It did not define “illegal Internet gambling”, and since the Wire Act only applied to sports betting, no federal law makes it illegal to play poker on the Internet for money. The law made it a federal crime to accept payments connected with illegal Internet gambling. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) was passed as part of the Safe Ports act. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 So the short answer, until the Supreme Court rules otherwise, is no, the Wire Act does not make online poker illegal. In December, 2011, The Justice Department reversed their position, stating that the Interstate Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports betting, not to poker. They used the Interstate Wire Act as justification for this. Their contention was that accepting advertising from companies involved in online gambling was “aiding and abetting” illegal activities. In 2005, the Justice Department sent threatening letters to Internet publishers and broadcasting companies, including Google, Yahoo, and Infinity Broadcasting. The Interstate Wire Act of 1961, sometimes called “the Federal Wire Act”, was passed in September, 1961 in an attempt to thwart organized crime. The Interstate Wire Act of 1961ĭoes the Wire Act make online poker illegal? Blackjack card counters, expert video poker players, and skilled sports handicappers all sometimes lose. The same holds true for other bettors who use skill to get an edge. You might be the best poker player in the world, but on any given hand, you face an element of risk. In many jurisdictions, contests of skill are treated dramatically different from games of pure chance. Skill becomes a consideration from a legal standpoint, though. What makes a game “gambling” is the activity of betting money. Of course, this doesn’t mean that playing poker doesn’t constitute gambling, at least not colloquially.
The skills used in poker include reading other players, concealing your own intentions, and evaluating the odds that your hand is the best.Īccording to Judge Weinstein, “The most skillful professionals earn the same celestial salaries as professional ballplayers.” In the end, the most skilled players win the most money. The reasoning is that the money doesn’t flow to the luckiest players at the table, at least not in the long run. Weinstein, a federal judge in Brooklyn, ruled that poker is predominantly a game of skill rather than chance.
Even the general public considers poker a sport that’s why it’s the subject of televised events on ESPN, a TV channel that specializes in sports programming and reporting.
Poker is even commonly called “America’s card game.” Expert players consider it a mind sport.
The amount of controversy surrounding whether or not it’s legal to play poker on the Internet in the United States is strange, especially in light of the similarities between the game and the free market system, which is one of the cornerstones of the American way of life. We don’t know why the state of Washington has taken such a draconian stance against Internet poker, but if you live there, it’s probably best not to play, even if you can find a site which would accept you as a player. Our advice to poker players in Washington state is to not play poker on the Internet. If you live in the state of Washington, it’s a crime to play poker online for money.
Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars responded by no longer offering services to residents of that state, but they continued to operate in the rest of the country. The state of Washington passed a law in 2006 making online poker a felony. It is illegal to play poker online for money in the state of Washington. We thought it would be a good idea to get this out of the way right away. That being said, the information here is accurate and reliable to the best of our knowledge. We’re not responsible for anything that happens based on your use of the information here. The information provided here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. If you need actual legal advice, you should contact an attorney. You should know up front that our site isn’t run by lawyers or anyone with any kind of governmental authority. Our goal is to provide the facts about where you can play poker online legally in the United States. Only one state (Washington) has a specific law explicitly forbidding online poker, while only Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey have legalized and regulated it. State laws, on the other hand, might or might not, depending on the state.
Contrary to what some sources might have you believe, no federal law specifically forbids online poker. The legality of online poker in the United States varies according to your jurisdiction.