It’s reasonable to ask, “Is online poker legit,” because cardplayer pay a lot of money into online poker rooms. This is a two part article, first covering online poker and second examining which sportsbooks are legit. I recommend www.IgnitionPoker.eu (previously known as Bovada) for poker and Bovada.lv for sports betting, and so does everybody else who isn’t paid off. If you only consider a legit site, one run by state or Federal licenses, then you must by physically located in Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. For those that live there the PokerStars, Borgata, and WSOP are the most active in the 4 licensed states.

I didn’t just pull these sites from nowhere, I’ve been in the gambling business for over 10 years now. I’ve seen and dealt with all sorts of millionaire and billionaire scum bags; people that should be on the TV show “American Greed”. The only legit poker sites I suggest are mentioned on my homepage or on the ‘safe list‘. You’ll notice the list is pretty darn short, and I’ve dealt with approximately 45-60 gambling sites. PokerStars is the largest online poker site there is. Borgata is powered by Party Poker, while WSOP.com uses 888poker software. If you consider a non rigged, legit poker site to be one run from the United States, then you will have to be physically located in Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, or Pennsylvania to be able to play. But I can point to unregulated poker rooms that which gives

But Aren’t U.S. Licensed Sites Legit?

It’s debatable. In fact, in total I’ve had $147,116 taken from me by the U.S. government. The money was not stolen by offshore poker sites but THE U.S. GOVERNMENT! The process of legalized poker in the U.S. was a complete scam. They attempted to shut down every online poker site that was running for US customers, simply because they wanted zero (0) competition as they launched their own poker sites.

The video content at Bluefire Poker is of an exceptionally high standard. With its relatively small roster of producers – lead by site founder and online poker legend Phil Gaflond – the site is able to better curate its output and ensure that members don’t have to sift through hours of content before finding something of real value to them. PokerStars is widely regarded as the best online poker tournament room in the world - and the best site to play mixed games - but there are arguably better cash-game sites. If you want to try out new poker variations like Short Deck Hold'em (6+ Hold'em) you can find it at PokerStars now. Some US poker sites reddit have met this challenge with their mobile poker apps, apps that have clearly benefited from the years of development and refinement invested by the company. If we had to choose one mobile poker site, it would have to be Bovada which also happens to be one of the best poker sites for US players. Freerolls at Poker Sites. The best online poker websites freerolls can net you thousands of dollars or even seats into offline major events like the WSOP. The sites we list above are known for their poker site freerolls, so they are your first stop! Freerolls are an amazing and common way to test a poker site or learn the game.

Let me ask you this. How is it that the Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC) – which has nothing to do with online poker – was the first to open up an online poker room in Nevada? How is it that poker sites like Bet365, Paddy Power, Everest Poker – which are traded on the London Stock Exchange and have market value in the billions of dollars – were not given priority in the immediate launch of poker in the US? Those 5-star poker sites never accepted US customers after UIGEA and adhered to all laws both domestic and international.

Yet the UFC gets the first poker license in Nevada. Not only that but the operations at “Ultimate Poker”, UFC’s poker site was light years behind any poker site based offshore that is legit. The Nevada Gaming Commission helped the local business already making them and the state money, because UFC was affiliated with Station Casinos (at the time). That is governmental corruption at its finest. Did I mention UltimatePoker went out of business, because they didn’t know how to operate a poker site?

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Legit Poker Sites

Beginners might wonder what a legit poker site needs, so let’s define our terms. Below is a short list of the factor you should consider, always with explanations for why they’re important. Don’t use poker rooms if they don’t check off everything on the following checklist.

Game R Us Poker

Player Traffic: Without traffic, sites can’t have a selection of high stakes, mid stakes, and low stakes cash games, tournaments, and sit’n go events.
Good Software: Top software means fewer issues, plus access to features like Bovada’s Zone Poker, which increases your hands per hour.
Experience: This entails everything from software support to customer service to knowing how to monitor cheaters at the table.
Banking Options: It often comes down to sensible payment options, including credit cards, web wallets, and crypto-currencies like Bitcoin.
Other Games: If poker websites offer casino gaming or sports betting, it means lots of casual poker players (soft competition).

Which Poker Site is Not Rigged?

My buddies ask me all the time about this because it’s my job and one of the sites I most often recommend is Ignition Poker (previously known as Bovada). Having met the owner personally, he is an honest person and puts himself in the public spotlight when others hide under rocks. His previous ownership, now owned by Morris Mohawk is probably worth about 1-2 billion USD. In a closed meeting, he discussed how if anything ever went bad, he would personally make sure all his players and employees got paid from his own checkbook. On top of that the site has the most player traffic going by PokerScout and has an Alexa rank of 9,730. For a comparison, HBO has about a 4,600 Alexa rank which means millions of people use it. Most sites are in the million number ranks – which is terrible.

If you are in Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Delaware, then the answer might be different in 3 or 4 years from now as the WSOP grows its player base. The WSOP is now forced to be legitimate and all licensed poker sites in the U.S. look like the saviors of safe poker sites. In truth, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was an unnecessary federal law which shut down poker sites, drove out legit online cardrooms, and dismantled a perfectly well run market. If lawmakers had not stepped in we would still be playing at Party Poker and making money would be just as easy as it was all those years ago. But lawmakers must justify their jobs and business owners must deal with the fallout the best they can.

Be Careful of Scamming Affiliates

I could go on for hours about how people to this day are crummy affiliates who are touting poker sites to play. They are getting large up-front chunks of cash in the $100,000+ range to mention their poker rooms because they rank high for popular terms in Google and Yahoo by using spammy search engine optimization techniques over and over again to maintain rankings and visitors. I have email chains proving certain companies insolvency and forthcoming bankruptcy, yet they continue to operate. The most recent mass scale offenders were Lock Poker. This was one of the longest running scams, but U.S. law enforcement agencies never took action. Eventually, journalist John Mehaffey brought Lock Poker’s abuses to light. Players left the platform and the site shut down in 2015.

Thus, poker review sites serve a useful purpose. With honest reporting and the facts on their side, card players can make informed decisions about online poker rooms. US Poker Sites continues to monitor legit sites here, so players have the info they need. We are pretty straight forward, so we hope this site helps.

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