American Poker Online

american poker online

Poker is as American as apple pie. Just turn on the television and you’ll see ESPN broadcasting the annual World Series of Poker, GSN broadcasting High Stakes Poker, NBC with Poker After Dark, among others. Poker is truly an American pastime and millions of Americans enjoy poker. Naturally, online poker in America would become very popular since the US is both the birthplace of the Internet as well as poker. Americans comprise the largest segment of the worldwide online poker player population.

So why can’t Americans play online poker without all the harassment?!

Online poker took a major blow on April 15, 2011, also known as “Black Friday” in the industry. The Department of Justice and FBI seized the domain names of the four largest online poker rooms open to US players, and 11 people were indicted for federal crimes including money laundering and bank fraud.

No player has ever gotten arrested for playing online poker, but thousands of Americans are still waiting for their bankrolls to be reimbursed from the poker rooms that got shut down and funds confiscated (Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UB Poker to name the big three). We may be waiting for a long time.

While many experts believe that online poker IS STILL LEGAL in the United States, we won’t really know the whole story until the indictments go to court. Many feel the domain name seizure was the illegal act!

Online poker continues to operate for US citizens, but continue at your own risk! Below are currently the top American online poker sites, all dealing real money poker hands to US players!

Click To Join! Poker Room Bonus Code Bonus Description
Bovada Automatic 100% up to $1,000 on your first deposit
Cake Poker FTRRB 110% Initial Deposit Up to $600 + 33% Rakeback
Americas Cardroom FTR1000 100% Initial Deposit Up to $1,000
Intertops Poker FTR600 110% up to $600 Bonus + 33% Rakeback!
Broadway Tables FTRLTP 110% Initial Deposit Up to $600 + 33% Rakeback For Life!
Bet Online Automatic 200 Promo Bucks for every $50 Deposit (up to 4,000 PB)
Club WPT Automatic $100,000 in promos each month

Bovada Poker

Bovada Poker is our #1 recommended online poker room that accepts American poker players.

Bovada.lv has several valuable promotions for the new depositing player. The first of which is the 100% new player bonus for up to $1,000.

The welcome bonus is rewarded in increments derived from the total amount of poker points earned, and poker points are achieved by playing real money ring tables and tourneys. For every 5 poker points achieved, you earn a $1 bonus. And you have 60 days to achieve as much of the bonus as you can. It is totally possible to earn $1,000 in free cash. First, you must deposit $1,000 and that deposit amount will get matched as the maximum bonus you can achieve.

Poker points are achieved at both the ring game poker tables and tournaments. 3 poker points are earned for each $1 in tourney fees paid. So a $50 + $5 SnG would earn you 15 poker points.

Join Bovada Poker!


Broadway Tables

Broadway Tables is a smaller site on the Cake Poker network, so Broadway shares its player base with Cake Poker and other skins on the Cake Poker Network.

Broadway Tables only has a fraction of the traffic that PokerStars, but it has enough action if you are primarily interested in playing no limit Texas Holdem or Sit n Go’s.

What Broadway Tables does deliver is value. Broadway Tables offers a deposit bonus of up to $600, but also pays out an automatic 33% in rakeback every week. What this means is that one third of the house rake that’s taken is refunded to the player, and this is automatically done and paid out to your player account every Wednesday. So you get to play poker for less, which can help turn the break-even player into a profitable player.

Broadway Tables offers one of the best player values because of the rake rebate feature, so that’s why this poker site may be an interesting alternative to the big two.

Join Broadway Tables!

American Poker Online Today

The legality of online poker in America was ambiguous. But on September 29, 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed. This law made it illegal for online gambling establishments to accept transfers from a US bank. During this time, PartyPoker was by far the #1 poker website. However, on October 2, 2006, PartyPoker announced that it would no longer accept US players.

This caused major concerns throughout the poker industry. What would happen to online poker in the US? Would everyone have to travel to a brick and mortar casino just to play a game of Texas Holdem? Many other well-known poker sites also announced that they would leave the US market. PacificPoker, and all the Playtech brands would no longer be available to customers in the United States.

However, not all online poker rooms closed its doors to the US. Two notable sites were PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Soon after the UIGEA was passed, PokerStars released a statement to their customers. In it, PokerStars.com said that they didn’t believe that the law affected them, and that they are committed to their customers. below is a snippet from that statement:

“PokerStars believes that poker is a game of skill enjoyed by millions of players and we remain committed to providing you a safe and fun environment in which to play.”

There has been a long argument in the poker community about whether poker is game of skill or a gambling game. PartyPoker.com apparently decided it was a gambling game and so closed their doors to the American market. PokerStars.com took the stance that it is a skill game, and that the law does not apply to them.

With the exit of the largest online poker room, the field was now wide open. Poker was still in high demand, and players decided to simply move to PokerStars.

After April 15, 2011, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were forced to leave the US market. Even so, PokerStars.com is still the top online poker room in the world. At any given time, about a quarter million (250,000) people can be found playing poker on their site. This is far more than even PartyPoker.com enjoyed when they were at their peak.

Check out this list of US poker sites and stay informed on where you can get a poker download and play online.

Here are some of our other general recommendations:

Visit these top lists of legal US poker sites where you can still play American poker online. Here are the best online poker sites USA available!

Or check out the top Texas Holdem sites.

If you like Vegas-style casino action, check out these casinos for USA players.

Get the official PokerStars download at http://www.starsdownload.org here and get up to $600 free!

We like FlopTurnRiver.com for their poker forum, discussions, and strategies. If you’re a poker player, you must check them out!


Keep up with the latest news surrounding the legal landscape of the online poker industry in America: