Best USA Poker Sites

Online Poker In The USA Is Far From Dead

A lot of U.S. players became confused with the exit of Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker from the American market a while back.  Lots of players already thought that you couldn’t play online poker anyway even before that, due to not being in the know.

Millions of players were in the know though at the time, at least when it came to knowing about these two big sites.  So when they went away, a much bigger darkness fell upon the country, with most people lamenting about the death of online poker in the United States.

The truth is that online poker hasn’t ended in the USA and there are several excellent poker sites out there that not only still offer action to American players, they have raised the bar as far as effectively allowing Americans to move money in and out of their poker sites without detection from the government.

The combination of the carelessness of Poker Stars and Full Tilt along with an inside informant who ratted them out caused all the trouble they went through.  When you throw in the degree of motivation that the government had to take them down, being so big, then you get the outcome of Black Friday.

The USA poker sites which survived are all much too small for the U.S. Department of Justice to want to even be bothered with, although they don’t take any of that for granted and use a higher level of stealth than has ever been seen in the business.  When you add in the fact that the Department of Justice no longer considers online poker to be in violation of federal law, American players can play at these poker sites with an unprecedented level of comfort.

Overview of the best USA poker sites:

Carbon Poker

Carbon Poker
200% Bonus Up To $5000

Carbon Poker is the flagship of the usa poker sites on the popular Merge Gaming Network. Merge has been the premiere network for several years now among those offering online poker to players from all countries including those residing in the U.S. Carbon Poker all this time has been the poker room of choice among poker players as far as selecting from among the different rooms on the Merge Network goes.

The main reason behind this is that Carbon Poker is site that is exclusively geared to the needs of poker players, and their years of expertise in offering top notch online poker really shines. To be honest, the role of the other poker rooms on the network are primarily to bring a constant supply of fish to the network, and it’s true that the majority of the players who sign up and play at these smaller sites are fish. ...Full Review

Bovada Poker

Bovada Poker
100% Bonus Up To $1000

Bodog Poker has long been one of the best us sites offering poker to players from all around the world, including players from the USA. In fact, Bodog Poker has been one of the best usa poker sites to play at period, and players from all countries have been enjoying and benefiting from playing there for many years. Bodog and Bovada Poker is a stand alone operation though, which means that a higher percentage of the traffic comes from non poker specialists. They not only have enough traffic to make this work, but right now their traffic is right up there with the busiest poker networks that offer play to people from all countries.

Given the huge importance of playing against soft competition, this is definitely a big plus. So what this means for us is getting to play against even more players who don’t know a lot about poker and are in there to have fun and gamble it up. These are the easiest players to beat out of their money, and the more of them, the better we do and the more money we make. So you can see why I’m so excited about the situation at Bovada....Full Review

Lock Poker

Lock Poker
200% Bonus Up To $4000

If you’re from the United States and are looking for a great place to play online poker where you’re truly welcome, then you need to look no further than Lock Poker. Since their inception, Lock Poker has really stood out as a cut above the other poker rooms that accept players from all countries.

Lock Poker has so many good things going for it that I’ll only be able to touch on the main ones in this brief review, but you can rest assured that you will be delighted with this usa poker site once you become familiar with all that they have to offer. There’s no better way to do this of course than to actually give their site a try if you have not already....Full Review

Cake Poker

Bet Online Poker
25% Bonus Up To $225

Cake Poker has been offering poker to players from all around the world, including those residing in the United States, since 2004. For years, they have lived in the shadow of the bigger American friendly poker sites, with most players feeling that the rather modest amount of poker traffic that they offered wasn’t enticing enough compared to the monster sized amount of traffic that you’d see at the big poker sites.

Players who were really in the know though didn’t ignore Cake Poker and some of the other second tier U.S. friendly poker sites, as with most of the sharks staying away, and therefore having a lot higher fish to shark ratio, the opportunities to make money at Cake Poker were substantially higher....Full Review

Bet Online Poker

Bet Online Poker
25% Bonus Up To $225

Another benefit of a  poker room being a sideline is that although they aren’t among the biggest poker rooms, the overall operation is a very large and very stable one.  A lot of usa poker sites come and go and with some you’re never sure how long they will last.  While players usually get their money back, this often isn’t without a lot of hassle and waiting.

With large and successful sites like Bet Online, there’s no need to worry at all.  They have been making a lot of money for years helping people bet on sports and there’s no reason whatsoever why this won’t continue.  Their poker profits only add to their success, but they don’t have to worry about a slowdown on the poker end like most poker sites do. US players are welcome!...Full Review

These USA Poker Sites Were Already Better Though

It’s been a long time since I’ve played at Poker Stars or Full Tilt, long before Black Friday, as those of us who are really in the know have known for a long time that these two big sites were far more difficult to make money at.  We didn’t get sucked in by their multi million dollar marketing campaigns and instead chose to play at smaller and juicier poker sites where you simply did better no matter what kind of player you are.

If you were a bad player, you simply lost less money at these easier sites, which has to be a good thing.  If you were learning the game, you lost less while you were learning, and were able to become profitable much faster.  If you were a good player, you just made a lot more money playing against the much more fishy crowd at these smaller poker sites.

So now, we’re left with the good and fishy sites, and the tough sites have left the building.  That’s not something that I would lament about.  Of course, you need to know which sites are the ones worth playing at, and that’s where we’re glad to provide you with our advice.

I‘ve always enjoyed the idea of helping other players play at the better sites and seeing them do better as a result.  To be honest, I also like the idea that I’m playing a part in getting more American players in the game to reinforce the fact that the government has no business telling us that we can’t play online poker.  America is supposed to be about liberty.  Go get some.

Choosing the Best Poker Room

After you establish a list of guidelines and items that are important to you, you can start looking for good poker rooms. First, ask your experienced friends and colleagues for recommendations on online casinos and usa poker rooms. Ask them about their favorite websites, their experience and if they can advise you on which poker rooms you should avoid and which rooms you should check out.

Another important place that you should investigate is the Internet search engines. Run a search on several keywords like poker online or poker rooms and then take some time to read reviews about specific rooms that you find in your search. Most of the review websites provide detailed information on major poker rooms. Take some time to browse through those sites and read about the rooms that you find interesting. Pay attention to what other players write about the websites.

After you have a list and kept only those poker rooms that fit you, start the final phase of the process: go to the actual websites and check them out. Browse through the sites and read what they offer to the players. Check out the games and variations that they offer, the money deposit options and their customer service. Only then try to play in the flash or java version (if there is such an option) or in the other free options and if you are satisfied, open an account and start playing for real money.

Playing in an online poker room can be an exciting experience, but in order to prevent disappointments, make you you perform a serious check on a site before you deposit money.  Your time and money are precious.