Online Poker

Top 3 US Online Poker Rooms
	PokerStars PokerStars is the worlds biggest and best online poker room and they accept all USA players!	PokerStars Review
	Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is the place the poker pros play. Come see why and get a $600 Bonus!	Full Tilt Review
	Players Only Players Only Poker is the best poker room for USA players because they have the highest rate of accepted credit cards.	PlayersOnly Review

All USA Poker Rooms

Here is a list of all the US Friendly Poker Rooms. After 2006 when the UIGEA passed, some online poker rooms stopped accepting players from the United States. The biggest room that left the US market was Party Poker. There are still plenty of good quality poker rooms accepting USA players including PokerStars which is the largest online poker room.

Poker	Name	Network	US	Bonus	Bonus Code	Review
	Pokerstars	PokerStars		$600	PSP1913	Review
	Players Only	Merge		$650	PLAERS100PK	Review
	Full Tilt Poker	Full Tilt		$600	DP600	Review
	Bodog Poker	Bodog		$500	818238	Review
	Absolute Poker	Cereus		$500	FISH500	Review
	Sportsbook Poker	Merge		$650	FIRST100PK	Review
	Aced	Merge		$500	ACED100	Review
	BetUS Poker	Cake (CPN)		$600	POKER110	coming soon
	Carbon Poker	Merge		$600	UPTO600	coming soon

Is Online Poker Legal for the USA?

There is no simple answer for this question.  Ask 20 different people and you will get 20 different answers.

The UIGEA does not apply to players and does not make online gambling illegal.  It only refers to forms of online gambling that are already illegal.  For example the 1961  Wire Act makes sports betting businesses illegal (not sports betting cutomers).  The UIGEA prohibits illegal businesses from accepting deposits for the purpose of online gambling.  This law also requires regulations of financial instituitons to enforce this law.

Gambling Law expert Professor I. Nelson Rose has been writing on legal gambling for over 25 years.  Nelson Rose sums up his thoughts on the legality of online poker in the United States: “There is no chance of being prosecuted if you’re a player. If you’re a company, you might be violating the law.” Many pro poker industry groups like the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) are actively pushing for the legalization and regulation of the online poker industry.

Online Poker Games

Poker is still a boom, and if you aren’t playing yet what are you waiting for? Texas hold’em is the most popular game right now, but Omaha h/l and Seven card Stud are also very popular. These are the top three games right now, and if you want into the poker world you need to know a bit about them.

Texas hold’em is a ‘window’ or ‘common’ card game. This means there are cards placed in the middle of the table face up that all players share to build their best hand. In texas hold’em each player is dealt two cards, face down, starting to the left of the dealer. In the first round, betting is started with the use of blinds. In todays Texas Hold’em games there are 2 blinds, a small blind a big blind. After the 2 initial cards are dealt the betting starts to the left of the big blind. The first player has the option to call, raise or fold and this action moves around the table in a clock wise fashion. When the action is around the table and all players have either called or folded, ‘the flop’ is laid out. ‘The Flop’ is three cards face up in the middle of the table. These are common cards that can be used by all players to create a hand. A betting round begins to the left of the dealer. Next comes ‘The Turn’, a single card placed next to the flop and another betting round. The final card, called ‘The River’ is placed on the board, and the final betting round begins. When this final betting round ends, if more that one player is left, it is time for ‘Show Down’, and the players reveal their hands. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot, and a new hand begins with the person to the left of the previous dealer dealing.

Omaha h/l is another common card game. It is played much the same as holdem, with a couple twists. The first one you will notice is you are dealt 4 cards instead of 2. In Omaha h/l it is important to know, and remember you must use 2 cards from your hand and 3 cards from the board. The second big difference is the h/l part. This sands for High/Low. And it is possible for the pot to have multiple winners. In Omaha the person with the lowest hand with all cards not pairing and being 8 or under wins half the pot. In the game of Omaha h/l you can not have a low hand if there is not 3 cards 8 and under on the board. If you wish to play Omaha h/l it will be important to learn more about the rules and strategies of the game.

Seven card stud is a classic poker game that is still popular in some parts of the world. It is a stud game, as opposed to a common card like holdem and Omaha. In a stud game a player uses no common cards, and does not get to exchange any cards such as in  draw game. Seven Card Stud begins with each player placing an ante in the middle, this starts the pot. Each player is dealt 3 cards, 2 down and 1 up. The lowest card is then required to make a forced bet. The action goes around the table clockwise with each player either calling, raising or folding. At the end of the betting round the dealer gives each player another up card and a betting round starts with the highest hand. There is no forced bet after the first round. This continues one card at a time until each player has 4 up cards and 2 down cards. The final card is delivered face down and a final betting round start with the high hand of last round. When all the action is completed there is a showdown and the highest hand takes down the pot.

If you are joining a new poker room, make sure you use a poker bonus code to get the best bonus.

Texas Holdem Starting Hands

Here is a quick “cheat sheet” guide for helping decide which hands to play.  Click to enlarge.