The state passed this law in 2006 to protect its card clubs and tribal casinos.

Washington state is the only state where simply playing online poker is a felony. To date, these three states are the only ones to regulate and deal real money online poker games. Three different states went live in 2013 with Nevada becoming the first on April 30th followed by New Jersey later in the year.ĭelaware merged player pools with Nevada two years later. Some 15 years after the first hands were dealt at Planet Poker, a state finally voted to regulate online poker. Georgia has a similar setup through its state lottery. This includes online slots, keno games and lottery sales. Michigan already has some forms of legal online gambling. That is because Sands’ CEO is Sheldon Adelson, a vocal opponent of online gambling, bankrolls anti-online gambling lobbying efforts. Pennsylvania appears to have opposition from a small number of the state’s casinos. This is due to PokerStars being perceived as a “bad actor” because it accepted American poker players until Black Friday, which was April 15, 2011. In California, many tribes want to exclude PokerStars from the industry. This is often due to a disagreement among stakeholders.

No states have managed to get an online poker bill through its legislature since. Nevada offers mobile sports betting in addition to online poker.Īll three states launched online poker in 2013. Delaware and New Jersey also spread legal online casino games. Online poker is only legal and regulated in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

Legal online poker in united states