Category Archives: General

General

Looking Ahead at Online Poker for the USA

March 6, 2026 – 4:31 pm

It probably goes without saying that the USA online poker market has been a bit of a grey area for many over the last couple of years. There are many myths floating around that online poker is illegal for US players, and while this is true to a certain extent, there are opportunities for USA based players to play legally online.

Where in the USA is it legal to play online poker?

At the time of writing there are currently 9 states of which you can play online poker in the US. These include Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Utah, Washington and Washington DC. These 9 have all fought for the right for people within those states to play online.

It is worth noting that there are other states all working hard to legalise gambling but this is often a lengthy and drawn out process. Stay tuned here to our website and news section for updates on how other states are faring in their bid.

Which sites accept USA Players?

After finding an accepting state, you then need to be able to find a card room which then allow USA based players. Unfortunately, not all card rooms that accept USA players will do so from each state. In fact, the only network available at the minute is that of Poker Pros Network who have licensing in all of the 9 above states.

Other networks include Bovada, Merge (Carbon Poker), Revolution Gaming (Lock Poker and Juicy Stakes), Seals With Clubs (Bitcoin only) and Winning Poker (America's Cardroom, Black Chip Poker and True Poker). To play now check out our USA poker site reviews to get started.

What does the future look like for online Poker in the US?

In all honesty, the future looks much brighter than it did twelve months ago. There are more states applying for licensing and there are more much positive outcomes to these applications each month. It's unfortunately a long drawn out process at the minute but it wouldn't surprise us to see a bit of a domino effect for online poker. As more start to gain licensing more will apply due to the revenue it can potentially bring in for each.

It is, however, unlikely that online poker will ever get back to the days of the 'Moneymaker effect' just with so many players being burnt in Black Friday. As we mentioned earlier, a lot of your Average Joe's will see it as being illegal, because they simply don't know any better and uderstand the laws surrounding online poker. Hopefully though, as time goes on, online poker rooms will be able to gain the trust of players and then an influx of what was the biggest market in the world, will return.

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General

Features of the Merge Poker Network

March 30, 2026 – 9:25 pm

The Merge Poker Network has been one of the largest networks within the online poker industry for a number of years now. In fact, it's probably safe to say that they have been one of the few success stories since the emergence of 'Black Friday'. A company that has seen many changes in its time, Merge has continued to listen to users in an attempt to provide one of the most innovative poker rooms in online poker.

USA Friendly

While many poker rooms continue to flee from the US market due to the stricken laws of licensing, Merge have been one of the few companies to continue to offer their services to that of US residents. While the ban still applies in states such as Washington, New York, Maryland, Missouri, Kentucky and Louisiana, the rest of the states still legally allow US residents to partake in online poker. The Merge Network then allows each of their skins to cast the final decision on whether to accept US residents or not. We have listed here several USA online poker sites which operate on the Merge Network.

A host of innovative in-game features

Design and innovation has clearly been at the forefront of the Merge action plan with regular software updates and re-designs being a focal point to the company's success. Few areas have been adapted more than features at the tale with the inclusion of rabbit cam, expose 1 card, emotions, deal it twice, HD graphics and, finally, the inclusion of a time-bank.

Huge array of games

Companies such as PokerStars have always been a frontrunner in terms of the variety of games that's on offer for any one poker room or network. Admittedly, over the years, they have been pretty much untouchable; until now. Merge have managed to combine a host of games to rival some of the bigger players in the industry and to accompany that, each provides a decent amount of traffic to go along with it.

The main hitters are there such as Texas Holdem and Omaha variants including Limit, Pot Limit, No Limit and Omaha Hi-Lo. But on top of that mixed games include HORSE, Caribbean Stud, Five Card Stud, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, Deuce to 7 Lowball, Badugi and Five Card Draw.

Affiliations with major live tours

Merge have managed to affiliate themselves with some of the biggest live poker tours from around the world in the APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour), WPT (World Poker Tour) and Aussie Millions. Tournaments for each tour can be satellite in directly from the network for just a fraction of the price with many tickets including a healthy package to accompany it such as flights, accommodation and even spending money when over there. Satellites for each tour start from just $2.

Our Recommended Merge Poker Sites

If you want to sign up at a poker site that runs on the Merge Poker Network we recommend a few different sites. Our best Merge Poker Network site is PokerHost. PokerHost is our all around best USA online poker site and runs on the Merge Poker Network. See our PokerHost review for more information. You can also see our Carbon Poker review and Aced Poker review. Both poker sites are also USA friendly and run on the Merge Network.

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General

Take a Bad Beat

April 24, 2026 – 8:42 pm

Americas Card RoomUsually no one wants to experience a bad beat – unless of course you are playing at bad beat jackpot table. If you want to play in a bad beat jackpot head over to Americas Card Room. Americas Card Room is the only USA online poker site available that offers a bad beat jackpot. At this time the bad beat jackpot is currently over $111,000 and ready to be hit.

To get a piece of the bad beat jackpot loose the hand holding quad 8′s or better. If you do so you will receive 30% of the bad beat jackpot which at these levels is over $30,000. If you give the bad beat (the winner of the hand) you receive 20% of the jackpot. The remaining portion of the jackpot is divided among the remaining players at the table (10%) and 30% is kept to reseed the next jackpot.

The bad beat jackpot is funded by taking $.50 out of every pot that is being played at a bad beat jackpot table. The $.50 is not missed but all those half dollars add up and if you get a piece of the jackpot you will be glad you missed out on $.50 here and there.

If you do not have an account at Americas Card Room you can sign up through our website and receive a 100% match bonus up to $1000 on your first deposit. Americas Card Room also offer redeposit bonuses on a regular basis. Receive anywhere from a 50% match bonus up to a 100% match usually being capped at $350. Americas Card is pretty generous with their bonuses so you will always be earning some free cash while you play. If you take full advantage of the bonuses you can add a few hundred dollars to your poker bankroll every month.

Americas Card Room runs on the Winning Poker Network and has very good site traffic. Some poker sites on the network allow USA players while others do not so you will find fellow Americans at the tables as well as players from all over the world.

Americas Card Room also offers a great selection of US deposit methods including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and cash transfers. Credit cards work pretty well but if your credit card is declined you can always send cash.

For more information see our complete Americas Card Room review and also see our Bad Beat Jackpots page for more information on how to win a couple thousand dollars.

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General

Top 10 USA Online Poker Sites

February 19, 2026 – 11:17 pm

If you live in the USA there are still plenty of reputable and trustworthy online poker sites to choose from. While some of the larger poker sites have decided to leave the US market, it has opened the door for some of the smaller poker rooms to grow in size. Many of these sites should have been in the top 10 list of all poker sites but because they were smaller many poker players did not give them a chance or simply did not know they existed.

After the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or the UIGEA many poker sites left the US market. We then saw poker sites like Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet and Poker Stars grow in size tremendously fast because they were some of the few larger sites left for Americans to play at. Other sites like PokerHost or Lock Poker were simply looked over because they did not have the player base the larger sites did. They have always been great sites but never received the recognition they deserved.

In our opinion PokerHost has always been a great poker site to play at. The site traffic has always been on the better side and they offer a great sign up bonus and a reload bonus on every deposit you make. The customer service staff is always there to help and they are one of the few US online poker sites that actually offer a 1.800 that you can call and actually speak with a representative. Now that some of the larger site are no longer in operation or have made the decision to no longer allow USA players, poker sites like PokerHost have quickly been gaining players and are no longer looked over as they had been in the past.

PokerHost is just one example of this happening and there are still many great sites to play at and that do an excellent job getting USA deposits approved.  View a list of the top 10 US poker sites and get your deposit approved and collect your winnings fast. You may be surprised of the sites that make the top 10 list but they are all great sites and have been in business for years.

Look for the full legalization of online poker in the US shortly. After Black Friday and the DoJ seizure of domain names it really is the only solution and many states have already begun the process of offering licenses to operate online poker rooms in the US.

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General

Bad Beat Jackpot Growing

January 10, 2026 – 11:11 pm

If you like real money cash ring games, why not sit at a bad beat jackpot table and have a shot at winning some serious cash. The bad beat jackpot at Americas Card Room and True Poker is now over $121,000. For once hope you get a bad beat in order to win some serious money.

Both USA online poker sites run on the Winning Poker Network and share the bad beat jackpot. This is the only bad beat jackpot available for USA players at this time. Take a beating holding quad 8′s or better and win 30% of the jackpot. Currently that would be over $36,000 for simply losing the hand. The remainder of the jackpot is divided among the rest of the players sitting at the table where the jackpot was hit. The winner of the hand also receives 20% of the jackpot. For a complete payout schedule see our bad beat jackpots page.

When you sign up at either site you receive a 100% match bonus up to $1000. Both poker sites accept USA players and do a fairly good job getting USA credit card deposits approved. If your credit card is declined you can also send cash by Western Union or Money Gram to fund your account

Both sites also offer a progressive rake chase where the top players share in a jackpot every month. The more you play the better chances of taking a piece of the progressive pot. Most months this progressive pot is in excess of $200,000.

Another great reason to play at either site is the loose competition. You can find some really inexperienced players at either site in low to medium stakes ring games. Be sure to use our link in order to receive the biggest and best bonus available. For more information see the Americas Card Room review or the True Poker review.

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General

Bet the Bowls

March 29, 2026 – 1:29 am

If you are a serious poker player chances are you also like to place a wager here and there on big sporting events. With the NFL playoffs and the College Bowl season in full swing we have a great listing of poker sites that also have full service sportsbooks. There are only two USA online poker sites that also have sportsbooks that we recommend.

BetOnline and Bovada both started their business by being an online sportsbook first. Bovada has been in business since 2026 and BetOnline since 2026. After they both successfully built their sportsbook business they both decided to offer online poker and an online casino. You can use all three products (poker, sportsbooks and the casino) from just one account. Both also offer a bonus not just for poker but for the sportsbook as well.

If you want to bet on sports and play poker from just one account use our USA poker sites with online sportsbooks. BetOnline may be our first choice but Bovada is also a great choice. A sportsbook is a sportsbook as long as you know they will pay so there is not mush distinction between the two. BetOnline only gets our nod before Bovada because they have some very juicy poker games and tournaments.

Check out the BetOnline Poker review or the Bovada Poker review for more information on the poker sites.

 

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Finding a Mac Poker Site

March 13, 2026 – 11:49 pm

Using a Mac computer there are far less choices when it comes to playing online poker, especially in the USA. Luckily though there are several outstanding online poker sites that offer a full down-loadable version for their software for Mac computer users. As Apple and Mac continues to grow and make up a larger portion of the personal computer market, you can expect to find more USA Mac poker sites in the near future.

The poker sites that operate on the Merge Gaming Network all offer a version of their software for Mac. These sites include many skins but the most popular and largest is Carbon Poker. Carbon Poker offers outstanding site traffic so there is never a problem finding the cash ring game or tournament of your choice even at off peak hours. The software is also very robust offering features like "Deal it Twice", "Show 1 Card" and "Rabbit Hunting". The Mac software at Carbon is the best available for USA residents. They also offer a bad beat jackpot that is almost always a few hundred thousand dollars. At times the jackpot has even approached $1 million.

Another popular US Mac poker site is Bovada. Bovada is the pinnacle of online gaming being in business since 2026. They not only offer a Mac version of their software for poker but also have an online casino and full service sportsbook. So if you like more than poker, Bovada is a "one stop shop" of all things gambling. Make your first deposit and receive a generous 100% match bonus up to $1000 for the poker room. They run on their network but have good site traffic.

Another option for Mac users is using a flash or no download version of a poker room. With today's increased Internet speeds and advances in graphics playing at a flash based poker site almost offers just as good an experience as if you downloaded the software. Also by using a flash poker room you can play anywhere you have an Internet connection and save your computer's memory. Another advantage of flash Mac poker rooms is that since you do not have to download anything you can even play at work!

So if you live in the US and have a Mac computer, check out a listing of the best US Mac poker sites. As discussed, Carbon Poker and Bovada are both outstanding US poker sites that offer a Mac version of their software. Be sure to claim your bonus when making your first deposit and then hit the tables!

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