How to Find the Best Online Poker Sites

How to Find the Best Online Poker Sites

You’ve finally decided that online poker is your next adventure, but how do you know which sites offer the best games and how to protect yourself against scammers? You’ll need to download poker software, which is usually virus-free, and set up an account. You can only set up one account at a time, and attempting to open more than one account is a sign of dishonesty, and could result in a permanent ban from the poker site.

First, you must know what currencies the online poker sites accept. While some accept deposits in a variety of currencies, others require players to convert their funds to U.S. dollars. Luckily, this is not an issue if you are regularly “top-up” your chip stack with cash. However, it can add up, especially if you are playing for a long time. To get around the issue, be sure to find a poker site that accepts multiple currencies.

Online poker is governed by different laws than brick-and-mortar poker. The United States is a prime example. President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) into law in October 2006. Hopefully, the new administration will change these laws so that US players can play online poker without fear of getting caught. Besides the United States, many countries have legalized and regulated online poker. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, have laws that allow online poker.

Online poker in New Jersey was first legalized in 2011. In April 2013, Ultimate gaming and Station Casinos partnered to launch online casinos. The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake issued licenses to online casino sites. After these companies failed to gain traction, online poker was available to residents of the state. South Point and Real Gaming followed, but they never got the traction they needed to stay in business. WSOP and Pala Poker were the first sites to open for business.

While there are still many regulatory hurdles to overcome, some states are moving forward with online poker legislation. West Virginia, for example, recently passed a law that allows for legal online poker. While the population of West Virginia is under 2 million, it could potentially be a huge market if it is allowed to share player pools with neighboring states. The state lottery is responsible for developing regulations and issuing licenses. In late 2019, the director of the lottery department of the state visited Pennsylvania to discuss online poker legislation.

While there are still very few US-accepted poker sites, offshore sites have grown in popularity. Despite the widespread regulation of offshore sites, only a few states still regulate the online poker market, including Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It is unclear how much time the US will have to wait for these sites to open, but most expect it to happen in 2020 and 2021. So, what are the best sites to play online poker?