The site operators are located offshore, state laws are often unclear, and cases could be costly. Few states have found any clarification in the courts due to state officials hesitant to prosecute online gambling-related crimes. This leaves the laws up to legal and judicial interpretation. Most of the 50 states make no mention of online poker or internet casino games whatsoever in their statutes. States like Hawaii and Utah long before decided against legalizing any type of gambling, but other states chose to add wording to their statutes that mentioned gaming on the internet. Meanwhile, other states made sure their laws specifically outlawed online gambling.

Pennsylvania legalized online poker and casino games.

New Jersey legalized online poker and casino games.

Delaware legalized online poker and casino games.

Three states addressed the issue within two years of the ruling, and another state legalized online poker more recently: The new interpretation of the longstanding law held that it did not apply to online lotteries and other types of gaming, which meant that states suddenly had the authority to legalize online poker. Two of those four sites disappeared altogether, Full Tilt was discovered to be corrupt and bankrupt, and PokerStars was ousted from the US market while also paying a hefty price in financial settlements and business.Īpproximately seven months after Black Friday, the US Department of Justice answered a request to clarify the 1961 Wire Act, and its ruling changed American gaming as it pertained to the internet.

And the indictments of Black Friday – Ap– involving executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, and UltimateBet were the final straws in that crumbling haystack. The US government began to crack down on the unfettered internet poker market in 2006 with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which drove many sites – including PartyPoker – away from players based in the 50 states. Hundreds of poker sites catered to the millions of American players. How a Decade of US Laws Changed Online Pokerīefore 2011, the United States comprised the largest online poker market in the world.

Online poker cash game laws