virginia Lottery boasts an array of online instant games, with themes ranging from simple reveal to crosswords to symbol-matching, not to mention blackjack, keno and lottery draw.

As the first online gambling site in the state, the Virginia Lottery has set the trend. And it is at the forefront of an online gambling revolution in Old Dominion.

Read more about the Virginia Online Lottery.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire joined the group of US states with online lottery after its governor signed a bill authorizing online lottery sales in July 2017. On Sept. 18, the New Hampshire online lottery went live. Operated by NeoPollard Interactive, it features several online instant win and draw games.

Mega Millions and Powerball tickets can be purchased online or through apps like Jackpocket, with either custom or quick number selection.

Kentucky

Kentucky became the next state to offer its lottery online in April 2016. The Commonwealth offers online sales of jackpot and daily draw games as well as instant play games.

Online ticket sales were actually approved by lawmakers in 2013. However, it took the state three years to develop a complex online ticketing system.

Kentucky also employs strict security regulations preventing players from withdrawing money deposited in a lottery account in accordance with money-laundering laws.

At the time of the launch, Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Arch Gleason claimed online lottery sales were a way to attract a younger demographic accustomed to conducting retail purchases online. He also maintained online sales were expected to help, rather than hurt, sales at 3,200 lottery retailers across Kentucky.

Read more about the Kentucky Online Lottery.

Minnesota

Minnesota was actually the first state lottery to offer instant-win games online. The Minnesota Lottery launched online sales on the first quarter of 2014 without any kind of legislative approval. In addition to electronic scratch-offs, the lottery offered Mega Millions, Hot Lotto, Gopher 5, and Powerball tickets online.

However, in May 2015, Minnesota lawmakers voted to make online lottery sales illegal, and the games were ultimately pulled.

We certainly miss the glory days of online poker here in the United States. Things are looking up though, as in 2018 we saw a number of developments that give American players hope that another golden era for the online game is in our future.

Let’s take a look at five reasons to be optimistic about the future of online poker in the United States:

1. MERGING PLAYER POOLS

American players were left with zero options for legal, regulated online poker for a couple of years after the Department of Justice forced the shutdown of the major sites on April 15, 2011, otherwise known as Black Friday.

Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware all eventually legalized online poker, with the first legal poker site, Ultimate Poker, launching in Nevada in 2013. That site didn’t last, but other regulated sites like WSOP Nevada, WSOP New Jersey, and 888poker New Jersey have stood the test of time, as well as 888’s network sites in Delaware.

The $200,000 guaranteed Coast to Coast Classic III Main Event starts now for $525. It’s your last day to win a share over over $1.5 million guaranteed with the series. NV: https://t.co/cHmB5IWXjh NJ: https://t.co/MohMAdxDijpic.twitter.com/4kgPIR4jOH

— WSOP.com (@WSOPcom) November 18, 2018

May 1, 2018 marked a major step forward for the online game in the U.S.A., as the player pools from all of these jurisdictions were merged. This meant more cash game tables, bigger tournament fields and guarantees, and opportunities to play for a bracelet in online events without even stepping foot into Nevada during the WSOP (more on that later).

As more states come on board, that player pool will grow even larger, which brings us to our next item:

2. PENNSYLVANIA LEGALIZES ONLINE POKER

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board began accepting applications for online casino licenses in April, and as of November at least nine casinos have been approved to offer online gaming within the state.

We should start seeing Pennsylvania’s first legal online poker rooms popping up very soon, with the possibility that the Keystone State’s player pool joins the Nevada/New Jersey/Delaware network.

That merger would add Pennsylvania’s population of around 13 million, meaning a four-state network with around 26 million people total. The addition of Pennsylvania effectively doubles the player pool. When the results of this start to show, perhaps some other states will start to become interested in making the merged online player base even larger.

3. POKERSTARS RUNS THE MONEYMAKER PSPC TOUR

PokerStars returned to the U.S. in 2016 with PokerStars NJ and gives New Jersey players another option (albeit with its own player pool, separate from the WSOP/888poker merged network).

The largest online poker operator in the world is also one of the most prolific operators of live events around the globe, but we haven’t seen any live poker tours with the PokerStars name attached since the North American Poker Tour ceased operations right around Black Friday.

That changed in 2018, with the highly successful Moneymaker PSPC Tour running throughout late summer and autumn, hitting some of the country’s best poker rooms. The tour’s events featured an $86 buy-in tournament, with the first prize of a $30,000 PSPC package.

The Bronx baby! Meet Ronald Mici, he’s a champ. For $86 he entered the @FoxwoodsPoker leg of the #MoneymakerTour, he took it down winning a $30K #PlatinumPass and he’s heading to The Bahamas for the #PSPC.
Watch the full episode at: https://t.co/FWwcbu3wVPpic.twitter.com/rKv7X1wYkN

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) November 17, 2018

The tour offered the opportunity to meet and play with Chris Moneymaker at every stop, and also got American players thinking about the PokerStars brand again. PokerStars could possibly build its own merged player network in the U.S.A. as the industry continues to rebuild here in the states.

Online Poker United States Legal

4. WSOP ONLINE BRACELET EVENTS

The WSOP offered four online bracelet events on the 2018 schedule, and New Jersey resident Matt Mendez made history, winning the $565 Pot Limit Omaha event.

Mendez took home $135,077 for the win and also pulled off the feat of becoming the first player to ever win a WSOP bracelet while playing outside the state of Nevada. Mendez booked the six-figure score while playing from home in the Garden State, showing the NJ/Delaware player pool that huge scores, and WSOP glory, are possible.

PocketFiver Matthew ‘MattEMenz’ Mendez made history this morning as the first player to win a WSOP bracelet online in a state other than Nevada. Mendez won the $565 PLO event playing from his home in Sicklerville, New Jersey.

— Lance Bradley (@Lance_Bradley) June 23, 2018

The other three bracelet events included $365, $1,000, and $3,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em events, and each provided a six-figure score to the winner. As the player pool grows, the prize pools will only get bigger, and this extension of the WSOP brand will be plenty helpful with the growth of online poker stateside.

Online Poker United States Real Money

5. LEGALIZED SPORTS BETTING HITS THE U.S.

May 14, 2018 was a landmark day for the United States in the realm of legalized sports betting. The U.S. Supreme Court voted to overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Protection Act (PASPA), which had banned sports betting in 46 states since 1992.

This ruling re: USA betting laws has started the first wave of states now offering legalized sports betting, including Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, and New Mexico. These states join Nevada as territories where you can legally bet on sports, with Pennsylvania and Rhode Island set to join the list in 2019.

Notice that the aforementioned “online poker states” of New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania are on the list. Does this trend indicate that some of the other states slated to offer sports betting will join the fray and offer online poker as well?

This is a dream scenario for American players and a topic that a previous Ask the Poker Experts column tackled here on Cardplayer Lifestyle in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. It gives us hope that better days are still on the horizon for online poker in the states. We can only dream of how big the merged player pool could grow, but for now it’s encouraging to see some of the steps already in place.