Online Poker is Not Illegal

March 25, 2009

Online poker enthusiasts want to be clear about one thing in reference to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA – it did not make online poker illegal. They know that the most common misperception is that online poker was made illegal along with all online gambling, but this is not the case. In fact, no online gambling is illegal, just the payment processing as it pertains to online gambling sites.

However, poker is exempt from the UIGEA because poker is not a game of chance and is a game of skill. Online poker is not illegal under federal law, so therefore it is not part of the UIGEA. Those online gambling sites that only offer poker are not illegal and can be played at – as can the payments be processed through them. Sites that offer poker as well as online gambling are not legal, so you will need to focus on finding a site that only offers poker if you wish to play it online.

Greg Raymer is one of those people that knows his poker playing, and his UIGEA. Raymer recently gave an interview with National Review Online and he was very clear about the fact that poker is not illegal online. He said that the UIGEA has no bearing on online poker although many think that it does because of the propaganda that has surrounded it.

Raymer said that the Department of Justice has been harassing legal poker sites, but have not been able to indict them because it is not illegal under federal law.