If you are a poker player in the United States, it hasn’tbeen a great run for the last few years. Since the closing of the major sitesacross the U.S. in 2011, there has been a prolonged introduction of regulationsallowing online poker at the state level. The good news for residents of NewJersey is that the Garden State has made online poker legal and there are manygreat options available to players in that state. This page will covereverything you need to know about online poker in New Jersey.
History of legal Online Poker in New Jersey
- US Gambling Sites New Jersey Online Gambling New Jersey Online Poker; New Jersey Online Poker. Americans have had a love affair with poker for a couple of decades now, and most of that was fueled by the ability to play the game from the comfort of their own homes by way of online poker sites.
- This new poker site is 100% legal A new online poker site that already has high traffic. The biggest hurdle of the newest poker sites is almost always player traffic. Thanks to it’s ability to advertise on Google and social media, Global Poker already is in the top 3 for USA player traffic. A fresh business model to make the games legal. Global Poker launched with a new online poker idea.
- The market leader online poker site in New Jersey, WSOP.com shares its player pool with Nevada and Delaware, while also enjoying the popularity from the WSOP, one of the world's top poker brand.
Best New Jersey Online Poker Sites. Online poker is fully legal in New Jersey. Both residents and visitors to New Jersey can create online poker accounts.
Many people will know that it was New Jersey thatspearheaded the fight and ultimate victory to have PASPA repealed and sportsbetting legalized in the U.S. What you may not know is that the state has beenat the forefront of legalizing all forms of online gambling for the better partof the decade, including online poker. In the wake of falling numbers for theAtlantic City casinos, the Governor decided to take action, and the statepassed legislation to allow both online casinos and poker sites to operatewithin the state borders. Online poker companies partnered with land-basedlicense holders and in late 2013, the first legal online poker sites were upand running in New Jersey.
Online Poker Sites in New Jersey
At inception, there were 5 different poker networksavailable to players from New Jersey. However, it quickly became apparent thatthe market size was not large enough to maintain all of these networks,especially without significant expense. Companies like Betfair and UltimatePoker went by the wayside as a result, and other companies decided to merge theirliquidity to remain operational.
As the years went by, a couple more companies receivedlicenses, and now we have the following online poker sites available in NewJersey:
Poker Stars
The worldwide leader in online poker was a major force inthe unregulated U.S. market, which is why it is the most shocking that theywere granted a license in New Jersey after being shut down by the Department ofJustice in 2011. Regardless, PokerStars NJ is live and running, and has all thefeatures that make the company so popular around the world. Play in cash gamesand Sit and Go tourneys along with their lottery-style Spin and Go events. PokerStars also hosts a couple of tournament series events during the year calledChampionships of Online Poker.
WSOP.com
One of the most recognizable brands in all of poker, theWorld Series of Poker has its own online poker room that is available inmultiple states. In New Jersey, players can access their favorite games andwill find themselves at times playing to win seats to WSOP land-based events.
888.com
A huge brand in Europe known not only for poker butsports and casino as well, 888 is well known in the US market for being aplayer-friendly site. Players who join this network will find a websitedesigned for more of a casual player, but that doesn’t mean the play isterrible. 888 players will be in the network alongside WSOP.com players.
Pala Poker
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Pala Poker comes to New Jersey from the Pala Interactivegroup from California. This tribal-owned site is one of the smaller in the NewJersey landscape but features an excellent software platform.
Borgata
The Borgata casino and poker room are the most well-knownof all the facilities in Atlantic City (poker fans will remember scenes fromBorgata in the movie Rounders). The online poker room is part of a network thatincludes Party Poker and PlayMGM.
Party Poker
Even though Party Poker, once the worldwide leader inonline poker before UIGEA hit in 2006, is on the same network as Borgata, itoffers its own set of promotions and bonuses for you to take advantage of whenyou deposit. It also provides some excitingcash games and tournaments open only to their players.
PlayMGM
Play MGM is the newest skin on the Borgata Poker Networkand is smaller than the others. However, its connection to the MGM hotel groupmeans it can offer some great offline promotions to its players.
Online Poker Tournaments in New Jersey
Despite the smaller pool of players, online poker sitesin New Jersey do their best to create a series of regular tournaments withguarantees that attract players from all over the state. There are tournamentsof all kinds, with entry fees starting as low as under one dollar. Each weekmost of the sites offer their premier tournament with the most substantialguarantees, typically on a Sunday afternoon. This event usually has qualifiersthroughout the week that allow players to enter for less money.
There are also special series of tournaments hosted bythe poker sites regularly. These series usually have a theme and offer a moreenticing schedule over a shorter period of time to draw attention to the site.
Finally, there are tournaments run on the site which areland-based qualifying events. For example, some tournaments offer players achance to win a seat into the prestigious World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Thesetournaments are extremely popular with players.
Online poker cash games in New Jersey
While poker tournaments are where you will find the mostbodies at an online poker site, the cash games are where real money can bemade. The cash games at online poker sites in New Jersey can be jam-packed atlower stakes, with .50c/$1 and $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em tables being the mostpopular. You can find many tables running at these stakes all hours of the dayat New Jersey sites.
Cash games come in all sizes online, starting all the wayat the penny tables. These are great tables for learning the differencesbetween tournaments and cash play without having to break the bank. While therearen’t many of these tables running anymore, there are some high-roller tablesthat can get all the way up to $100/$200 at a couple of the sites. You can alsofind online cash games in Limit Hold’em, Omaha and Stud on top of the morepopular No Limi Hold’em.
Payment Options in New Jersey
One of the things that online poker players havestruggled with over the years is getting money to and from the sites. With theU.S. banking industry not able to process transactions for many years afterUIGEA in 2006, players had to resort to riskier forms of payments.
In a regulated environment in New Jersey, it is mucheasier to make deposits and withdrawals. While some banks still won’t acceptthe transactions (the banking laws are federal while the gaming laws arestate-driven), many debit and credit cards are now able to be used, which makesdepositing at he sites much easier for players.
Also, companies like PayPal have now been approved foruse in the state, giving players an even easier way to move money to and fromthe sites. Finally, with most of the sites having a partnership with aland-based casino, you can always head to Atlantic City and fund your accountwith cash if that is the way you would rather proceed.
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New Jersey Online Poker FAQ
Why are there so few legal sites?
Poker is a game that requires liquidity (pools ofplayers) to be successful. In the days of unregulated poker in the UnitedStates, American players were able to be playing against players from acrossthe world. Now, the pools are limited to players withing New Jersey (and theplayers from Delaware and Nevada thanks to an agreement between those states). Theresimply aren’t enough players in those jurisdictions to maintain more than thecurrent number of sites, and even then, the prize pools are small compared towhat players may have seen in the past.
Can I play against friends in other legal states?
If you are in New Jersey and you are playing on the WSOPor 888 networks, then you can take advantage of the agreement between the statesof Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey creating combined liquidity. This allows youto play against players in those states, but that is the only agreement of itskind currently in the U.S.
Can I still use an offshore site?
After Black Friday in 2011, there are minimal optionsleft for offshore-based online poker sites. However, that isn’t stopping thesesites from marketing to American players. The brazen approach to marketingthese sites is surprising considering the fate of the sites that were growingin the market in the 2000s, but for now, the Department of Justice seems to bereluctant to pursue them. We do not recommend playing at these sites, given theadded risk of uncertainty that you will get paid.
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Can I use Bitcoin for legal online poker sites?
Bitcoin is a very hot topic in the payments world, withits meteoric rise in value and its crazy swings over the last couple of years. Thecryptocurrency has been popular in the online poker world because it bypassesthe payment processing companies that charge a premium for gaming sites to havetransactions processed. Regulated online poker sites in New Jersey do not yetoffer Bitcoin as a payment method, likely due to the instability of the unregulatedcurrency. However, don’t be shocked if one day, you will be able to usecryptocurrencies of all types for your deposits and withdrawals.
Why can’t I access my account when I am traveling outside New Jersey?
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One of the stipulations of gambling that is regulated ata state level is that the gaming activities have to be limited to the bordersof that state. With land-based poker, that isn’t an issue – the cardrooms arelocated in the casinos. In order to ensure that online poker sites comply withthe rules, player accounts are ringfenced to the geographic borders of thestate. Don’t worry – if you try to access your account from outside New Jersey,it won’t be closed, the access will only be blocked until you are back with thestate lines.