Best Texas Holdem Poker Sites for 2024

The history of real money Texas Holdem in the USA is complicated, because federal and state authorities have changed gaming laws often in the past 20 years.

Besides that, law enforcement agencies have changed policies on a whim during the same span.

With several electronic cash payment services being targeted by United States Department of Justice and others removing themselves from the US market because of lingering concerns about the sometimes-confusing laws, it’s hard for US online gamblers to know which legitimate poker sites they can use. Thus, we’ve tried to create a story and timeline of the best Texas Holdem deposit methods in the United States these past few years, while listing the current payment services and casinos which accept US players.

1961 Wire Act

Before we get into a discussion of specific poker deposit options, we should mention the Wire Act of 1961. The Federal Wire Act was enacted in 1961 to make sports betting over phone lines illegal. The law tried to outlaw sports bookies. For decades, it was the law used to govern and punish illegal sportsbooks and the organized crime figures often operating them.

Many years later, state lotteries began to join together across state lines, using technology to combine jackpots. When state governments became concerned about putting lottery tickets online and adding online poker and casino games to the mix, officials requested an updated interpretation of the Wire Act for modern-day games from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.

The OLC did issue a memo in 2011 specifying that the Wire Act pertained only to sports betting, not lotteries and other types of igaming. The Trump Administration’s DOJ reversed that memo in 2018, but the wording was murky. Requests from states for clarifications about lottery games resulted in delays and finally a federal lawsuit. New Hampshire, on behalf of numerous states, sued the DOJ and the US government for threatening its lottery, and the federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals, ruled in favor of the states. As the DOJ prepared to take the case to the United States Supreme Court, the Biden Administration took over and dropped the case. The 2011 DOJ opinion regarding the Wire Act became the precedent once again.

Ultimately, the Wire Act applies only to sports betting, which is why states can legalize their own sportsbooks within their state lines only.

Overall Best US Poker Sites

RANK

ONLINE CASINO

BONUS

PAYOUT SPEED

PLAY NOW

#1

Ignition

BONUS: 100% up to $1,000

Payout Speed: 1-2 Days

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#2

Bovada

BONUS: 100% up to $500

Payout Speed: 1-2 Days

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#3

Sports Betting

BONUS: 500% up to $2,500

Payout Speed: 1-2 Days

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#4

Americas Cardroom

BONUS: 200% up to $1000

Payout Speed: 1-2 Days

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The Unlawful Illegal Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)

In 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act went into effect. The UIGEA was tacked onto the Safe Port Act of September 2006 by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress. Citing the 1961 Wire Act, UIGEA made most forms of cash transfers for the sake of gambling illegal. This was prior to the DOJ’s Wire Act memo in 2011, as global companies ran online gambling sites without regulation from most governments, including the United States. The UIGEA was America’s way of putting a stop to it.

Some companies, like 888poker and partypoker, exited the US market due to the UIGEA, unwilling to tangle with the US government. Others, like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, continued operations as usual. Their reading of the UIGEA was that it forbade financial institutions from processing igaming payments, not operators from offering the gambling services.

Is the UIGEA Constitutional?

Since the passage of UIGEA, a few companies tried to challenge the law but found little support from the US court system. The World Trade Organization, on the other hand, stated that the UIGEA violated treaty obligations with other countries and nations. Antigua and Barbuda, for example, has been trying to recoup losses from America’s shutdown of igaming for many years, as some igaming companies previously established bases there, but without any success. The US government has not acknowledged these issues.

The UIGEA has withstood challenges through the years. While it remains a somewhat-ambiguous law that attempted to derail online gambling, it is still used to try to control the financial portion of that industry.

Specialty Poker Room Picks

We would like to direct you to our Texas Holdem rankings pages. Players will find their poker heaven, whether they are searching for the loosest poker websites or the most trusted operators in 2024. We also list websites that have long standing reputations and won’t backfire on you, sites where you can place bets for as low as a quarter.