Poker Sites in the United States

• Most Honest Poker App Games
• Most Honest Poker App Free

Online poker sites and casinos have had their fair share of scandals. That’s why it’s always smart to make sure your money is going to a respectable and fair site. Luckily, a lot of these scandals helped bring on better regulation and online poker is as safe as it’s ever been.

Online poker operated in a grey zone when it became popular in the early 2000s. Things got even greyer after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed in 2006. Some sites like Party Poker pulled out of the United States while others like PokerStars and Full Tilt kept operating in the United States. Then came Black Friday. On April 15, 2011, the Department of Justice seized the PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker websites. After that, sites were forced to pay out players but Full Tilt and Absolute Poker had squandered player funds and turned out to be insolvent.

The most common methods involve Live Chat, email, and telephone calls. The poker rooms that have the customer service in multiple languages and are open 24/7 command great respect and accolades, and the ones available in only English and with unpopular working hours are frequently deemed not-recommended. Top 5 Android Poker Sites (updated 2020) - Find the best apps & games for playing poker on Android. Exclusive FREE bonuses for the top Android poker apps. Join one of the world's most popular free poker games with more tables, more tournaments, more jackpots, and more players to challenge than ever before! Whether you prefer casual Texas Holdem Poker or competitive tournaments, Zynga Poker is your home for authentic gameplay. ZYNGA POKER FEATURES HIGHER STAKES, BIGGER PAYOUTS – Higher buy-ins mean you can win even more virtual chips for. Appeak poker is one of the most popular free poker apps due to its simple interface that makes playing a hassle-free and enjoyable experience. This poker app offers you the chance to play poker straight away as well as Sit & Go’s, Bingo Bango, Double-Ups, and MTTs. As you would imagine, the play now feature is the most prominent.

It’s been almost a decade since then though. In that time poker legislation in the United States has started to catch up with other countries around the world. In 2012, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled that poker was a game of skill, not chance, and that opened the doors for states to legalize online poker.

Sites popping up now have to abide by a strict set of rules and regulations and are regulated by third-parties. Legitimate gaming sites also have random number generator software that are consistently tested, inspected and certified.

Encryption technology has also advanced substantially in the past few years. Poker sites use this technology to ensure that all your banking and personal information is secured in a digital fortress.

Is online poker legal in the United States?

Online poker is currently regulated on a state-by-state basis in the United States. The 2012 federal court ruling opened the door for legal online poker and, not surprisingly, Nevada was the first state to walk through it.

In 2013, Ultimate Poker became the first site to deal a hand of legal online poker in Nevada. Delaware joined the poker party later that year and then New Jersey became the third –and most populous– state to offer online poker a month later. Since then, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have legalized online poker, but only Pennsylvania has started offering games so far.

PokerStars launched in Pennsylvania in late 2019 while online poker in West Virginia is expected to go live sometime in 2020.

What if I’m not in one of those states?

The good news is that there are plenty of sites looking to legalize online poker too. New York, California, Iowa and others are taking steps towards legalization. But if you’re in those states or any others across the United States, you can still fire up a game of poker.

We’ve also taken the time to review some of the best online poker sites that offer games to players across the United States. Check out our top picks below:

Best Online Poker Sites 2020

Most Honest Poker App Games

Why Ignition Poker?

You might’ve noticed that Ignition Poker tops our list of best sites for U.S. players. If you’re curious about how it earned that spot, we’re here to help. Ignition poker launched in the spring of 2016 and just a few months later, the site bought Bovada Poker’s player pool, making it the second-largest online gaming site that accepted U.S. players. One of the key elements of any poker site is the size of its player pool. This affects everything from the types of games offered, the stakes, wait times and tournament prize pools.

Ignition Poker is also a sleek-looking site with an intuitive interface that doesn’t get in the way. It easily lets you do what you’re there to do: play poker. The site is also linked to an online casino, so you get lots of recreational players in cash games and tournaments. The platform is also Bovada’s proprietary software, so it’s a true tried and tested technology fueling the fire behind Ignition Poker.

There are plenty of other neat features that also sets Ignition Poker apart from the competition.

Ignition Poker highlights

• Quick Seat: Choose a poker game like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or Omaha Hi/Lo along with the stakes and Quick Seat automatically seats you at a table.
• Anonymous Tables: There are no Heads-Up Displays (HUDs) allowed, so other players can track your hand history. You have to get reads on your opponents the old-fashioned way.
• Zone Poker: A fast-fold feature where you’re assigned to a new table once you fold a hand. This speeds up your hands per hour significantly and could improve your profitability.
• In-Software Casino Games: If you prefer to sit through hands, you can play In-Software Casino Games like blackjack, roulette, video poker, or 3D slots.
• Mobile Poker: Play poker anytime, anywhere with the mobile poker apps for Android and iOS. Jackpot Sit-and-Go games cater to mobile poker players with winnings of up to 1000x while you’re on the go.
• Softer Opponents: Ignition Poker has a huge community of recreational players. If you study up on your game, then softer opponents means more pots and money for you.

What to look for in a poker site

If you come across another site that isn’t on our list, we’ve come up with a few things you should look for when you want to see if a poker site is legitimate and safe. Check to see if the site checks off all the things below. That’s a good indicator the site is good to play at. If a site doesn’t offer one or more of these things, you should pump on the brakes and find a site that does.

• Player Traffic: Player traffic isn’t just a good for game selection, it’s a good indicator that a site has been around long enough and been secure enough to gather a large player pool.
• Good Software: Top software means a site has dedicated time and resources to provide top-notch software. Less reputable sites don’t tend to invest as much in this. Quality software also means fewer glitches or issues that could end up costing you money.
• Experience: Do some research and see how long the poker site, or its parent company has been in business. If the site has been around for a while and has licenses or is regulated in a jurisdiction, it’s a good sign it’s reputable.
• Banking Options: It often comes down to sensible payment options, including credit cards, web wallets, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
• Security and openness: These things may seem incompatible, but good sites offer both. A quality gaming site locks the doors when it needs too, and lets people in where transparency is needed. Ideally, a site will offer encryption that protects your personal and banking information. At the same time, you want a site that lets independent third-parties audit its software to make sure the games are fair.

Are Sites Rigged? Is my Money Safe?

While there are many claims online that certain sites are rigged, there has been no math to back it up. Most sites use elaborate random number generators and algorithms that help increase entropy to ensure that every hand is truly random. Sites let independent third-party companies check out this software to test their fairness. On top of that, if a site is regulated in any jurisdiction, they have to meet stringent standards that include independent audits. This ensures that games are safe and not rigged.

If you don’t trust these commissions, then you can always trust the poker community to root out any rigged games. For instance, poker players on TwoPlusTwo conducted a thorough investigation and uncovered a cheating scandal on Ultimate Bet after players started posting about suspicious players.

Sites also have a myriad of security and banking options to help guarantee that your money is safe at all times. In addition, third-party payment processors can also handle your banking information on several sites so you never have to directly input your information on the sites. On top of that, encryption technology is getting better every day and sites are using it to lock your information behind several layers of high-tech security.

Can I Play for Free?

Most Honest Poker App Free

Yes! Most of the sites we’ve mentioned offer play money options, that means you can start playing for free. This is a great way for you to try out sites, in addition to getting a feel for the software or just brush up on your poker skills before you take a dive into real money poker.

Lots of these sites also offer freerolls that can ignite your real money poker adventure for free. However, if you want to learn a bit more while you’re not on the table, there’s been plenty of free poker content sprouting up too. You can watch hours of streamed poker games on Twitch and YouTube. Some players are really helpful in explaining and breaking down their play for new players. Online forums like TwoPlusTwo also offer a giant well of information that’ll help any poker player kickstart their career. In addition, you can also post your hands and other players will comment with hints, tips and sometimes a few needles.

To keep up on the latest advice and trends in poker, then keep reading USPokerSites. We’re constantly assessing the landscape and giving readers the best, up-to-date information available.

Below are the fairest and most reputable poker sites of 2018. Click a room to start playing !

Must be at least 18 to open a new account

The History of Corrupt Casinos

Believe it or not, there are over 90,000 websites where you can go and enjoy a game or two of poker. Well, “enjoy” may be an overstatement actually, because 95% of those sites just mentioned are designed for the owner to commit some type of fraud. Maybe the casino is rigged with ridiculous odds, or maybe there’s not a poker room to wager in at all; but in most of these cases you’ll simply have your money taken from you. Of the remaining 4,500 websites on the internet, the vast majority of them offer “free” tables where actual money is not wagered. That leaves about 100 legitimate websites that offers fair poker games without any type of hidden odds or hassles

Of course, you do not have to be a historian to know that poker houses have always sought ways to cheat their customers. You can look back a mere 100 years to find reputable brick and mortar casinos that would take a suspected cheater out into a back alley and beat him half to death; and most of the time that person was simply on a lucky streak. Sure, there was a fair share of patrons who found ways to hustle the casinos and make off with a small fortune, but that number would nowhere compare to the sheer amount of gambling establishments that have cheated their clientele. Hundreds of thousands of casinos have been shut down by various governments for rigging their games at opportune moments and the internet is clearly no exception.

In fact, just last year two illegal casinos were shut down in Moscow, a territory where gambling has been banned for about a year now. An investigation revealed that they were only allowed to exist in the first place because of a few corrupted police officers which were taking a large chunk of the profits. The British citizen who started these casinos (who has yet to be identified) was forced into nightly payouts to the police regardless of how much was won or lost, so you could only imagine how fair the gaming actually was inside.

Unfair Poker Rooms on the Net

This is not an isolated case either; thousands of similar casinos are shut down around the globe annually, with over 70% of them appearing in cyberspace. The problem with online gambling establishments is that a new poker room can be launched within hours of a corrupt one closing, and it may take months of research to discover that the new website is owned by the same criminal. In fact, since the corrupt poker room already has a large client list with email addresses and other personal information, they often do not lose even a single day’s worth of profits.

Ways that Poker Rooms Cheat

– The Virtual Casino
The most common internet scam when it comes to poker is a completely fictitious website; there is no “real money” casino there at all. The gaming room would be populated by thousands of “bots,” which are computer identities that are made to appear as if they were real people. Since there are only a handful of actual players there, the software intentionally allows them to consistently win hands…up until the point where they make their first deposit. From that point forward, the software would slowly drain the player’s bank account by giving him a series of “unbeatable hands” that end up being beaten.

– The Double Blinds

Other corrupt poker rooms allow the player to bet against other players inside a game that is legitimate, except that a portion of the pot mysteriously disappears at some point during each hand. It is common for online establishments to take a nominal ante each round to cover their expenses, but there casinos end up grabbing much more than their fair share.

-The Payout Con

This type of website would appear fully legitimate to the naked eye. There will be many players there enjoying the game, and everything goes well until it is time to cash out. Even though there is money in the account, these poker rooms will deny the withdrawal because the player has not met a certain quota on hands played or the amount bet. Be aware that legitimate websites never use these types of tactics; this is likely a scam.

– The Security Breach

Some casinos are 100% legitimate, but their security protocols make them an easy mark for cyber-crimes. Hackers will employ methods to bypass the site’s security in order to see the hidden hole cards at the table; increasing their odds of winning exponentially. In other cases, cyber-criminals will use security exploits to steal personal information like credit card numbers or other consumer information. While the criminal in these cases have nothing to do with the casino, it is the poker room’s fault for not taking security seriously.

What to Look for in a Legitimate Poker Website

As you can see by the above examples, there are a few important traits that every fair poker website should have-

– An affiliation with a certified gaming authority
– Set rakes for each hand
– Top gaming software on a secure server
– Excellent security that continuously looks for hackers
– An automatic hand review archive
– A fully secure deposit procedure
– A knowledgeable customer service team
– Plenty of contact information
– An easy withdrawal procedure

Of all these traits, the certification by a registered gaming authority is by far the most important aspect. This one simple fact means that the website is checked regularly to determine overall payouts, customer satisfaction, security protocols, and dozens of other services to ensure that the player will have a Vegas-like experience. It is also the hardest aspect for a website owner to fake, and as long as players verify that the casino is indeed a member then they should not experience any problems. The key is to pick up the telephone and physically call the casino and the gaming authority before ever depositing a penny…and be sure to ask plenty of questions as well. If they can not answer some or any of them; call the local authorities in the casino’s area and find a different online poker room to play at.

Some of the Most Reputable Fair Poker Websites

The following list is made up of websites that have been independently validated for having excellent pot rakes, solid customer service, and completely secure servers. This does not mean that they are the only safe websites to enjoy playing real money poker at, but they are all player favorites that have an excellent overall reputation within the industry.

Ultimate Bet Poker

Ultimate Bet has captured the attention of poker players worldwide with their exciting promotions and fast-paced play. UB has more freeroll tournaments and loyalty programs that most of the other casinos combined, and that is why players of all skill levels call this website home. Their state-of-the-art security ensures that every hand will be closely watched to ensure fairness, which allows each player to concentrate on having fun and strengthening their overall game.

Absolute Poker

Absolute Poker prides itself on never having a major security breach within their system, something that even the best of websites out there can’t honestly say. With an average of over 2,500 tables being utilized at any given minute throughout the day, this website has plenty of competition for rookie players and veterans alike. The customer service at Absolute Poker is what really makes them stand out though; because if any questions or problems ever arise, problems are handled in a professional yet courteous manner.

Sportsbook Poker

Sportsbook has been around since the early 1990’s and their spotless reputation literally speaks for itself. Protecting the rights of each player has always been one of their top concerns, which is why their software is constantly updated to ensure fair play and a secure gaming environment. Sportsbook is also independently verified by multiple agencies to ensure that high quality gaming is available 24/7, so you’ll never have to worry about fairness on this website.

Players Only Poker

Players Only Poker has some of the most unique bonuses and promotions in the business, including some truly massive tournaments that change people’s lives every week. Like the others on this list, their security is as tight as any banking institutions and they pride themselves on educating players to help them elevate their overall game. Players Only Poker is a great website for those looking for a safe, friendly poker room.

Bet 365 Poker

Bet 365 is another casino that has been setting standards on the internet since the beginning of online gaming. Their poker room has excellent graphics and a very simplistic interface that puts the player in control of how much statistical information they receive on every hand. Of course, with millions of previous winners it is safe to say that they are also trend-setters when it comes to customer service, excellent security, and loyalty rewards as well.

Related Entries

Related posts: