The United States is somewhat different to other countries when it comes to not only online gambling but also gambling in general. Thanks to a change in the regulations, it is now the sole responsibility of each individual state to pass legislation making online gambling legal. This involves different laws regarding regular gambling and online gambling plus the various forms of online gambling.
For example, the regulations surrounding online sports betting in an individual state can differ from the regulations for online casino games and online poker within the same state. At the time of writing, there are only four states that allow legal online poker.
New Jersey is the most active state in terms of online gambling. Players based in the Garden State can choose from a good selection of legal online casinos and sportsbooks. In addition, those living in New Jersey have the opportunity to participate in legal online poker games. You must go back to 2013 to find the time when online poker was introduced in New Jersey. Some of the poker websites available in New Jersey include WSOP New Jersey, 888 Poker NJ, Borgata Poker, BetMGM Poker, Partypoker NJ, Pala Poker and PokerStars NJ.
Moving on, we come to the legendary gambling state of Nevada. Las Vegas is widely known as the gambling capital of the world but that does not prevent people from choosing to play poker online. WSOP Nevada launched in September 2013 but remains the only legal online poker site in Nevada. It is possible to participate in online bracelet events for the World Series of Poker plus the player pool shares liquidity with the WSOP/888 New Jersey and Delaware networks.
In terms of online poker in Delaware, residents will find one legal online poker platform and it is operated by 888 Poker. Unfortunately, players cannot play World Series of Poker online bracelet events at the time of this writing but the Delaware network does link to the WSOP Nevada and WSOP/888 New Jersey player pools.
The fourth and final state to legalize online poker is Pennsylvania. PokerStars PA launched in November 2019 and is the only poker website in the country to accept players from Pennsylvania. As things stand, the PokerStars PA platform does not link to any other PokerStars network and players are not in a player pool with PokerStars NJ players.
Therefore, online poker is not particularly widespread across the United States and this leaves millions of poker players without the opportunity to participate in legal online poker tournaments. A good example can be seen on the gambleindiana.com website. Here you will find comprehensive details of leading poker rooms available in Indiana but they are all land-based casinos. Interestingly, online sports betting is legal in the Hoosier State yet online casino gaming still remains prohibited. So, it is illegal to play online poker games in Indiana but there are other options for those who want their poker fix.
The Belterra Casino Resort is a good example and this is the venue used by the Highland Poker Tour. The event attracts big name players from the world of professional poker and local players have the opportunity to test their skills against the visiting pros. Greg Raymer and Adam Friedman have participated in this event in the past. The Horseshoe Casino plays host to several Indiana poker tournaments throughout the year, with prize pools as much as $100,000 for some of the bigger events.
There has been much discussion recently about online poker becoming legal in Indiana but nothing concrete has come from the talks. However, there is hope legal online poker is just round the corner.
