USPokerSites.co Covers Legal US Online Poker Environment
Monday October 7, 2013 : USPokerSites.co Covers Legal US Online Poker Environment
The US online poker industry is making a comeback. Regulated online poker has already been approved in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey. More states are certain to legislative one of America’s favorite games in 2014. USPokerSites.co is dedicated to covering the legislative process involved in bringing back online poker to US players. USPokerSites.co also covers the history of legalization that changed the US online poker industry to make it what it is today.
Nevada First State to Launch Regulated Online Poker
Nevada became the first state to legalize online poker in December 2011. Ultimate Poker launched on April 30, 2013. It was the first regulated online poker site in the US. It is only available to players located within Nevada at the time of play. WSOP became the second regulated Nevada site. It went live on September 19, 2013. Treasure Island and South Point Poker are expected to be the next Nevada online poker rooms to enter the market.
New Jersey Next Regulated Online Poker State to Launch
New Jersey will become the second state to go live with regulated online poker. The proposed launch date is November 26, 2013. New Jersey will also allow Atlantic City casinos to offer house games. New Jersey is likely to be the first state to allow online slots, video poker and table games unless Delaware, which has yet to announce an official launch date, goes live first.
Delaware Online Poker
Delaware passed a law that allows its lottery to offer online poker and casino games in partnership with racinos. Online casino games are expected to go live by the end of 2013. Online poker is not expected to be offered until 2014.
States Where Online Poker Could be Regulated in 2014
All eyes are on California where it has been reported that tribes and card clubs have finally reached an agreement on how to move forward in the nation’s most populous state. Serious discussions are also expected in the Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa and Pennsylvania legislatures. It could be an easy sell with Ultimate Poker earning an estimated $600,000 per month in revenue in Nevada. States have the potential of earning millions of dollars a year in much needed tax revenue by legalizing a game that is enjoyed by millions of players across the world.
Two Events that Changes US Online Poker
There were two major events that changed the US online poker market forever. The first was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This piece of legalization was attached to the unrelated SAFE Port Act by Congress in 2006. It passed the House and Senate without any debate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 13, 2006.
Many online poker rooms and networks abandoned the US market. Party Poker, 888 and dozens of skins on the iPoker, Ongame, Boss Media and Cryptologic Networks stopped accepting US players literally overnight. The major poker sites that continued to accept US players included PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
The next major US poker event is referred to as Black Friday. The date was April 15, 2011. The US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. Several individuals that helped process online poker payments were also indicted.
PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker immediately banned US players. PokerStars was able to process refunds to Americans less than two weeks after Black Friday. Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker did not ever pay players. PokerStars bailed out Full Tilt Poker players through a settlement with the US Department of Justice, while Absolute Poker players never got paid.
USPokerSites.co Editorial Team
The USPokerSites.co Editorial team will bring readers up to the minute news in the evolving US online poker world. These writers will help in the cause of publishing balanced poker information from across the country.
Mark Butler : Mark is senior editor of USPokerSites. He is a lifelong poker player that played his way through college. His focus is now educating players about the game of poker.
Jess Moore : Jess is a Communications and English major with years of experience reporting on the poker industry.
Joel Brown : Joel focuses more on the journalism side of the site than the poker side. He will make sure every story he covers is well balanced and informative.
Quentin Mayabb : Quentin is passionate about poker. His positivity and creativeness helps draw new players to his favorite pastime.
Carson Fredricks : Carson is not a writer, but he helps keep the site together. By combining his poker and code knowledge, he makes sure USPokerSites.co can provide a great experience for all players.
