Pennsylvania Officially Joins MSIGA; Gov Josh Shaprio Sits Down w Mori Eskandani
In 2026, the U.S. poker finally has a chance to go mainstream instead of being stuck in a patchwork forever. On the other end, the UK’s Gambling Commission (UKGC) sets the gold standard with unified, player-first rules. Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina are talking about taxes and player safety. With U.S. states enforcing strict KYC rules, platforms rely on advanced verification providers to prevent underage play and comply with AML directives.
In 2013 through 2016, PokerNews was annually named Best Poker Affiliate by iGB Affiliate for its web traffic, innovation, and reputation with players, and brand power. These player-generated updates link directly in to the PokerNews live reporting feed. It is run by iBus Media, whose majority owner is The Stars Group Inc., a Canadian gaming and online gambling company traded on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange and headquartered in Toronto. While rivals focus on the largest regulated markets, BetRivers continues to back online poker in smaller states where it sees long-term value. Global Poker launches PowerStreak, giving Jackpot Sit’n’Go players another way to win through daily leaderboard rewards.
Many events also include guaranteed prize pools, which ensure a minimum payout regardless of entries, and can sometimes lead to overlays that offer even more value. You can quickly sort by different filters, including buy-in level, game type, and operator, making it easier than ever to plan your schedule, find the overlay value and register on time. Tired of jumping between poker clients to find your next tournament? At PokerNews, we’ve reviewed the top tournament sites in the US, Canada, UK and around the world. ‘A chip and a chair.’ That famous poker idiom signifies that as long as you’re still in a tournament, you’ve got a chance of winning no matter the size of your stack.
Triton Poker Series: The Rise of High-Stakes Poker – Part 2
On March 13th, the PokerStars Rewards program will be retired, with all unopened chests and progress bar totals paid out to players in cash. As the transition begins, there are several key dates for current PokerStars players to keep in mind. Fast forward less than a year, and players in the Keystone state will soon be able to compete on the new platform alongside players from New Jersey and Michigan.
We’ve all been in a situation where we have plans, but have a couple of hours beforehand to sneak in a quick session of poker. What’s more, during series like their Bounty Hunter Series, expect added mystery bounties with even more value, boosted prize pools and enormous max bounties. Mystery bounties are becoming increasingly popular, but are more common as special events during promotional periods. This is where an element of good fortune comes into play. It’s also common for the tournament winner to receive more from the bounty for knocking out their heads-up opponent than they do from finishing in first place.
On the flip side, Smit observed many players in the WSOP Main Event were seemingly oblivious to the moment-by-moment play of each hand. And the best players understood the difference and exploited it relentlessly. As we toured the Paris Casino ballroom together and mingled among the players, Smit confessed, “I’ve always enjoyed immersing myself into new worlds.” What would you tell young players struggling with heartbreak when a run falls short?
- Poker’s popularity had been at an all-time high and patches of online poker companies like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker could be seen on players everywhere.
- For the 8th time in their history, America’s Cardroom (ACR) will be running their massive Venom PKO event.
- Here you can see PokerNews live reporting from past events.
Analysts say the U.S. could tap billions in new revenue and tax money if more states join. Regulators are finally pushing for basics like 2FA, age checks, and KYC. Offshore sites are a gamble in themselves. In short, while regulation has moved forward, the U.S. poker map in 2025 is still uneven, and the pressure is on lawmakers to create greater consistency. Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware were first, Michigan jumped in 2022, and Pennsylvania finally joined this April, creating the biggest regulated pool the U.S. has ever seen. Each has its own rules, strict licensing, geolocation controls, and responsible gaming protocols.
As such, almost all online operators, including those offering free play options, have pulled out of Washington state. The casinos fall under the supervision of the Washington State Gambling Commission, which also authorizes and regulates social gambling activities such as bracket and office sports pools. However, the state does offer off-track betting parlors and allows for some charitable gambling. Utah’s state criminal code explicitly bans online gambling and states that even if it’s legalized on the federal level, they don’t want it in Utah. Since gambling is technically illegal except on Native American reservations, there are no traditional brick-and-mortar casinos in the Lone Star State.
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By now, you hopefully know what online poker tournaments are, how they work and the best sites to play on. Below, we explain all the different types of online poker tournaments you can play, say how they work and give you the best sites to play for each. You can also find poker player profiles, casino game rules, tournament poker results, reviews of the best online casinos and sports betting platforms, strategy articles, poker magazines, poker tools, and poker training resources. Maine online poker players will likely be playing at WSOP Online if Caesars Entertainment secures 75% of the online gaming licenses available in the state. Yes, most top poker sites offer play money tables or freeroll tournaments, so you can practice without risking real cash. SCOOP, WCOOP and several other online poker festivals have become a staple of the yearly calendar for many players – it’s truly the place to be for tournament players.
However, many others including BetMGM and Borgata offer a great option to start playing online poker in New Jersey. This means that the state has set forth some rules regarding who can and cannot play online poker, as well as how it will be controlled and monitored. MGM National Harbor was the latest casino to open its doors in December 2016 and has the most table games in the state, whereas Live!
The bill has already gained support from the Social and Promotional Games Association (SPGA), a group representing sweepstakes poker operators. While traditional casino operators aren’t thrilled about the competition, Calabrese argues that regulation is the best approach. Meanwhile, Senator Joseph Addabbo is pushing a separate bill for broader iGaming regulation, including measures targeting unregulated sweepstakes casinos.
When we got down to heads-up, he had become handcuffed and in really bad shape because he had completely run out of time banks. Sometimes you have to get it in preflop. Sure, there are times when you get coolered, and you’ve got to put it in.
Less populated states like Hawaii (1.4 million residents), New Hampshire (1.4 million residents) and Wyoming (584,000 residents) are also considering igaming legislation in January. But he is confident the bill addresses the concerns of gambling critics such as gambling addiction, which the bill would allocate $11 million annually towards. “I don’t like a non-safe gaming environment for our New Yorkers,” Addabbo told PokerNews in an interview.
Planet Hollywood Bows out of Las Vegas Poker Scene
Nevada and Delaware both passed legislation legalizing online poker in 2013 and other states followed suit over the next decade including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan. But it would take several years for millions of dollars to be paid back to Full Tilt players. However, Full Tilt only had $60 million on deposit in its bank accounts, meaning over $300 million was still owed to players worldwide. The complaint alleged that, as of March 2011, Full Tilt Poker owed approximately $390 million in player funds around the world, including $150 million to US players. The US Attorney’s Office amended its complaint to allege that Full Tilt Poker was a Ponzi scheme that Raymond Bitar, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst used to defraud players. On April 20th, both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that allowed them to regain the use of their dot-com sites to help distribute player funds.
Will WPT scale down the event and return to Vegas in December, or move to a less crowded spot in January? The season finale has taken place at Wynn Las Vegas over the last few years, but competition with WSOP Paradise is fierce. The rest of the festival promises several bounty events, the regular seniors’ event, and lots of satellites into the championship.
Poker is legal in Florida when it comes to land-based casinos, but it isn’t legal online and you shouldn’t expect that to change any time soon. Poker is legal in Delaware and it’s one of the most lenient states when it comes to online poker. Sadly, there are no nearby states for Coloradans to travel to for legal online poker.
He went on to win that tournament for $2.5 million and helped spark the “Poker Boom.” Here’s a look at some of the most significant points in the history of the legality pokernewsdaily.com of poker in the US. Here’s a look at the various ways Black Friday impacted the poker industry as a whole. If you’ve been around poker, you’ve probably heard of Black Friday.
As of 2026, six states have legalized and offer online poker – Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan. In 2013, Nevada and Delaware became the first two states to offer online poker, while New Jersey would join later that year. They skirted the law by disguising player financial transactions as something non-poker related (i.e. showing up as “flowers” on a credit card transaction). They would remain the leader in the online poker industry until 2006 when the UIGEA inspired them to voluntarily exit the US market. With the help of Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton, PartyPoker launched in 2001 and quickly rose to be the premier online poker site in the business thanks to state-of-the-art software and attention to detail. In October 1999, Mike Caro became the first “online poker ambassador” by becoming the face of Planet Poker.
Everything you find here has already been extensively reviewed so we only recommend you the best of the best to game securely. Now, like any other investment, the poker bankroll has … This is an event held annually in Las Vegas under the sponsorship of Caesars Entertainment. The most coveted tournament is the World Series of Poker.
Check out the current real money PokerStars Tournaments with our Online Tournament Calendar. Don’t worry, in this section we’ll go through all different criteria to give you the best sites for each different category. Secondly, the software is simple to use and doesn’t require experience in poker platforms in order to get to grips with it. While it’s tough to pick an outright best poker site, given many of the ones on this page offer a range of different high-class qualities, I think there are certainly some frontrunners.
Play the Shuffle.us Daily Race and share 10,000,000 GC across the top 100 players. QQPK’s $30 satellite sends you to a live Taipei final table. Other Pennsylvania online poker operators like WSOP PA and PokerStars PA have yet to say whether they plan on joining MSIGA. Is the US getting closer to legalizing online poker nationwide or in a majority of states? After signing off on the agreement, Shapiro sat down with Poker Hall of Famer and PokerGO President Mori Eskandani for a conference call interview about the development to the online poker landscape. In any case, players must still wait for regulation to be drafted, with the Maine Gambling Control Unit responsible for drafting the specific rules and licensing requirements.
The folks at BetOnline Poker are delivering a week of PKO Bounty tournaments later this month during the Catch-22 Bounty Series. Mizrachi outlasted a 9,735-player field to take down the event and claim the $10 million prize along with his eighth career The Daily Gems are popular tournaments that as the names suggests run daily at 888poker. The $1,000,000 Bounty Hunter Poker Series runs at BetOnline Poker until November 9 with dozens of tournaments and seven figures worth of prize money available to be won. If you’re a fan of bounty poker tournaments then BetOnline Poker is the place for you in early November. While considering an online poker site, there are some primary areas that matter to most of our readers.
The state in which you can actually pull the trigger on the play you want to make, without having to pretend that you are something you are not. We also provide guides on various poker variants, including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and more. SOMUCHPOKER is the #1 news site for the Asia-Pacific poker community.
In 2014, a tribal casino in Coeur D’Alene opened a live poker room, but the state fought to have it shut down and eventually won the case. Even worse, poker players in Idaho don’t have any nearby places to travel outside of Eastern Washington and Northern Nevada (Reno/Tahoe), but those are a bit of a hike. As for live poker, there are two major card rooms in the state, both of which you’ve probably heard about – Mohegan Sun and the legendary Foxwoods Casino, which has long been home to some of the biggest games in the northeast. Unfortunately, for those who live outside the continental United States, there isn’t much optimism that online poker or live poker will become legal in the near future. The state of online poker varies from state to state due to a number of factors including state laws, gaming interests, and of course, politics.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered, too, with the best play money poker apps. Key Takeaways Molly Bloom rose from elite skier to the woman behind some of the most exclusive high-stakes poker games in Los Angeles and New York. Find out what’s going down at the planet’s biggest poker tournaments and pick up a few skills of your own. EvenBet can deploy in 4–6 weeks, with platforms stress-tested for 10,000+ concurrent players.
The bill also includes online casino games and pari-mutuel wagering, meaning it covers a broad range of online gambling options. Unlike New York’s proposal, this bill explicitly includes a provision for player pooling with other states, making it a much more promising prospect for online poker. Joe McKeehen won the $5,300 SHRPO Championship for $462,600, while three players made poker history by winning four events each at the 2026 festival.
But there has been some discussion among Iowa lawmakers to bring legal online poker to the state, although it isn’t considered a major issue. What we mean by that is poker is a legal game, Indiana residents just can’t legally play it on the internet. When it comes to live poker, however, that is legal in the Land of Lincoln at all land-based casinos. The “no” answer is for online poker as no pro-poker bill has made its way through the House. And, due to the stringent gambling laws, there are also no land-based card rooms across the state, although you might find some underground games that aren’t regulated.
