Is Party Poker Legal In Us
Posted : admin On 7/31/2022Is Party Poker Rigged or Legit & Legal? In 2013 PartyPoker started accepting players from the States again, but only in the state of New Jersey, where they are licensed and regulated. The site's player bases are separate, though. Party Poker, the largest online poker room in the United States was shut down by the US Federal Government back in 2006, calling that day the Black Friday for the US poker community. New Jersey has granted the license to Party Poker and the Borgata Casino.
- Is Party Poker Legal In Usa
- Is Online Poker Legal In Florida
- States Where Poker Is Legal
- Online Poker In Us Legal
- Is Party Poker Legal In Usa
Party Poker and PartyGaming for US players have strategically set themselves up for a regulated market by clearing their legal status and paving the way for either a software partnership with one of the big Vegas casinos or a full license to offer games again in the US. Unfortunately, online poker isn’t considered to be a specifically legal operation within the state. That’s not to say that it is illegal, but the UIGEA is still in effect across the US, which does put restrictions on what California is able to do as far as online poker is concerned. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) approved an interactive gaming license for BetMGM /Roar Digital. The two companies partner in the US to offer the partypoker US Network in the US. Pennsylvania would make the platform’s second state offering online poker.
After some stops and starts, Pennsylvania online poker players received good news on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) approved an interactive gaming license for BetMGM/Roar Digital.
The two companies partner in the US to offer the partypoker US Network in the US. Pennsylvania would make the platform’s second state offering online poker.
However, a potential launch date hasn’t been announced and Roar officials had no comment.
Getting the online poker party started in PA?
A new poker site in PA would give players at least another option. Under PGCB regulations, the MGM/Roar is recognized as a Qualified Gaming Entity (QGE). That means it operates as a stand-alone entity and doesn’t need a land-based partner.
The PGCB also approved the company for sports betting (although it would need a land-based partner) and other real money online casino gaming. Party’s possible entry into the market comes after some hiccups along the way.
The company was expected to be approved in August. PGCB chief enforcement counsel Cyrus Pitre spoke on the subject at the group’s July 8 meeting.
However, that timeline was delayed and apparently shifted to October. Players will now be awaiting to see when the platform might launch.
In Pennsylvania, players would find another “ringed-in” online poker option. That means users can only play others within the state. PokerStars already operates in this manner.
WSOP.com operates the only shared liquidity pact among Nevada, New Jersey, and with 888poker in Delaware. The future of interstate compacts remains unknown until the legal challenges regarding the Wire Act play out.
What to expect from a partypoker launch
Partypoker remains one of the best known online poker sites in the world. The company offers a nice software experience and has made major improvements to its mobile app in recent months.
In New Jersey, the platform also includes the BetMGM and BorgataPoker.com skins. It’s unknown if there will be additional skins in PA.
In recent months, party has ramped up some of its offerings in New Jersey. The company partners with the World Poker Tour for live and online events internationally.
That has also carried over to two recent events in New Jersey. The WPT Online Borgata Series in September featured 11 events and an overall guarantee of $275,000. The series proved a hit and ultimately paid out $912,000.
Pennsylvania offers a nice opportunity for even more events like this if the platform launches. With a population of almost 13 million, the state is the largest with legalized online poker. That’s about 4 million more than in the Garden State.
Partypoker could help grow PA market
PokerStars launched in the Keystone State in November 2019 and has had a poker monopoly for almost a full year. The company has seen nice revenue in the state to coincide with other operators in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware.
While revenue numbers have declined in recent months, those are still at historically high levels. In September, PokerStars achieved online poker revenue of $2.4 million after an August total of $2.7 million.
The site has brought major series like the PA Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) and major events like Pennsyl-MANIA to the state.
The partypoker approval could bring a second player in the market. The company has been bullish in recent years on expansion and that includes the US.
More PA live poker rooms reopen
Beyond online poker, many players have been happy to see live poker return in the Keystone State. Mount Airy was the first to return on Oct. 16. Others that have returned recently include:
- Meadows Racetrack and Casino
- Mohegan Sun Pocono
- Rivers Philadelphia
PA casinos began reopening in June under added safety protocols. However, poker rooms haven’t been a part of that until now. As gamblers head back to casinos, PGCB officials expect the poker re-openings to spur table game revenues up further.
In September, table games accounted for $59.2 million in casino revenue. That’s down from August’s $65.1 million and $70.6 million in September 2019.
“The reopening of poker rooms will add to the positive performance of table games,” PGCB executive director Kevin O’Toole noted in Wednesday’s meeting about the recent reopening of live poker rooms.
Many Pennsylvania players are also hoping a new online poker room heads their way soon as well. USPoker will continue to update this story as more details emerge.
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What does the future look like for legal online poker in the United States?
So, is online poker legal in the USA today? The answer is depends on what state you live in.
State-regulated, real-money online poker is legally available in only a handful of states.
As of July 2020, players in New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Delaware enjoy access to legal online poker sites. Michigan and West Virginia have passed legislation to make online poker legal, but the launch of products is pending in those states.
The following is a brief overview of US states with legal online poker, as well as the specific poker sites that are available in those states.
Click to jump to a section:
USA States with Legal Online Poker
1. New Jersey
New Jersey hosts the largest legal online gambling industry of any US state.
Players in the Garden State can choose from an extensive selection of legal online casinos and sportsbooks. New Jersey is also one of four US states with online poker.
Online poker launched in New Jersey in November 2013. State-regulated online poker sites in New Jersey include:
WSOP/888 Poker Network
WSOP New Jersey and 888 Poker NJ operate as two different skins, but both contain the same player pool. This player pool also links to WSOP Nevada and the 888 Poker network of poker sites in Delaware.
World Series of Poker online bracelet events can be played through the WSOP/888 New Jersey network.
Borgata Poker Network
Four different poker platforms under the Borgata banner share the same player pool. Players on Borgata Poker, BetMGM Poker, partypoker NJ, and Pala Poker all compete against each other. This New Jersey-only network doesn’t link to any other player pools outside of the state.
The Borgata online poker network includes multiple skins in New Jersey
PokerStars NJ
PokerStars NJ functions as a standalone, New Jersey-only platform. The player pool doesn’t link to any other international or domestic poker client operated by PokerStars.
2. Nevada
WSOP Nevada launched in September 2013, and operates as Nevada’s only legal online poker site. The WSOP Nevada player pool shares liquidity with the WSOP/888 New Jersey network, as well as the 888 Poker network in Delaware.
Online bracelet events for the World Series of Poker are available to play on the WSOP Nevada platform.
3. Delaware
Delaware players enjoy access to one legal online poker platform, operated by 888 Poker. The network incorporates three skins, which include Delaware Park, Dover Downs, and Harrington Raceway.
Playing on any of the three skins links to the same network. The 888 Poker Delaware network also links to the WSOP Nevada and WSOP/888 New Jersey player pools.
While the player pools are linked, Delaware players cannot play World Series of Poker online bracelet events.
4. Pennsylvania
PokerStars PA launched in November 2019. The platform operates as a standalone site, and only accepts Pennsylvania players. PokerStars PA players are not in a player pool with PokeStars NJ players.
The PokerStars PA platform doesn’t link to any other PokerStars network. The launch adds Pennsylvania to the list of states with legal online poker.
Why Some States’ Players Can Play Together
Poker players in certain legal states get to play together, growing the site player pools, thanks to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement.
Delaware and Nevada lawmakers agreed to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) in March 2015. The agreement merged player networks from the 888 Delaware network, and WSOP Nevada.
New Jersey agreed to join the MSIGA in October 2017. The three-state merged platform went live in April 2018, offering shared player liquidity among WSOP Nevada, WSOP New Jersey, and the 888 Poker Delaware network.
The merged network allowed New Jersey players to compete in World Series of Poker online bracelet events for the first time at the 2018 WSOP.
Matthew “Mendy” Mendez became the first player to win a WSOP bracelet while playing outside of Nevada in 2018.
States With Laws Against Online Poker
Indiana
Outside of states with online poker, most other US jurisdictions don’t have laws in place explicitly making online poker illegal.
Indiana is an exception, as online gambling in the Hoosier State is expressly outlawed. State-regulated online sports betting sites operate legally in Indiana, but any kind of online gambling outside of those legal sportsbooks is punishable by law.
States That Will Eventually Offer Legal Online Poker
West Virginia and Michigan
West Virginia became the fifth US state to legalize online poker in March 2019. The launch of the state’s online poker platforms could happen by 2021.
Michigan will eventually join the fray as the sixth state with legal online poker. Lawmakers in Michigan signed of on online poker legalization in December 2019, with the launch of products pending.
This win for Michigan players was hard fought. Just days after the initial online poker bill passed back in 2018, outgoing Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed the bill as one of his last acts before his gubernatorial term ran out.
Legalization in Michigan, with its 10-million population, would be a huge victory for supporters of online poker. Snyder’s veto put things on hold in Michigan for a little while, but it’s back on track as of late 2019.
Former Michigan Senator @MikeKowall who led efforts to legalize internet poker/gaming in MI authored a great op-ed that lays out the case for the state legislature to pass a bill again and send to the new Gov (this time with NO VETO) https://t.co/zbHplaZkUR
— Poker Alliance (@ppapoker) January 10, 2019
When online poker is finally up and running in Michigan and West Virginia, operators in those states could eventually sign into the shared liquidity agreements with the other states offering legal poker.
If enough states legalize online poker, a merged player pool among the states could create a legal online poker network that somewhat resembles the pre-Black Friday online poker scene in the U.S.
Looking into the future, PokerStars (already operating in New Jersey and Pennsylvania) has entered into an agreement with US casino operator Eldorado Resorts, Inc., with intentions of operating online poker in 11 other states (Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and West Virginia).
Is Party Poker Legal In Usa
Of those 11 states, only Nevada and West Virginia have legalized online poker, so the other nine states would have to go through the process of legalization before a hypothetical PokerStars USA network could come to fruition.
Is It Legal To Play On Pokerstars from the U.S?
Is Online Poker Legal In Florida
You cannot legally play on the main PokerStars platform from the U.S.
States Where Poker Is Legal
PokerStars New Jersey and PokerStars Pennsylvania are different, U.S.-regulated poker sites that are legal to play within the state borders of NJ/PA. Its player pool is not connected to the main PokerStars player pool, which operates in many countries and is the world’s largest online poker site.
It’s been nearly a decade since the shutdown of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet, and U.S. players are still waiting and hoping that the online game returns to the glory days of the 2000s at some point.
The “poker boom” of the early 2000s ushered in an era of unprecedented options for online poker within the U.S., but those glory days were numbered after the U.S. government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
Partypoker, one of the world’s largest online poker operators, quickly shut off access for U.S. players after the UIGEA passed, while PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker/Ultimate Bet continued operating in the country throughout the remainder of the 2000s and became the three largest U.S.-facing poker sites.
On April 15, 2011 (known as Black Friday in the poker community), the U.S. Government seized the domain names of PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker, and U.S. players have had significantly fewer options for online poker ever since.
PokerStars has still thrived in spite of not being able to allow accept U.S. players and is home to the largest online poker player pool in the world. If you live in the U.S., you have to physically relocate to a jurisdiction where PokerStars can legally allow you to play, in order to have access to the site.
Online Poker Sites Operating in a Grey Area
If you’re playing online poker in the U.S. in 2019, chances are you’ve played on the Winning Poker Network, Ignition Casino or Global Poker at some point.
These poker sites, and any other online poker site outside of the legal, regulated sites from Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, are not technically legally able to offer online poker to U.S. players, but they exist nonetheless.
The Winning Poker Network is a collection of skins that include America’s Cardroom, Black Chip Poker, and True Poker, among others. WPN has been operating since the early 2000s and has continued to be available to U.S. players, even after the passage of the UIGEA and Black Friday shutdown of major U.S. sites in 2011.
Ignition Casino has operated under many names since its inception in 2004, most notably as Bodog and Bovada, before settling in on its current branding. This site offers the largest player pool available to U.S. players.
Global Poker arrived in 2017 with a business model that has players using “Gold Coins” (play money) and “Sweeps Cash” (real money). Players can purchase Gold Coins with real money, and also receive an equivalent amount of Sweeps Cash. It’s basically a loophole that allows them to take deposits.
Playing on any of these grey area sites is a risk. If you decide to do so, make sure you proceed with caution and don’t keep more money on the site than you’re comfortable losing.
Online Poker In Us Legal
Final Thoughts
U.S. poker players want options to play online, and we all would love to see the return of the glory days of the 2000s. It’s important to remember though – the “grey area” poker sites listed above can get shut down by the U.S. government at any time, just as PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker did on Black Friday.
Is Party Poker Legal In Usa
Let’s hope that the recent DOJ reversal of opinion on the Wire Act is just a hiccup on the way to the rise of a new era for online poker in the U.S. If more states follow the lead of Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia we could one day have access to a shared player pool that makes the U.S. a great place to play online poker once again.