The Best Online Poker Sites PA

Online poker has been legal in Pennsylvania since 2017, and there is now a range of high-quality options for poker fans in the state. In this guide to the top online poker sites PA offers, you’ll discover the games, bonuses, and other important features that each option provides.

Complete List of Pennsylvania Online Poker Sites

To get this guide to the top Pennsylvania poker sites started, we want to provide you with a list of all of the available options. It’s important to note that all of our recommended operators have earned an official PA gaming license, which ensures that they are legal, safe, secure, and fair. The available options include:

• PokerStars
• BetMGM
• Borgata
• WSOP.com

In this article, we’ve explored the features that the best online poker Pennsylvania sites offer, including its games, welcome bonuses, payment options, and mobile apps. We have also discussed other interesting details, such as the legality and history of online poker in PA and the US.

An Overview of the Top Online Poker Sites

There are four legal Pennsylvania online poker sites that can be enjoyed by users that are over the age of 21 years old. While each platform offers varying numbers of games and tournaments, we can assure you that each option is high-quality and trustworthy. Be sure to claim their welcome bonuses when you sign up.

PokerStars

The PokerStars platform was launched in partnership with the Mount Airy Casino and Resort. As one of the best Pennsylvania online poker sites, this site provides some of the best quality online poker options in the US. It’s extremely easy to open an account, and there are game options to suit all experience levels. There are both single cash games and tournaments to enjoy for a number of game types. In fact, there are 15 different game variants to choose from, including Texas Hold’em, 5 Card Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Draw, and Courcheval. You’ll be able to find an option to suit your budget. Another highlight of this site is the PokerStars live lobby. Here, you can find localized and international tournaments for a range of different games. These include the European Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. In some cases, you can qualify to compete against more than 1,000 players. The site provides new users with all of the information they need to get find the perfect events and games. There are a number of convenient payment methods supported, and the site offers a great mobile app for convenient remote play. There is also a generous new player bonus to boost your starting budget.

BetMGM

The BetMGM Poker platform is one of the most popular in the US. The website is the online affiliate of MGM Resorts and is partnered with the Hollywood Casino in Morgantown. There are three different game types provided, including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Omaha Hi/Lo. These can be enjoyed as either single cash games or tournaments. The tournaments offer the most variations in game styles. You can play Sit and Wins, Shootouts, and Multi-Table tournaments among several other options. This gives you greater versatility to find the ideal options with the best buy-ins to suit your budget. If you’re new, you can refer to its streamlined how-to guides. One of the best features of the BetMGM Pennsylvania online poker platform is that it benefits from the MGM Rewards program. This loyalty scheme is the same as is used at the land-based MGM Resorts casinos, so your online spending and gameplay can earn you perks to claim in person. The tournaments can offer huge prizes, with prize pools often exceeding $500,000. The site is also renowned for its generous bonuses to new players and returning customers. We recommend that you download its stable and reliable mobile app for remote gameplay.

Borgata

The Borgata online poker platform is also operated by MGM Resorts. This means that it shares a similar website skin to that of BetMGM poker. That said, there are several variants in its offers that distinguish this option from its sister site. The first is that the two tournament options are Texas Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha. The Borgata platform is also offered in New Jersey, and its online cash games and tournaments allow you to play against competitors in both states. Buy-ins range in price to suit both high-rollers and low-stakes players, and daily tournaments can offer prize pools as high as $30,000. There is a generous welcome bonus for the poker site, and users can also benefit from rewards points with the aforementioned MGM Rewards program. The gameplay interface is sleek and intuitive, and you can always expect a seamless experience due to the high-quality software that is used.

WSOP.com

Currently, the WSOP.com platform is in the midst of a soft trial in Pennsylvania. This is in accordance with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The site is the official platform of the World Series of Poker and has partnered with Harrah’s Philadelphia to bring these great products to PA players. There are only limited hours that players can access the site and try the platform, so you may not get to try this out just yet. However, we can look at the site’s operations in Michigan, Nevada, and New Jersey to get a strong idea of what users can expect once the site is fully operational and licensed. For example, the site boasts one of the largest online poker rooms in the US, with a variety of Omaha, No-Limit Hold’em, and Stud games to enjoy. These are available as cash games and tournaments. There are sit-and-go options with accessible buy-ings, with prize pools exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of the best features of this site is that due to its affiliation with WSOP, users can compete for opportunities to enter live WSOP events. There are regular promotions and bonuses, and the site can be enjoyed on mobile devices.

Welcome Bonuses and Promotions

When you sign up with any of our legal poker sites PA, you’ll have the opportunity to claim a new player welcome bonus. These are extremely varied but often come in the form of deposit match bonuses and free-play tokens. It’s well worth claiming these no matter where you wish to play. At BetMGM, you can claim deposit-matched funds up to $1,000 as well as up to $75 in tournament tickets. PokerStars offers two promotions. One is a deposit match bonus of up to $600, and the other is $100 in free play credits on cash games that are triggered when you wager $1 on casino games. The Borgata’s welcome bonus is similar to the BetMGM bonus. Before you claim any promotion, it’s important that you take the time to read the terms and conditions. These will outline how you can spend the bonuses, the validity periods, and what you need to do to convert them into cash.

Available Games and Variations

The best thing about choosing licensed operators to do your Pennsylvania online poker real money gambling is that the poker rooms have large numbers of legitimate, verified players. Better yet, these sites are linked with other legal states, so you’ll always be able to find tables for a range of game variations. The >most popular game type at all of our sites is Texas Hold’em, which can come as standard or No Limit varieties. Most of the tournaments are Texas Hold’em games and these tend to offer the largest prize pools. Another popular game type is Omaha, which can come in four-card or five-card variants. Other game options include Five Card Draw and Seven Card Stud. Many of the games tend to have Hi/Lo opportunities too. Before you play any game, you’ll want to learn the rules. Fortunately, all of our recommended sites provide in-depth guides and walkthroughs, and some even offer free games for new players. There is also the option to play either single cash games or tournaments. We have explained what each means below.

Cash Games

As the name suggests, cash games are single events that are played for cash. There is usually a minimum buy-in and in most cases, a maximum limit. A player’s buy-in is converted to chips and the blind remains consistent each round. They can quit the game at any time and exchange their chips for cash. If they lose all their chips, they are able to buy back in.

Tournaments

Tournaments are popular at the top Pennsylvania online poker sites due to the higher stakes and prestige of the games. Players buy in at the same amount and are given the same amount of chips. If a player loses their chips, they are out and cannot buy back in. The tournament ends once a winner has taken all the chips. Players are then paid according to where they are placed.

Payment Methods

The best Pennsylvania poker sites ensure that players can make fast and convenient transactions by supporting payments with a number of popular payment methods. These include debit cards and credit cards, eWallets, bank transfers, mobile payments, eChecks, and even cash. We’ve listed the available options below:

• Mastercard and Visa
• PayPal
• Skrill
• Bank Transfer
• PayNearMe
• Instant eChecks
• Play+
• Apple Pay
• Tappp

It’s important to note that each site will have varying limits and requirements for each method. It’s standard for the minimum deposit and withdrawal limit to be around $10, with deposits processed instantly and without fees. Withdrawal times can vary greatly though, with eWallets such as PayPal and Play+ providing the fastest withdrawals.

Play Online Poker on Mobile Apps

If you prefer a remote gaming experience, we recommend that you download the mobile apps for your chosen top PA poker site. These are free to install and are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. You can either download them through links on the websites or in the official app stores of your device. There are plenty of benefits to mobile play, with the most obvious being their convenience. You can enter cash games or tournaments and play on the go, with the table interfaces optimized for smaller screens. You’ll be able to make payments, claim promotions, and update your account details through the apps, so you’ll never have to use a desktop device.

Laws for Online Poker in Pennsylvania

Online poker was legalized in Pennsylvania after a major gaming expansion bill was passed in 2017. In addition to online poker, the state also authorized the establishment of online casino websites. The first real money poker sites in Pennsylvania were launched in 2019, shortly before online sports betting debuted. However, for an online poker site to be legal, it must first be authorized and licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. This government authority regulates the market to ensure that operators are providing safe, secure, and fair products to users. It is against the law to play with unlicensed operators in PA.

Online Poker vs. Video Poker

When you open an account with BetMGM, Borgata, and PokerStars, you will also be able to access the full suite of online casino games through your same account. If you head to the casino games lobby, you’ll come across several video poker titles that are available as virtual variants or live casino variants. The major difference between online poker and video poker is that online poker is played against real players, whereas video poker relies on digital RNG systems. This means that you’ll be competing against computers. Therefore, these can be great low-stakes games to enjoy and improve your skills.

History of Online Poker in the US

The history of online poker dates back to the late 1990s, which saw the emergence of the first online gambling sites. During the poker boom of the early 2000s, thousands of US players flocked to these sites to compete at sites such as PokerStars and PartyPoker.  However, these sites were operating in a legal grey area, and in 2006, the US Senate passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) to restrict unauthorized online gambling. Despite this, sites continued to accept US players. Things came to a head in what is now known as Black Friday in 2011. On this date, the Department of Justice raided several operators and charged them for offering illegal gambling. It wouldn’t be until 2013 that the first authorized online poker site opened in New Jersey and Nevada. Since then, Delaware, West Virginia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have created legal online poker markets.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve completed this guide to the best online poker sites Pennsylvania has to offer, we hope that you can confidently choose the right option for you. As we’ve covered, each website provides new players with a generous welcome bonus to boost your starting budget. You have the option to play single cash games or compete in tournaments, and there are accessible buy-ins to suit all budgets. If you prefer a r

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are looking for quick answers to your questions about online poker in Pennsylvania, keep reading. Below, we’ve addressed some common queries about important topics related to this fun activity. By reading these FAQs, you won’t have to read the whole guide.