Online Poker

Twelve years after the darkest day for online poker in America, the US online poker industry is slowly staging a comeback. Dubbed Black Friday, players were in disbelief when they logged into their online poker accounts on April 15, 2011. Instead of a schedule of MTTs and cash games, US players discovered a takedown notice stating that Full Tilt, PokerStars, and the Cereus Network (Ultimate Bet & Absolute Poker) had been taken down.

While the days of competing with tens of millions of poker players worldwide may be gone for good, online poker is enjoying a resurgence in the US, one state and a time. Players in five states have access to legal online poker, while a handful of new states look like good candidates for legalization. As a growing number of states embrace legal sports betting, advocates hope online poker will be next in line.

Poker is a popular card game with numerous variations where players compete against one another to have the best hand (assortment of cards), which is based on specific card values and pairings. Players work to build the best hand possible over the course of several rounds utilizing tactics like bluffing to discourage players from continuing on with the round.  

While the origins of poker are up for debate, there's no question that its popularity increased heavily during the 1970s with the introduction of the World Series of Poker. Now one of the largest casino games — both in-person and online — in the world, poker is a strategical card game that comes with ounces of luck as well, depending on what the dealer rolls out with the community cards. Even if you have nothing of value in your hand, half the fun of poker comes in bluffing versus the other players at your table. That's where having the best poker face can turn a losing hand into a winning one.

Where is Online Poker Legal in the U.S.?

Legal online poker is available to play in six US states (Nevada, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware). To follow the legalization process of online sportsbooks, casinos and poker alike, view our legalization tracker.

As we have alluded to, users have many options when it comes to playing online poker. The most common places to play online poker can be broken into two categories: online casinos and dedicated poker websites.

How To Pick The Best Online Poker Websites

The best online poker websites are ones where you can have an awesome signup bonus and a lot of variety in games offered. Here is how to pick the best online poker websites:

• Sign Up Bonus: The best online poker sites will give new users a deposit match and bonus money to start playing their favorite Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha Games
• Safety & Security: Online poker websites that are legal, safe, and secure are of the highest priority when it comes to picking the best poker sites. 
• Variety of Games Offered: Make sure the online poker site that you sign up for has a lot of different poker offerings to your liking before signing up. 
• Fast Payouts: Having poker sites that will pay out your tournament winnings and have a quick withdrawal process is important.
• Tournament Offerings: Most players that go to these poker sites want to play in tournaments, so find a poker site that has lots of different buy ins & tournament sizes.

Where to Play Online Poker in 2024

PokerStars

• Read our PokerStars Casino Bonus Code and review
• Bonus Offer: Play 1 Hand Of A Cash Game, Get $150 in Bonus Play
• Available States: Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• Live Games Available: Yes 

PokerStars is one of the most known poker operators and is live in Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. They are home to lots of PLO and Hold'em offerings such as Omaha High, Swap Hold'em, and Texas Hold'em. You can find featured tournaments and sit and go's running through out the day as low a $5 buy in and as high as $100+. You can use a PokerStars promo code to get an offer of 100% Bonus Up to $600 or Play 1 Hand of a cash game, Get $150 in Bonus Play. 

Most poker players with access have already competed in one of PokerStars’ renowned tournament series like the weekly Sunday Million or the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). If you can’t devote a good portion of your day to an MTT, PokerStars offers a 3-player hyper-turbo sit-&-go with a randomly selected payout of up to $1 million. If you’re a beginner, the Sunday Billion is a good place to start. The weekly high-stakes play money tournament features a one billion chip prize pool.

BetMGM Online Casino

• Read our BetMGM Casino Bonus Code and review
• Bonus Offer: 
  • MI, NJ, and PA users — use promo code ACTIONCASINO and you’ll receive the following promo: Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $1000 + $25 on the House! 
  • West Virginia users — use promo code ACTIONCASINO to claim this new user promo 100% Deposit Match up to $2500 + $50 on the House + 50 Bonus Spins!

• Available States: Michigan, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
• Live Games Available: Yes 

BetMGM is one of the most well known online casinos in the United States. They have lots of different table game offerings including Texas Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha. You can play sit and go or you can enter their daily C Note tournaments that have a buy in of $100 and begin at 7 pm every night. You can use a BetMGM Casino bonus code to sign up and get a play 1 hand get $50 bonus.

888 Poker

• Read our 888poker Promo Code & Review
• Bonus Offer: $20 Bonus + 100% Matched Deposit up to $1500
• Available States: New Jersey
• Live Games Available: Yes

888 Poker is not a brand that is as known and only operates in New Jersey. You can find lots of great PLO and Texas Hold'em offerings that fit any buy in level. You can sign up with an 888 poker bonus code to get $20 Bonus + 100% Matched Deposit up to $1500!.

While no-limit Texas hold'em is the main attraction at 888poker, Omaha Hi-Lo and Seven Card Stud are popular with versatile players. Exclusive to 888, Snap Poker is a cash game with a fast-fold format. There’s no waiting in between hands. The instant you fold, you’re moved to a new table and dealt a new hand. Another poker variant found only on 888, Blast is a 3-player, super-turbo sit & go. A random draw determines the prize pool which can be anywhere from two times to 10,000 times your buy-in.

You can improve your game by taking advantage of 888poker’s exceptional educational resources.  Attend poker school online at no cost, or learn to play any other game in the casino. Whether you need a refresher course or you’re learning the game from scratch, 888’s in-house poker experts are qualified to train players of nearly any skill level. 

Borgata Online Casino

• Read our Borgata Casino Bonus Code & Review
• Bonus Offer: Enter bonus code ACTIONBCASINO to claim the following promo: Get up to a $1,000 Deposit Match + $20 in Bet Credits!
  
• Available States: Pennsylvania and New Jersey
• Live Games Available: Yes

When Borgata Online Casino debuted in New Jersey in 2013, it was one of the first legal internet gambling sites in the US. Over the years, Borgata has become one of the most trusted brands in the online casino space with a slew of loyal players.  You can play lots of different PLO and Texas Hold'em offerings when you sign up with a Borgata Casino Bonus Code that gets you 100% Deposit Match Up to $1,000 + $20 Bonus on Sign Up.

World Series Of Poker.com

• Read our WSOP Promo Code & Review
• Bonus Offer: Get up to $100 in free play, a chance to win a 2024 WSOP $10,000 Main Event Seat Package, 100% up to $1,000 deposit match, and more. No bonus code required.
  
• Available States: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania
• Live Games Available: Yes

A division of Caesars Entertainment, WSOP.com offers online satellite and bracelet events for the World Series of Poker. In 2013, the biggest name in tournament poker launched the first legal US online poker site in Nevada. Offering a variety of No-limit Hold ’em, Omaha and stud cash games, WSOP.com is America's largest legal online poker room.

New Jersey, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania sites share a multi-state online player pool. It was the first multi-state online poker network. Traffic skyrocketed on WSOP.com in 2018 when it started sharing players with 888Poker in all three states. The number of MTTs and cash games increased as did tournament registration, resulting in larger guarantees.

Party Poker

• Read our PartyPoker Bonus Code & Review
• Bonus Offer: First-time depositors get a 100% welcome bonus up to $600 + $25 on the house
  
• Available States: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania
• Live Games Available: Yes

PartyPoker goes out of its way to level the playing field for first-timers. Heads-up displays (HUDs) are banned, making it tougher for pros to target beginners and exploit their weaknesses. With anonymous cash tables, any notes you take are worthless once you leave the table, and you can’t find the same player and attempt to stack him day after day.  Rules like these don’t sit well with professional players, but PartyPoker provides other incentives like soft games and an abundance of recreational players. 

Stakes begin at $.01/$.02 for hold'em and Omaha cash games. Micro stakes cash games are effective for beginners, players with a limited bankroll or anyone who wants to experiment with new moves while taking on minimal risk. 

Multi State Online Poker Games

Many online poker sites only allow you to play against people who are located in your state. However, interstate compacts under the Multi-State IGaming Agreement allow users in different states to play against each other like in Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada. States like Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia do not allow you to play players in other states, though Pennsylvania might soon allow it. 

The online poker websites that allow interstate compacts are WSOP.com and PokerStars, but it is anticipated that BetMGM will offer it soon. Playing players in multiple states allows for big prize pools and the opportunity to fill games quicker.

How to Play Poker: Poker Basics

A player can win a hand of poker in one of two ways. He can show up with the best poker hand at showdown or successfully bluff his opponent into folding the better hand. Since poker is a game of skill, players can improve their results by reviewing hands and putting in the necessary hours it takes to get better.

Antes

Antes that are used in tournaments differ from small and big blinds because it requires all players (besides the designated small and big blind players) in a match to put in a set amount of chips at the beginning of each round. Typically, antes are much smaller than the actual bets being played in the round, and are kind of like a "warm-up" bet to get things rolling. 

Big & Small Blinds 

In poker, players have to submit chips at the beginning of each round in a rotating fashion. In simpler terms, the two players who are the big and small blinds need to place a certain amount of chips into the winning pot before the round begins. Usually the big & small blinds increase each level for tournaments and for sit & go they stay at the same amount the entire game. $1/$2 cash games are some of the most popular poker games to play, which means the blinds stay at $1 for small and $2 for big the entire game.

Pre-Flop

To start the hand, the dealer delivers two hole cards face down to every player. They examine their hands and the player in the under-the-gun (UTG) position, to the left of the big blind, is the first to act. Playing a tighter range of hands in early position, he raises pre-flop with something like high pocket pairs, AK, AQ suited and some suited broadways (K-Js,  K-Qs, AJs). In an unraised pot, a player can conserve chips by just calling, called limping, and contributing one big blind. The rest of the cards go into the muck, aside from a few bluffs with non-premiums like small-suited aces and small pairs.

Re-raising another player’s bet for value or as a bluff is called 3-betting. Another aggressive move in a poker player’s arsenal, going all-in, means putting all your chips in the pot. It’s an easy way to lose your stack, but it’s also an opportunity to double up fast if your opponent has you covered. In most cases, getting all your opponents to fold and collecting the blinds and antes is the best outcome.

Flop

Once the pre-flop action wraps up, the first three community cards, called the flop, are turned over. They can be used to improve the hand of any player at the table. A player who raises or 3-bets pre-flop frequently makes a continuation bet, or c-bet, on the flop. Sometimes he makes a small value bet, while other times he overbets the pot. Aside from betting, players may check, call, 3-bet or go all-in on the flop.

Turn

After the flop, the next community card, called the turn, is revealed. When it improves a player’s hand, he may bet, 3-bet or go all-in. When it doesn’t he has the option to check, fold or bluff. A check-raise on the turn represents strength so fold vs. one unless you have a strong read or a premium hand.

River

The fifth community card called the river, is exposed in the final betting round. It’s the last chance for a player to build the pot when he’s confident he has the best hand. It’s also his final chance to bluff when his hand’s too weak to win at showdown.

Showdown

Players make their best five-card poker hands using any combination of the five community cards and the two they were dealt. The last player to place a bet is the first to turn his cards over. The rest of the table follows and the player with the highest-ranking poker hand wins the pot.

Bluffing

A professional poker player can’t survive by only winning pots when he has the best hand. He must balance the number of value bets he makes with the number of bluffs. Online, timing tells are the most reliable indicator of your opponent’s strength or weakness. For instance, acting too quickly is usually a sign of weakness, especially if your opponent is a recreational player. Avoid bluffing in group pots and do it sparingly in the microstakes because your opponents are unlikely to fold.

Limping

Players typically limp with medium-strength hands or worse, hoping to see a cheap flop. Advanced players have a balanced limping range. But in the micros, don’t be surprised to see a player limp with pocket aces from UTG to disguise the strength of his holding. He’s counting on a loose aggressive player to isolate him by putting in a hefty raise. Inevitably, an aggro player raises to punish the limper and the UTG player snap re-raises all-in. The loose aggressive player typically folds whatever weak holding he was raising with, and the player with aces loses out on maximum value.

Game Types

Here are some game types you would find playing online poker:

Cash Game

Sometimes called a ring game, a cash game player can join the table and leave whenever he wishes. Tables are split into 6-max and full-ring which is typically 9 - 10-max. Cash games also usually feature a minimum and max amount of money you can bring to the table to start. The blinds on the game also remain the same throughout the cash game.

Multi-table-tournament (MTT)

Multi-Table-Tournament (MTT) is when players on multiple tables compete to make it into the money. Once the bubble bursts, you may see players take on some risk to chip up in anticipation of the final table and heads-up play. Usually MTT feature anywhere from 20-1000s of players that try to make it in to the money spots. This is a kind of game that you would find if you play in the World Series Of Poker.

Sit & Go (SNG)

Sit & gos are single table tournaments that start when a set number of players sign up. While MTTs can last all day, sit & gos generally wrap up in less than an hour. Some poker sites offer buy-ins for less than $1. These are a great way for a beginner to learn how to play before playing in any multi-table-tournaments. 

Poker Variants

It is likely that you have heard people talk about a specific type of poker before. Poker has evolved to exist in three distinct categories of gameplay:

 Community Card Poker

Community cards are shared by all players to improve the strength of their hands. Players make the best possible poker hand using a combination of their two cards, known as ‘hole’ cards, and the community cards. 

 Draw Poker

A player has the option to discard cards from his hand and draw new ones. Hand rankings are the same as in no-limit hold 'em. 

 Stud Poker

Players are dealt a mix of face-up and face-down cards in Stud Poker. Rather than beginning with the player seated UTG, the one with the lowest value face-up card goes first. 

Popular Poker Games

In addition to the categories listed above, there are also a variety of distinct poker games that fall within each of these categories. The ultimate object of the game remains to have the best hand compared to other players, but the play style for each specific game can vary significantly.

Texas Hold’em 

The objective of Texas Hold ‘em is to make the highest-ranking hand at showdown. A player can also win with the worst hand if he bets an amount that gets his opponents to fold before showdown. The most popular variants are limit and no-limit hold 'em. no-limit hold ‘em is the most frequently used format during televised poker events like the World Series of Poker Main Event. 

Omaha High 

Omaha players receive four cards instead of two and must make their best hand using two of their hole cards and three community cards. It’s more common to draw monsters like a royal flush or four of a kind at Omaha than it is at Texas hold ‘em. However, premium pairs, like pocket aces, are rarely good at showdown.

Omaha Hi-Lo

Players must form two hands with their four cards and combine it with the community cards to get the highest and lowest hands in order to win. The pot is split evenly between the players with the high and low hands. When there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand takes the entire pot.

5-Card Draw

Each player is dealt five cards and must create the highest hand possible. All other players' hands remain hidden throughout the round, requiring players to guess at how their hand will compare at the end. There is only a single round of drawing in this game, meaning that this is a fast-paced option for players.

These are just a few of the many different poker games that players are likely to encounter when playing poker.

7-Card Stud

Still a hit at home games and mixed game tournaments, 7-Card Stud was once the most popular poker game around. 7-Card Stud is not played with community cards. Instead, each player is dealt seven hole cards beginning with two face down and one face up on the first street.

How To Sign Up For Online Poker Sites

After reading more about online poker we encourage you to sign up for any of the poker sites we have discussed. Here is how to sign up for your favorite online poker site:

• Click any of the online poker links on this page to get started
• Sign up for a new poker account and enter a promo code or bonus code if necessary
• Enter your personal information and verify your identity 
• Validate your living in a legal online poker state
• Make your first deposit and get your bonus to start playing!

Getting Started Playing Online Poker

Once you have signed up for the online poker site of your choosing its time to start playing. The process for getting started is simple:

• Begin by choosing your game type in the lobby of your online poker site. 
• Next choose if you want to play sit & go, cash game, or tournament style
• Select your buy in and play online poker!

Online Real Money Poker

Online poker has become increasingly popular over the past several years with the rise of video poker sites and online casinos. Many poker sites and online casinos offer players bonus play and real money options. Bonus play poker means that users are simply playing for fun without wagering any actual money. The chips used are purely symbolic to keep the flow of the game intact. Real money poker, as the name indicates, is competitive play against other players wagering actual money. It is important to know the distinction to avoid accidentally losing money. 

Confidence is key to being a successful poker player. Take advantage of the following poker guides to help boost your play:

• Poker Glossary
• Online Poker Strategy
• Poker Analytics 

Online poker is currently legal in Nevada, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware. For more legal information regarding your state, take a look at our online casino legalization tracker.