New York Online Gaming Bill Now Only Includes Poker Poker News
The Green Mountain State has a very limited land-based gambling industry, but Vermont doesn’t have a specific law that deals with online card games, but it does mention poker on one occasion. The Volunteer State has no live casino industry to speak of, but what does that mean for online poker? The state legal code specifically mentions internet gambling which is good news for us as it makes understanding the legality of online poker in Montana so much easier. This means that there are now very few online poker options available for local players in Kentucky.
Certain conditions were required, including the fact the state constitution required all websites to be physically located in Atlantic City. Many, however, have effectively received ‘wrist slaps’ and have agreed to charges focusing on the Illegal Gambling Business Act, UIEGA, and bank fraud. Payments were an issue, but these companies miscoded the required 7995 credit card code and claimed poker deposits were jewelry and golf ball purchases. For example, key founders Ruth and Russ Parasol never considered any admission of guilt and certainly not to wire charges which was the foundation of their legal opinion since day one. It is widely believed that Mr. Dikshit caved in to intense pressure, and was highly criticised by industry veterans.
In April 2025, Pennsylvania officially joined the MSIGA, with BetMGM and Borgata becoming the first operators to share liquidity. Poker sites first launched statewide in 2019, licensed under the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Attempts have been made to let voters decide on expanded gambling, but the 2021 proposal was rejected. Lawmakers may revisit broader iGaming once the sports-betting framework stabilizes, but there is no formal proposal at present.
An Industry Divided
Below you will get a better understanding of online poker in the United States and garner a better understanding of each state’s current stance on the issue, and in some cases, their chances of offering online poker. Currently, WSOP.com, PokerStars, and BetMGM all operate shared player pools. “The only way to shut it down is to have a regulated legal marketplace.” Sen. Cristina Castro, who introduced online casino bills in prior legislative sessions, believes this can fix budget shortfalls in a way that residents will approve of.
Fortunately, Pennsylvania lawmakers eventually came to an agreement in November 2017, and has now become one of the top states for online poker. Four years went by without any state passing an online poker bill after Delaware did so in October 2013. Delaware brings in the lowest revenue from poker among all states with legal poker sites in operation. The Mid-Atlantic state officially signed a pro-online poker bill into legislation October 31, 2013, eight months after Nevada and New Jersey. Delaware is a bit of an afterthought when it comes to online gambling.
Interstate online poker sharing is what makes it possible for regulated poker sites to combine players from multiple states into one shared network. The new law provides the option for Bally’s to develop, license, and offer online casino games, sports betting, and online poker. In May 2021, the Connecticut legislature passed a comprehensive gambling expansion bill that included sports betting and igaming, including online poker.
- Any information and advice provided by Beastsofpoker.com is purely for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not legal advice.
- In this climate, many U.S. players choose to play on reputable offshore poker sites licensed in international jurisdictions, where real-money games remain widely available.
- Pennsylvania is part of the MSIGA, which allows operators in the state to share online player pools with other states.
In 2013, an amendment was made allowing for the development of commercial casinos alongside tribal casinos. Until new compacts are negotiated, Internet poker will remain illegal. Sports betting was legalized in 2019, but poker remains off the cards.
That includes partypoker, PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker brand, and BetMGM, operated by MGM Resorts, one of the top casino resort companies in the world. WSOP.com also operates within New Jersey, but poker players in this state have more options available than Nevada residents. One day after Nevada made online poker legal, New Jersey followed suit.
“Our bipartisan bill fixes a harmful provision … that taxes casino players who lose money. “If the 2026 Gambling Tax change is not repealed, I will not be playing online poker next year,” Kaye wrote on X. It was alleged in the indictments that the three online poker providers had illegally circumnavigated UIGEA by laundering profits through small banks and offshore payment processors. The void was filled by PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, who respectively became the biggest online poker sites in the world until Black Friday in April 2011. In the other forty-seven states, a selection of poker deposit methods exists to enable players to fund their accounts (and withdraw their winnings), so effectively UIGEA was just an annoying distraction.
Live poker is legal at land-based venues, but online and remote poker are not permitted. Licensed sites operate under partnerships with land-based casinos. There are naturally quite a few offshore sites for poker play that accept Californians for registration for both tournament and cash game play.
While the odds of any new bill becoming law remain slim, the start of a new year brings fresh hope that this could finally be the year an igaming bill is successfully enacted. That said, if the current bill is passed, multi-state online poker could still become a reality. Addabbo has also publicly recognized the significance of multi-state online poker compacts in interviews with pokerfuse and Poker Industry PRO. This omission is surprising, as Senator Addabbo had included similar language in previous bills that focused exclusively on online poker. Live dealer games would need to be conducted in a live gaming studio located in New York.
That was a frustrating time for the poker community, because it was starting to seem like it could be many years before any other states stepped up to the plate. Poker liquidity is the reason poker is so profitable in the www.pokernewsdaily.com global market. Those states are Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Connecticut. Navigating these complexities requires nuanced approaches from policymakers who must weigh economic gains against ethical considerations inherent in expanding gambling access. These include measures against problem gambling and initiatives promoting awareness about safe betting practices – elements that contribute to a healthier gambling ecosystem overall. With proper regulation, you can expect enhanced consumer protection measures designed to prevent fraud and promote responsible gambling practices.
Senator Gary Pretlow has reintroduced Senate Bill 2614, aiming to legalize online poker as part of a broader online casino package. Boosting needed funding The United States’ leading gambling industry advocacy and lobbying group has come out in opposition to federal legislation that would earmark a portion of sports betting taxes for problem gambling services. Though state Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. introduced a bill to legalize online casino, poker, and lottery games last week, none of those were included in Governor Kathy Hochul’s… Read more » Not dead, not really alive It looks like it could be another year without online casino and online poker in New York. For years both states have dallied with the notion of passing online poker legislation, only to turn away from the industry that potentially could net them billions in tax revenues.
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However, due to Covid regulations, poker is limited to a single table with plexiglass dividers. Of those, only Wind River offers poker, which used to include the annual Wyoming State Poker Championship tournament. The least populous state in the country, Wyoming doesn’t tend to be a pioneer when it comes to gaming. Unfortunately for fans of the game of poker, there has been zero movement since with tribes seemingly more focused on in-state brick-and-mortar expansion than anything else. Sports betting was legalized in Virginia in April 2020 and launched in January 2021.
Will they back iGaming legislation or fight it, as Encore has done in neighboring Massachusetts? More gambling is a difficult sell right now, and most pundits expect little movement on iGaming from U.S. states in 2026. The current political climate, however, doesn’t seem favorable to near-term gambling expansion.
Read our Louisiana poker legislation page for more details. The state also tried to seize 141 gambling-related domains back in 2008 and while some sites reached settlements with the state, others refused to budge and had their domains returned to them. State casinos have seen revenues decline over the last five years, particularly under outgoing Governor Pence (now Vice President). Senate Bill 3432 introduced for Sports Betting in advance of PASPA Repeal – may now be debated with poker and casino.
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You can now enjoy a range of poker sites in Pennsylvania, offering great games, tournaments, cash games, and Internet poker bonuses. The state’s gambling laws permit limited betting through the Oregon Lottery, but poker is not among the authorized digital offerings. The state’s tribal gaming framework centers on physical casinos overseen by the Oklahoma Gaming Compliance Unit.
Truly sustainable poker needs both robust compliance frameworks and cutting-edge tech. EvenBet Gaming platforms have 99.9% uptime, real-time fraud detection, and modular integration options, ensuring operators can scale without sacrificing stability. With U.S. states enforcing strict KYC rules, platforms rely on advanced verification providers to prevent underage play and comply with AML directives. A 2025 report from SiGMA highlights that operators face constant pressure from account hacks, bonus abuse, and data theft. Without shared liquidity, even well-regulated states risk stagnation.
South Carolina has some of the most stringent anti-gambling laws in the country and it is illegal to even own gambling devices. There is no online or live poker in South Carolina and it seems unlikely that either will be making its way to the state any time soon. There are other operators that have secured licenses in Pennsylvania but haven’t yet launched sites, including partypoker and GGPoker. PA, MI and NJ all migrated, meaning PokerStars on FanDuel players from the three states will compete with one another in a shared, multi-state player pool.
“It’s already unfair that there’s no loss carryover in poker …. I mean, that’s insane. And to be a poker pro, you really have to overcome quite a bit. There’s so many challenges. And this really puts the nail in the coffin.” Seidel isn’t only concerned with his ability to continue making a living by playing cards. “I’ll still play the Main Event, but I would imagine I’m probably going to spend maybe 10% or 15% of what I normally do for buy-ins. I don’t expect I’ll be playing many $10ks or higher. No High Rollers, for sure.” “I expect that I’ll be playing much smaller if I play. I might play some WPT $3ks or something, which I generally don’t play except for in Florida,” Seidel said. Seidel, who has over $48 million in live tournament cashes, is trying to stay optimistic about the situation and said he’s “hopeful” the tax provision will be repealed. Poker Hall of Famer and ten-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Erik Seidel is the first — and likely not the last — high-profile pro who has openly stated the new gambling tax policy in the U.S. will at least partially drive him away from the game.
The seizure of the poker sites´ domain names resulted in their closure – PokerStars later going back online in the US so that players could withdraw their funds. The good news for players in the US is that many experts are predicting a domino effect when states that are currently sitting on the fence realize the tax revenues that can be generated from online poker. There is no federal law that prohibits players from playing poker for real money online in the US.
Unlike sports betting, online poker is currently not provided or permitted by law in the state of Massachusetts. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency oversees the state’s thriving land-based casinos and mobile sports betting, but poker has not yet made its way into the online market. As of January 2026, Maine has officially become the ninth state to legalize online poker and the eighth state to legalize online casinos.
Nevada was first to the party, followed by New Jersey and Delaware. First, the principle of deseutude means that laws like the one in Washington may now be impossible to enforce anyway. In Nevada, for example, a licensed dispensary can sell marijuana and the purchaser can legally possess it, despite both aspects of this transaction being a federal crime. The situation is paralleled by the ongoing question of marijuana legislation.
The Delaware Lottery allowed its contract with 888 to expire and opened bidding for a new platform provider for poker and casino games online. WSOP launched its online poker site in September 2013 with Caesar’s casinos. As the first state to legalize online poker, Nevada continued its tradition as a trailblazer in gambling. Poker players can legally play real-money poker in various ways. Now, the state is one of the biggest poker markets – both live and online – but has yet to sign the interstate agreement to share online poker sites.
This compact did not cover poker sites, but sports betting was legalized after the court approved its resumption in 2023. The Colorado Division of Gaming enforces strict limits on what can be offered online, while live poker is only available at a select number of tribal casinos. The Arkansas legislation says that online poker is against the law.
Given the small population and low demand, any legalization movement is more likely to follow national trends rather than initiate locally. A 2023 study bill explored potential iGaming frameworks but excluded poker. The Department of Liquor and Lottery regulates gaming limited to lottery products. Although social cardrooms are based on “membership” models, the legality of these is hotly debated.
That applies to both online poker and live poker, meaning if you want to play cards legally and live in Georgia, you’ll have to travel to Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, or Mississippi to get some action. Not only that but even though the state is small, there are plenty of nearby card rooms in neighboring states, which makes Delaware a great place to live for poker players. As of 2026, only six states have legalized and regulated online poker in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan.
