In most of the United States, it will prove to be a bit tough to start playing online poker for real money. It’s definitely not impossible, though. Already, three states have legalized online poker, as long as it is closely monitored. New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware all allow their residents to utilize poker sites for real money, and it is probably only a matter of time before more states end up following suit. If you don’t live in one of these states, though, you are not completely out of options.
Because of same vague language in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, many poker sites continue to choose to operate and allow U.S. based customers to play on their sites for real money. Technically, the law only prevents financial transactions with internet gambling sites–including poker sites–and one of the ways that has been found to circumvent this is to do all monetary transactions through a third party. So when you use a credit card to deposit funds, you are not directly doing business with the site, but rather a third party that then sends the money to your site of choice. When you withdraw your winnings, that money comes from a third party, too. It’s a roundabout way of doing things, but for many players it is currently the only way to keep playing online.
There are many sites that allow players from the States to use their sites. Some of these include: 888 Casino (www.888.com), Bovada (www.bovada.lv), and there are many others within legalized districts that do business with certain customers, too, such as Party Poker (www.partypoker.com), and WSOP (www.wsop.com). Your best course of action is to do some research and find which sites are best for your area, and then proceed from there. Once you’ve accomplished this, then you can start looking at other factors such as the sizes of the welcome bonuses, the games offered, and the amount of players at the site at any one time. All of these things are important parts of making money playing online, but if you run into a site that presents a problem for U.S. residents, you stand the chance of losing your money altogether. This is definitely something to avoid. And while this is only a slight possibility, you want to do all you can to avoid scams. They are rare, but they do exist. Proper research will completely eliminate this from happening.
Poker legislation will change across the country. It already is changing. Five years ago, no states allowed sponsored sites to do business with them. Now three do, and those three states are already reaping in the tax benefits. New Jersey estimated that they would see about $180 million in extra tax revenue because of allowing online gambling in their borders. Whether or not they actually see this much is debatable, but they will definitely see a boost. This is a good thing, and when other states see how profitable it can be–especially the states with bigger populations and higher incomes–more states will jump on board with full legalization. It’s an exciting time, but it can be frustrating, too. Your best choice is to stay tuned to the news and make sure that when you do play online, you are doing so with a safe and reputable site.
