Verticals / Online poker
Online poker
Real-money online poker is legal and live in 7 states: Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia, as of Oct 11, 2026. Maine has legalized it but not yet launched.
Online peer-to-peer poker.
LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Current tax | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | Live | Monopoly State | 15.5% GGR (online) | Operated as part of the Lottery's internet gaming platform; Delaware previously shared a multistate poker network with Nevada. | |
| Michigan | Live | Jan 22, 2021 | Competitive | 20% AGR (online) $0–$4.0M 22% AGR (online) $4.0M–$8.0M 24% AGR (online) $8.0M–$10.0M 26% AGR (online) $10.0M–$12.0M 28% AGR (online) $12.0M–∞ | Licensed as part of the igaming skin (no separate online-poker-only license). Michigan is a member of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) with New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and West Virginia for shared online poker liquidity; could not independently verify exact join date this session. |
| Nevada | Live | 2013 | Competitive | 6.75% GGR (online) | Ultimate Poker launched the first legal real-money online poker site in the U.S. in April 2013. Nevada entered the first interstate online-poker liquidity-sharing compact with Delaware in Feb. 2014 (live March 2015); New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania later joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). |
| New Jersey | Live | Nov 26, 2013 | Competitive | 19.75% GGR (online) | NJ shares player pools with Nevada, Delaware, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania via the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA); WSOP and PokerStars both run multi-state networks including NJ. |
| Pennsylvania | Live | Nov 1, 2019 | Competitive | 16% GGR (online) | Licensed as part of the igaming certificate (peer-to-peer poker taxed at the 16% table-games/poker rate). PA joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement in 2020. |
| Rhode Island | Live | Mar 1, 2024 | Monopoly State | 15.5% GGR (online) | Poker is enumerated within the statutory definition of "casino gaming" (alongside roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, pai gow) and is offered online as part of the iGaming online table-gaming product launched March 1, 2024. |
| West Virginia | Live | Competitive | 15% AGR (online) | Operated as part of the interactive wagering platform at licensed racetracks/the Greenbrier; not separately licensed from igaming. | |
| Maine | Legal, not launched | Monopoly Tribal | Poker is listed among the games approved under the Chapter 39 tribal Internet gaming framework (same authorization as igaming); no separate standalone online-poker statute. | ||
| Hawaii | Prohibited | Peer-to-peer online poker is "gambling"; the social-gambling exception (§712-1231) applies only to in-person play in a private residence among equal players 18+, not online play. | |||
| Idaho | Prohibited | Peer-to-peer online poker is "gambling" under §18-3801; no licensing framework exists. | |||
| Montana | Prohibited | Covered by Montana's general internet-gambling ban; no licensing framework for online peer-to-peer poker exists. Live poker is permitted only at licensed on-premises card tables (see card_rooms). | |||
| Utah | Prohibited | Peer-to-peer online poker is still "gambling" (risking value on a chance-based outcome for return) and "online gambling" if played via internet. | |||
| Washington | Prohibited | Same internet-gambling felony statute applies; no compacts authorize online poker. | |||
| Wyoming | Prohibited | Covered by the same general ban on unlicensed real-money online gaming described in the Gaming Commission's 2025 warning; no licensing framework exists for online poker. | |||
| Alabama | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker; not addressed by any pending legislation identified. | |||
| Alaska | Not authorized | Informal home poker among equal players is protected by the "social game" defense in §11.66.200(b), defined further in §11.66.280(10), but no licensing framework exists for real-money online poker. | |||
| Arizona | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker in Arizona. | |||
| Arkansas | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online peer-to-peer poker; the 2025 iGaming bill that would have authorized broader online casino games did not pass. | |||
| California | Not authorized | Numerous online-poker legalization bills were introduced in the California Legislature in the 2010s but none passed; no authorizing statute exists as of 2026. Live poker is legal at licensed card rooms (see card_rooms). | |||
| Colorado | Not authorized | No state-licensed real-money online poker; no authorizing legislation has advanced. | |||
| Connecticut | Not authorized | Per the Gaming Division's own FAQ: poker for money (or anything else of value) is currently illegal in Connecticut unless played purely socially, with nothing of value going to anyone but the participants. | |||
| District of Columbia | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online peer-to-peer poker; falls under the general gambling-device prohibition. | |||
| Florida | Not authorized | No statute or compact provision authorizes online peer-to-peer poker; the compact permits only in-person "designated player" poker formats at Tribe facilities under existing (non-online) exclusivity. | |||
| Georgia | Not authorized | Wagering money on a card game is gambling under O.C.G.A. 16-12-21(a)(3); no carve-out exists for poker, online or otherwise. | |||
| Illinois | Not authorized | Not authorized separately from igaming; covered by the same Internet-gambling prohibition in 720 ILCS 5/28-1(a)(12). | |||
| Indiana | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; would require the same igaming authorization that has not passed. Peer-to-peer skill-based poker is explicitly carved out of the 2026 sweepstakes ban, implying licensed live poker rooms/charitable poker continue, but no online real-money poker is authorized. | |||
| Iowa | Not authorized | ||||
| Kansas | Not authorized | No authorizing statute identified. | |||
| Kentucky | Not authorized | ||||
| Louisiana | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online peer-to-peer poker; poker is offered only live at licensed casino poker rooms. | |||
| Maryland | Not authorized | Not authorized; covered by the same "no other forms of real-money online/mobile gaming" determination as igaming generally. | |||
| Massachusetts | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; would require the same igaming authorization as online casino. | |||
| Minnesota | Not authorized | No licensing statute for real-money online poker. | |||
| Mississippi | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online peer-to-peer poker; poker is offered only live at licensed casino poker rooms. | |||
| Missouri | Not authorized | No licensing statute for real-money online poker. | |||
| Nebraska | Not authorized | ||||
| New Hampshire | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; general prohibition (RSA 647:2) applies. | |||
| New Mexico | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker; the Gaming Control Act's "net take"/"gaming" definitions contemplate in-person play only. See igaming notes on the 2015 Compacts' Section 17 internet- gaming reopener (not an outright ban) and the AG's broad reading of "internet gaming" in the Jackpocket opinion. | |||
| New York | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker in New York. | |||
| North Carolina | Not authorized | ||||
| North Dakota | Not authorized | Covered by the general online-gaming prohibition; poker is otherwise authorized only in person as licensed charitable gaming. | |||
| Ohio | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; would be covered by the same stalled igaming bills (HB 298/SB 197) if enacted. Not a member of MSIGA. | |||
| Oklahoma | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker; non-house-banked card games under the compact are land-based only. | |||
| Oregon | Not authorized | No statewide online poker framework exists; licensed, no-house-bank "social games" (including poker) are allowed in private homes and, where local governments permit, in businesses/clubs under ORS 167.117/167.121 (see card_rooms). | |||
| South Carolina | Not authorized | Card and dice games for money are unlawful under §16-19-40 except in exempted private social settings (§16-19-60, no betting/no commercial benefit). Not a member of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. | |||
| South Dakota | Not authorized | No statute authorizes real-money online poker. | |||
| Tennessee | Not authorized | ||||
| Texas | Not authorized | No statute authorizes online poker. Live poker exists only through the "members-only" private-club theory for brick-and-mortar card rooms (see card_rooms) and the private-place social-gambling defense in Penal Code 47.02(b). | |||
| Vermont | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; general prohibition under 13 V.S.A. ch. 51 applies. | |||
| Virginia | Not authorized | No standalone online poker statute; would require the pending iGaming framework (HB161/SB118) to pass, which does not single out poker. | |||
| Wisconsin | Not authorized | No statute authorizes real-money online poker. |