• by Anthony Cicali IIIMarch 8, 2021
• by Sean ChaffinMarch 3, 2021
• by StaffMarch 1, 2021

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2. Free Poker Tournaments
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Legal Online Poker Sites in the US

Bally’s, a Las Vegas poker room, is going forward with its upcoming poker tournament series despite the COVID-19 limited capacity restrictions.Businesses, including casinos, are currently.

• #1 – Bovada Poker Tournaments There is no doubting that Bovada (who pool players with Ignition Poker / Bodog) are the biggest US room. What many people do not know before they play there, is that the.
• In addition to the daily and weekly tournaments at Ignition, you’ll find some of the most exciting annual poker festivals on the calendar, including the Black Diamond Poker Open in the spring, and the Super.

Where is online poker legal in the US?

The following six states have now officially signed legislation to offer legal US online poker:

1. New Jersey
2. Delaware
3. Nevada
4. Pennsylvania
5. Michigan
6. West Virginia (Not live yet)

Five currently have open and operating legal online poker sites. And there are some differences between each of the regulated online poker states.

• Nevada only permits online poker.
• New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Delaware also spread casino games banked by the house (More about Michigan online casinos, NJ online casinos,Pennsylvania online casinos).
• Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania allow the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos to operate online sites. In Delaware, the state lottery is the sole operator.
• Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware have entered into an interstate online poker agreement. If you play in those three states you can compete against each other only on WSOP.com.

Where can I play online poker in the US right now?

NJ online poker

New Jersey is currently home to the most online poker sites. Those sites are spread across four distinct networks and operate through three different licensees. Here are your options:

New Jersey online poker sites

• PartyPoker NJ (Borgata Poker, BetMGM Poker)
• Pala Poker

WSOP NJ is the second biggest site after Borgata/partypoker. It used 888 software, but was a standalone room. 888 operated its own platform, but began to share player pools with WSOP.com in January 2015.

PokerStars NJ launched in New Jersey on March 21, 2016.

The site opened at around the same size of WSOP.com and Borgata. Since launch, PokerStars has been the top site in the Garden State for much of its tenure.

In April 2018, New Jersey joined the multi-state compact with Nevada and Delaware. The agreement allows the three states to share their player pools across state lines.

Background

The New Jersey legislature legalized online poker and casino games in the state in December 2012. After some back-and-forth between Gov. Chris Christie and the lawmakers, the governor finally signed the bill into law.

As a result, New Jersey online poker and casino games launched on November 21, 2013. Borgata and its partner Party Poker dominated the New Jersey online poker world at the time after launch.

Pennsylvania online poker

Pennsylvania became the fourth state to legalize and regulate online poker and online casino play in the U.S. when Governor Tom Wolf signed bill H 271 on Oct. 30, 2017.

Online poker was expected to launch by July of 2019. However, that date was pushed back until PokerStars officially launched on Nov. 4, 2019. It was the first online poker site in Pennsylvania.

The site is now fully operational with the excellent software, cash games, and tournaments that players have come to expect. PokerStars has promised much more for players in the state and received a nice reception from many in the state.

There are eight casino or operators attempting to launch online poker in Pennsylvania right now. One of them is MGM Resorts, which applied for a license as a qualified gaming entity through its Borgata property in New Jersey.

Pennsylvania casinos which have both applied for and been approved to offer online poker are:

• Mount Airy Casino (now live through its partnership with PokerStars)
• Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
• Parx Casino
• Sands Bethlehem
• SugarHouse Casino
• Valley Forge Casino

Michigan online poker

In a nice twist to start off 2021, Michigan online poker went live on Jan. 29. So far just one real money online poker site, PokerStars, is online for cash games and tournaments but BetMGM Poker is expected to go live in February.

Included in the PokerStars lineup for Michigan are the ever-popular Spin & Go’s (not available in Pennsylvania), lots of weekly guaranteed tournaments, new player freerolls (free online tournaments for real money) and the standard $30 in free play bonus with a $20 deposit. You can also choose an up to $600 deposit bonus at 100% match.

The full PokerStars poker app and PokerStars’ highly popular Home Games feature, for playing online poker games with your friends, are both available in Michigan.

Stay tuned for an exclusive PokerStars Michigan promo code from USPoker right here.

Nevada online poker

Nevada was the first state to launch regulated online poker. In December 2011, the Nevada Gaming Control Board adopted regulations pertaining to Nevada online poker sites.

The regulations required affirmation through the Nevada legislature. Nevada lawmakers meet on a biennium. The state passed the regulations governing Nevada online poker in February 2013.

On April 30, 2013, Ultimate Poker launched as the first regulated online poker room in the US. The launch was flawed due to poor software and unproven geolocation services. Ultimate Poker attracted about 300 peak players and the same number of players participated in sit and gos and tournaments.

WSOP.com launched on September 17, 2013. WSOP.com enjoyed massive brand awareness and dominated the market within two months.

Ultimate Poker succumbed to the small intrastate poker player pool in Nevada. It left the Nevada market on November 17, 2014. This leaves onlyWSOP.com and Real Gaming in the Nevada online poker market.

On March 24, 2015, a liquidity sharing agreement between Delaware and Nevada went live. New Jersey joined the compact in April 2018. So, players from three states can now sit at the same table.

Technically, there is a second active poker site in Nevada. Real Gaming, backed by South Point Casino, launched in February 2014. However, the site never has gained more than 1 percent of the market at any time. Currently, its influence in the market is small enough that WSOP more or less enjoys a monopoly in the market.

Nevada online poker sites

Delaware online poker

Delaware was the second state to legalize and regulate online gambling. It was legalized through the state legislature in June 2013. Online casino games went live on October 31, 2013. The Delaware online poker network opened on November 8, 2013.

Delaware offers online poker and casino games through its state lottery. Interactive gaming is marketed through its three video lottery racinos.

888supplies the platform all three sites. The online poker room shares liquidity between all sites. Delaware and Nevada started sharing online poker player pools on March 24, 2015. New Jersey joined the pool in April 2018.

Delaware online poker sites

• Doverdowns.com
• Delawarepark.com
• Harringtonraceway.com

West Virginia online poker and casino

West Virginia joined the online gambling party on March 27, 2019. Gov. Jim Justice allowed H 2934, the West Virginia Lottery Interactive Wagering Act, to become law without his signature.

The law allows the five land-based casinos to apply for interactive licenses. Each license initially costs $250,000 and must be renewed for $100,000 every five years. Casinos will pay 15 percent of revenue in taxes.

The five properties which will develop online casino sites in West Virginia are:

• The Casino Club at Greenbrier Resort
• Hollywood Casino Charles Town
• Mardi Gras Casino
• The Mountaineer Hotel, Casino & Resort
• Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack

Legalization is terrific news, but active online gambling in West Virginia is still somewhat in the future. The state’s officials will have to create a set of regulations. The best estimate from various sources is that the first online casino with online poker in West Virginia won’t appear until 2020.

Can I play at a legal online poker site while not in that state?

No. Legal online poker sites use geolocation software to ensure that players are located in the state at the time of action.

This takes into account the IP address of the player, location of a related cell phone, and nearby wireless access points. It is impossible to play at legal online poker sites when located outside state lines.

You do not have to be a resident of that state to play online poker there, however. If you visit any legal US online poker state you can download and create an account from your home state, claim any no deposit poker bonus, make any additional deposits and then play online poker when you arrive as long as you are within state borders.

Why should I choose legal poker sites?

One of the biggest advantages to playing online poker at regulated US sites is that all player funds are just as safe as they would be at a licensed real money online casino in any of those states.

The very same gaming regulations that apply to live and online casinos are also valid for regulated US online poker sites. All deposits are held in separate accounts from cash used for operations.

There are also ample deposit and withdrawal methods that are safe and secure. Legal poker sites in the US accept deposits by:

• Visa
• MasterCard
• Electronic checks
• Neteller
• Skrill
• PayNearMe (7-Eleven)
• Cash at associated casinos in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, etc

How do I withdraw from legal poker sites in the United States?

Legal poker sites pay winnings by:

• Electronic check
• Check by mail
• Bank wire
• Neteller
• Skrill
• PayPal
• Cash at associated casinos in Atlantic City,Las Vegas, etc

Regulated online poker sites also undergo rigorous checks to ensure that games are fair and secure.

When will online poker be legal in my state?

The situation regarding online poker bills is always changing. There are several states that are considering legal online poker currently. They are:

• Connecticut
  • S 17 would legalize online gambling and sports betting
• Kentucky
  • H 175 would legalize online poker, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports
• New York
  • A 4924 would certify online poker as a game of skill under New York law
• Tennessee
  • SJR 165 would legalize all forms of online gambling
• Virginia
  • HB 2321 seeks to study online gambling expansion of all types

Two more states, Illinois and Massachusetts, are also interested in online poker.

History of legal online poker in the US

Legal US online poker sites debuted on April 30, 2013.

Ultimate Poker was the site that made history. Nevada was the first state to host fully legal online poker. Texas Hold ’em was the only game spread at Ultimate Poker during its first six months in business.

WSOP.com joined the Nevada online poker market on Sept. 17, 2013. The World Series of Poker’s online site brought the first games of Omaha, Omaha High/Low, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud High/Low to Nevada.

WSOP.com now controls 99 percent of the Nevada market. This near-monopoly was caused by the shuttering of Ultimate Poker in November 2014.

Delaware online poker was the second state to launch. There is one network powered by 888. The state’s three racinos – Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway – are skins on the Delaware poker network. Nevada and Delaware began pooling poker players in April 2015.

WSOP.com and 888 were the sites responsible for creating the first legal interstate online poker pool.

New Jersey online poker came next on Nov. 21, 2013. There are currently three poker networks in New Jersey. One hosts Borgata and partypoker, the other has WSOP.com and 888 on it, and the third is made up solely of PokerStars NJ. All networks are about equal in overall size at any given point in time.

There were three additional poker platforms in New Jersey when the state launched regulated poker sites. 888 was originally a standalone site before it merged player pools with WSOP.com. Ultimate Poker was unable to gain more than 3 percent of the market share.

The Ultimate Poker site was shuttered on Oct. 5, 2014. The associated UCasino was also closed at that time. Betfair failed to attract any players and closed its poker site on Dec. 1, 2014. Betfair still operates an online casino in New Jersey.

After a long legislative battle, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill into law that legalized and regulated online gambling in the state of Pennsylvania on Oct. 30, 2017, making it the fourth state to legalize online gaming. The bill legalized online poker, online casino table games, online slots and daily fantasy sports.

It also allowed for a number of other gambling expansions such as online lottery, tablet gambling in airports, video gambling terminals at truck stops and 10 satellite casinos. Players were officially able to play online poker in PA in 2019.

Why isn’t there a federal online poker bill?

There have been many attempts to pass an online poker bill at the federal level.

• 2009 – Rep. Barney Frank first proposes regulated online poker.
• 2011 – Frank and Rep. Joe Barton attempt to get Congress to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).
• 2012 – Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Jon Kyl combine to propose a poker-only bill, known in the poker community as Reid/Kyl. The bill dies when Congress adjourns.

Nowadays, the federal government is more likely to focus its attention on sports betting. Unfortunately, online poker and gambling just doesn’t rate for many constituencies as key issues.

There does seem to be a movement towards greater states’ rights, however. The dismissal of PASPA in May 2018 allowed sports betting to proceed at each state legislature’s discretion.

A recent reversal of Department of Justice opinion on the Wire Act may also end up being a net positive for online gambling advocates. The DOJ seems to have been swayed by anti-gambling lobbyists funded by Las Vegas Sands owner Sheldon Adelson.

Neither the states nor the media are amused by the appearance of corruption and impropriety. As a result, online gambling might become a medium for states to argue a greater issue, and thus, rise in prominence.

What is the UIGEA?

UIGEA is an acronym for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. It passed Congress in September 2006 and was signed into law by President Bush two weeks later.

The UIGEA made it illegal for banks to process payments for unlawful gambling sites. It did not define what that was. Most publicly-traded sites immediately left the US market after the UIGEA was enacted.

These included Party Poker, iPoker, Microgaming Poker Network, Ongame, and 888. All of these examples returned to the US market when states started to regulate online poker.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday was the day the US online poker community describes April 15, 2011.

On that date, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker were charged with gambling crimes by the US Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York.

Unfortunately, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker did not have enough cash on hand to pay players. PokerStars paid all customers within weeks. Strange as it may seem, it was PokerStars that eventually made all Full Tilt Poker players whole after coming to an agreement with federal authorities.

Will the federal government ban online poker?

Federal law allows states to legalize and regulate online poker. This is specifically exempted from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. A September 2011 Department of Justice opinion confirmed this and explicitly gives states the right to permit intrastate gaming.

There was an attempt in Congress to reverse this legal opinion. The effort was spearheaded by Sheldon Adelson, founder and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of Venetian in Las Vegas.

Adelson’s lobbyists submitted the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA). The bill failed in 2016 and does not appear to have much support in this Congress. Libertarian groups, states’ rights activists, governors, state lotteries and most of the gaming industry have come out in opposition to RAWA.

Since then, Adelson and company have been working through other channels to head off online casino and online poker play. It is extremely likely that the group effected some degree of influence over the Department of Justice’s January 2019 opinion to reinterpret the Wire Act.

In that opinion, the DOJ essentially reversed its prior position on the statute to say that the law actually pertains to all gambling, not just sports betting. Needless to say, there were many parties in opposition to this opinion.

So far, the opinion has not found much success in court. A June 2019 ruling from a New Hampshire federal court dismissed the opinion from affecting that state’s lottery commission and an associated vendor. Only time will tell if the precedent will ripple out to other interested and/or affected parties.

Here I Compare the Options for Real-Money Online Poker Tournaments Available to US Players

Poker Tournaments For US Players

This article will not cover the regulated in-State sites – which (WSOP bracelets aside) are struggling to gain any real momentum.

Below you will find a site by site summary, using the most popular individual sites where a network is involved. After that I have gone through the US online tournaments by size (buy-in). At the end of this page you will find my overall recommendation.

US Online Poker Tournaments 2021 – The Contenders (Sites)

#1 – Bovada Poker Tournaments

There is no doubting that Bovada (who pool players with Ignition Poker / Bodog) are the biggest US room.

What many people do not know before they play there, is that the games are anonymous. Instead of playing with a nickname, you are assigned a new number for each tournament. This stops the tracking software which gives pro players an edge - leveling the playing field for casual players. Bovada proved the skeptics wrong, their 'recreational poker model' was a big factor in their growth.

This is the biggest US poker room (only players from the US and selected Latin American countries can join). There is a solid regular schedule, with a ton of guarantees in the $1k to $5k range (buy-ins up to $22). While for the big 'headline events' America's Cardroom are ahead, for the 'bread and butter' tournaments, I rate Bovada as the number #1. The focus is 98% on No-Limit Holdem, with Omaha the minority game type

There are already some notable highlights for tournament fans. Note that the anonymous play model is still in use. You do not get a screen name at this site – instead when you play a tournament you are assigned a number, and cash games just use the seat numbers.

Free Poker Tournaments For Cash

• $2 Million in Guarantees every week… that’s a lot of guarantees. This is not skewed by a couple of huge games either. When you see the listing you will quickly see that most of the tournaments have some kind of guaranteed prize pool.
• $100k Sunday Major… This always beats the guarantee, there are plenty of satellites too, entry costs $162.
• Mad Monday Tournaments:... This has been a very successful promo, a lot of extra tournaments, often with big guarantees spread each Monday. The total seems to vary (holiday weekends and seasonality affect this) though expect $300,000+ in extra games and again plenty of satellites.

Bovada were good for events and for satellites to live tournaments, for example ‘Vegas Weekends’ during the World Series. I hope to bring you news on this area soon.

With easy deposits, and plenty of poker variations to choose from, I do not see Bovada losing their number one spot any time soon. Check out their busy nightly tournament schedule, and find out how much more fun those anonymous games can be for yourself now at – though I do have a feeling that it will be one of (at least) the top contenders by the end of the year! Check out www.bovada.lv to see the latest deals and tournament events for yourself.

#2 – Chico Network / BetOnline Poker

BetOnline has been looking after sports bettors from their HQ in Panama for the best part of a decade. Last year, they joined the Chico poker network, and have grown this part of their brand to become the 2^nd largest US friendly poker site.

Guarantees are not yet at the level that you might expect (a lot of their players hit the cash game tables instead). Though they are already up to $250,000 a month in prize pools. If you like your tournaments with smaller fields and smaller buy-ins – then you will not find softer games than these at any US site. The secret is that a lot of the field are sports fans who have crossed over into the poker room – and not the experienced ‘pro grinders’ you might find elsewhere.

At the moment the BetOnline weekly flagship event has a guarantee of just $25,000. This does go up to $150k approximately once every month (usually on the last Sunday of the month) as part of a special promotion. BetOnline also recently introduced knockout bounty tournaments each day, these are entertaining (though lower buy-in) alternatives to the regular games.While it does not seem that the recent increase in players at Bet Online has fed through to an improved tournament schedule - there are still some good reasons to play here. The main one is that the fields are very soft, with a lot of players crossing over from the huge sportsbook part of the site.

You can check out the new bounty games, tournament leaderboard promos and date for the next $50k guaranteed over at www.betonline.ag

Free Poker Tournaments

#3 – Winning Poker Network / America’s Cardroom

Since the last update to this page, America's Cardroom have improved their offering for tournament fans further. They regularly host events under the 'Online Super Series' name. There are bigger and smaller events, and some huge guaranteed prize pools. The most recent series ha guaranteed prizes of $4.5 million.

The Venom = ACR Poker's USA 'Sunday Million'

In 2021, ACR are guaranteeing $1,000,001 each week in a single million-and-one tournament. This is huge news for US tournament fans. If you prefer, you can hit the qualifier games and win your seat in one of the games. There continue until spring. In previous years, they did continue through the year, though were more spread out. If you want to see $1 million+ prize pools for US players continue, then do make sure that you support these events.

The video below gives you an intro to the Million Dollar Sundays, you can find the qualifiers and details over at www.americascardroom.eu

Even though this is only the 3rd largest player pool, the focus on tournaments makes the schedule here the busiest - especially when there is an event like the OSS coming up. Some of the bigger tournaments have relatively high entry prices, though there are plenty of satellite qualifiers running to give smaller bankroll players a shot at the big money. These can be entered for just $1.

In addition to this headline event, there is a 'Super Saturday' lineup, which itself has $750,000 in guarantees. There are also live tournament qualifiers. In addition to the qualifiers via regular tournaments, you can win big event entries via the Jackpot Poker (lottery SNGs). This year saw a lot of WSOP Main Event seats awarded in this way.

The regular schedule is growing, though not too packed at the moment. Again the focus is on the lower ($10 and under) end of the buy-ins. If you want to play several tournaments starting at around the same time, then you will need to mix and match those sites. A nice addition to their welcome bonus is up to $50 in 'Tournament Bucks' which are awarded semi-randomly using cards. These are a free extra and can be used to buy into any tournament with the equivalent value.

Find out when the next OSS (Online Super Series) and / or $1 million guaranteed event is on over at www.americascardroom.com

#4 – Merge Network / Carbon Poker

Carbon are now out of the picture. This is a shame as this was an excellent site not too long ago.

#5 - Other Networks

There are some smaller networks, the closest to being in contention is the Equity Poker Network. As of 2021, they are not big enough to make the list of recommendations for poker tournaments though. As I mentioned in the intro the Horizon poker network (Intertops Poker) is making some slow headway. While I am optimistic over time, it does not look like this network will cross the point where there are enough player numbers to run bigger tournaments this year!

US Online Poker Tournaments – By Buy-In Ranges

Most of us are reasonably fixed with the buy-ins we are comfortable playing. If you know what band you are looking for, here are my thoughts on how the different sites match up.

Biggest US Online Poker Tournaments 2021

Here we are talking about the Sunday Majors and special one-off events where you have a chance of winning enough money to really make a difference.

America’s Cardroom has the biggest buy-in, and by a long way with their regular $1,000,000 guaranteed. There are sub-qualifiers for this (the majority of the seats are won this way). This event happens every 3 months or so, and has already rewarded several players with 6-figure prizes. Keep an eye on America's Cardroom for the next running. More recently, there was a run of 5 Million guaranteed tournaments, which are well served by satellite qualifiers (ensuring big fields).

Bovada Poker have a weekly $100,000 guaranteed (and Mad Mondays often feature bigger games too), ACR has $50,000 (boosted around once per month to $100,000) and BetOnline chase the pack with a $25,000 guarantee. Intertops can not really be said to have a Sunday Major just yet - their bigger buy-in tournaments are still more like Multi-table Sit N Goes.

Us Poker Tournament Schedule

Million Dollar Sundays: As discussed above in the ACR section, from now until early March, we have a $1 million gtd tournament every Sunday at ACR. See www.americascardroom.eu for more.

Mid-Range US Poker Tournaments – the $22 to $55 Range

Poker Tournaments Near Me

Players who were used to grinding this range before the big international sites left will really need to have accounts at several offshore sites to make up the volume of games needed. You’ll find 1 or 2 each evening at each site (though if you include $11 rebuys this does go up). The downside is that you will often be facing less than 100 opponents. It feels like the main sites have a plateau at $33, with the bigger games reserved for the weekend and special events.

Bovada is your best bet here by a long way – though I am hopeful the increasing number of players on the WPN network will see some expansion in this buy-in range for BetOnline in the near future. At the weekends you will find some bigger tournaments in this range at ACR too.

Small Buy-in US Online Poker Tournaments – The $11 and Under Range

Once you get to the $11 and under games, you’ll have enough opportunities that you can afford to be a little selective. Since the 150 to 250 player games at the $3 , $5 and $10 level are common, my preference is to go for those sites where your average opponents are likely to be the least experienced.

Betting giant BetOnline fits the bill for me here too. They have been building their sports betting brand for many years, and you are more likely to find an average person that enjoys the occasional poker game here, compared to other sites which have more ‘small stakes pros’. The software is pretty basic, then again, I’ll swap flashy graphics for a better chance of making the final table any day of the week.

Poker Tournaments Online

Best Site for US Poker Tournaments – Mark’s Overall Choice

This is a genuinely tough one, all of the sites have their positive aspects.

If I had to pick one and only one place to play, then it would be America's Cardroom. The reason is that this site really appears to want to move forward with their tournament schedule. There are regular events (the Online Super Series + the $1 million guaranteed games), monthly leader board contests and plenty of action every night at the lower end of the buy-in spectrum... I'm happy that Ignition have now come into the picture to provide ACR with some stiff competition, though as of 2021, ACR are still my strong top recommendation.

Check out www.americascardroom.eu for yourself now!

Here are my reviews of the leading US facing sites in 2021

• SNG Tournaments For US Players (compares the Sit N Goes at the US biggest sites)

Don't forget to bookmark this page now - I'll update on the US scene as soon as any news comes in - especially with one-off tournaments or special promotions.