The question of how to choose a US poker site has been answered differently over the past decade.
Finding a poker site post Black Friday was difficult, because many poker rooms left the market. Nowadays, there are a group of solid online US poker sites, along with a growing lineup of states offering their own in-state options. So it’s very important that you do your due diligence and research each room before you sign up and make your first deposit. I’ve explained this in more detail below.
How to choose a US poker site vs a Non-US Poker Site?
Okay, so first off, choosing a US poker site is going to be different than a non-US poker site because there are more restrictions in the US. As a result, there are fewer poker sites that allow US players, and some (like Ignition Poker) have grown to dominate particular segments of play because of their huge player base.
Almost all of this owe to the laws that restrict banking transactions to take place between the customer and the poker site. US banks and financial institutions are not supposed to complete transactions between the two parties. So as a result, fewer rooms decided to participate in the US market.
On top of that, you have several states within the US that are 100% against online gambling. In other words, US players cannot just sign up to any old room like non-US poker players can.
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Important Things to Look For Before Signing Up to a US Poker Site
Okay so there are two things that I think you should look for and research before signing up to a US based poker site. What main factor goes into how to choose a US poker site?
Reputation – Reputation is going to be most important factor when choosing what room to play at.
This had been a bigger issue compared to before Black Friday, when most players played at huge sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. So they didn’t play at smaller poker sites, nor did shady poker sites have much of an opportunity in the US market.
However, since PokerStars and Full Tilt had to leave the US market, it left the door wide open for any poker site to enter the market and accept American players. Fortunately, that phase of consolidation is long past. The few remaining sites are credible and trustworthy and boast long histories of fair play and reliable payouts.
So you want to check a poker site’s reputation before signing up. There are a number of ways to do this:
- Check out a poker forum such as PartTimePoker or 2+2. If there is a problem with payouts or security you’ll likely here it from one of these sources first.
- Online poker news sites.
- Poker affiliate forums. Often times when players get screwed, affiliates were being screwed well beforehand.
What are banking options and payout reputation?
Banking options are another important factor to look at before choosing what poker site to play at. It’s not just the banking options either, but the entire money transaction process.
For the banking options, all you need to do is visit the poker site in question and check out their banking page. This page will tell you what options they accept, what limits there are and the frequency in which you can make a deposit or a withdrawal. So this is very simple.
Payouts on the other hand are a little bit harder to gauge especially without signing up and playing at the site first. However, what you can do is once again check out the forums. You will see if there are any threads on the payout times for that poker site.
If a poker site isn’t paying players, you should be able to find out right away. Also check for payout times.
What About VIP, Bonuses, Games, etc…
I wouldn’t worry about all the standard stuff that you would usually research and compare between poker sites. That includes the game types, bonuses and VIP programs. Obviously it would be nice if you could find a poker site that has all of the things you want. But at the end of the day it’s more important to find a site that is safe and honest.
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What Are the Possible Dangers of Playing Online In the US?
I wanted to point out a couple possible dangers of playing online poker from the US. I’m not doing this to scare you from playing online, but instead I just want to make sure that you’re informed. That way you can make the most educated decision possible with your money.
There are a number of these so I will just include them in bullet point form and include a brief description or explanation:
Poker Site Shuts Down – This is probably going to be the thing I’d fear the most. We saw PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet get shut down in 2011. All of the others were forced to shut down, file bankruptcy.
Again, this isn’t a scare tactic to keep you from playing online. But it’s important to understand what to look for and understand what your risks are. That way you can do everything possible to minimize those risks so that you don’t end up getting burned again.