The Best Poker Sites for 2023

Contradictory to what some people believe, there is no law that prohibits someone from playing online poker on a federal level in The United States of America.  There is however a law in Washington state that prohibits someone from online gambling and is a felony. Even with that law in place, there has never been a person that has been prosecuted for playing online poker in The United States. 

There are currently four states that offer fully licensed and regulated online poker and those states are Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.  While it is nice to have licensed and regulated online poker, there is sort of a downside.  The rooms operating in those states are only allowed to serve players in that state.  So a player in Nevada could not play against a player in Delaware.  The problem with this is that there can be limited traffic in the game you are looking to play.  Another thing to note is that due to the lower traffic, tournament guarantees do not get as big so if you are looking to take a shot at a big tournament score your choices may be limited on a regulated site.

The first thing a new player may ask when looking to get into online poker is whether it’s safe or not.  This concern is not unwarranted as there have been a fair share of cases in the past of online poker sites being up to no good.  Most notably Full Tilt Poker was found to be operating as a Ponzi Scheme, misappropriating more than 300 million USD of player funds. 

The best way to make sure you are safe when it comes to playing online poker is to play on a licensed and regulated site where online poker is licensed and regulated.  Unfortunately if you live in The United States, only 4 states currently offer licensed and regulated online poker.  For the people that live in the other 46 states, they are left to play on an unregulated, offshore sites that operate in a somewhat grey area.  While it is impossible to say with certainty that nothing will happen to one of these off shore sites, if you stick with one of the more reputable sites like the ones mentioned here, you should be fairly safe. 

When playing on an unregulated site you should consider keeping only a small amount of your roll online, perhaps enough buy ins for a few sessions.  If you need more you can quickly deposit via a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.  By doing this you limit your exposure in the event that anything does happen.

Even though most states do not have licensed and regulated online poker, there are still many sites that serve US players.  Check out our guide to the best US poker sites.  All the sites we feature have passed our approval process, offer quick payouts, and sites we play on ourselves.  We recommend the following US poker sites, America’s Card Room, Ignition Casino, Black Chip Poker, Bovada Poker, and Intertops Poker.

Technically all poker sites are legal on a federal level as there are no federal laws that prohibit online poker.  The state of Washington has a law that prohibits online gambling but no one has ever been prosecuted in the United States for playing online poker.  There are numerous sites that offer games to US players including America’s Cardroom, Ignition Casino, Black Chip Poker, Bovada Poker, and Intertops Poker.

No matter what site you’re playing on you want to be playing on a site that you feel safe and secure.  All the sites featured on our website have passed our extensive review process and offer fair games with quick payouts. 

When it comes to choosing what poker site is best, a lot of that will come down to personal preference and game selection.  If you are looking for anonymous tables than Ignition or Bovada would be best for you.  If you are looking for a full tournament schedule, with big guarantees, you would be best with America’s Card Room or Black Chip Poker.  Intertops is a great choice for cash game players looking for a good game.