Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For Real Money

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• Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For Real Money Instantly
• American Poker Sites Real Money
• Play Online Poker Real Money
• Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For Real Money Right Now

You’ll find no shortage of live poker cash games and tournaments in California. But these games are expensive between their multi-hundred dollar buy-ins and their flat-fee rake structure.

Why not make the switch to online poker? The buy-ins and rake are reasonable. There are more games and variants to choose from. And you can claim a deposit bonus, which no live cardroom offers.

All you need is an account with one of the best California poker sites online.

We strongly recommend you join one of the real money poker sites we endorse. We explain why, what we look for, and more in the next section.

Then, we’ll show you why you should consider switching to playing online poker in CA, including how it can save and make you more money compared to playing live.

If that sounds good to you, then let’s get started.

If you want to play real money poker online in California, your first step is to find a safe and reputable poker site to join. This isn’t a step you want to take alone. Here is why.

Poker is unique from most other gambling games in that you’re not playing against the house but other players like yourself. The site you join needs to have adequate traffic, otherwise, you won’t find a game to play.

This information is available online if you know where to look. And when it’s not, there are usually a few tells you can pick up in the online poker room’s lobby.

If you don’t know how to find this information, or how to interpret the clues, you might as well choose a poker site blindfolded. There’s really no difference if you insist on finding your own CA poker site to join.

On top of that, there’s other criteria you should consider, such as the poker room’s games, variants, stakes, rake, promotions, and more. It’s a lot to uncover.

That’s why we suggest you rely on us. We have decades of online poker experience. And we’ve researched and tested almost every online poker site in existence, so we know exactly which ones Californians should join.

Here’s what we look for in the best online poker sites for California.

• The poker site’s license and the commission that issued it
• The banking options you can use
• The withdrawal limits i.e. how much of your winnings can you withdraw each month?
• Can you claim a deposit bonus or participate in a VIP program, guaranteed tournaments, etc.?
• Are they trustworthy? What do other poker players think of them?

This covers the basics and tells us whether the poker room is safe, secure, trustworthy, and reliable enough to join.

But we’re not done yet.

We also need to make sure they’re a GREAT poker site, especially for poker players in California. Here’s what else we look at.

• What features does the room have? Do they have hand history players, four-color decks, odds calculators, quick play, etc.?
• Can you use a HUD?
• What kinds of tournaments can you play? Can you play guaranteed tournament? Satellites? Knockouts? Turbos? 6-max?
• What real money poker games and variants can you play?
• Do they allow multi-tabling? How many tables can you play at once?
• Is their rake reasonable?

We compare every site we review, take the top choices, and order them from best to worst. The result is a list of the top poker sites or, in this case, the best California poker sites.

We’re thorough in our research and testing, as you can see for yourself if you read our poker room reviews.

The goal is to save you all that time, money, and energy, then help you find a California-friendly online poker room as quickly as possible.

We think we achieved that. But you’ll only know for sure once you choose a CA poker site to join, create your account, and get some real money hands and tourneys under your belt.

Rake at California Poker Sites

One unique thing about playing live poker in California is how you pay rake. The rake is the money the poker room collects as their fee for hosting the game.

Most poker rooms charge you a percentage of the pot and cap how much they can rake. For example, a poker room might take 10% of every pot up to $10.

Many cardrooms do not rake the pot if no one sees a flop. This is known as a “no flop, no drop” policy.

California flips all this on its head. Here’s how.

By law, California cardrooms cannot rake a percentage of the pot, so they charge a flat rate and/or charge an hourly fee instead.

For example, you might pay $10 every hour to play. Or you might as much as $7 (at $5/$10) plus whatever the room takes for their promotions, such as a bad beat jackpot. They also rake the pot even if no one sees a flop.

Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For Real Money Instantly

Now, let’s compare this to online poker.

One of the California online poker sites we like charges 5.5% rake for their highest limit games and even less for their micro stakes.

If you play $5/$10, like our live example above, you’ll pay $0.01 for every $0.18 in the pot (5.5%). You’ll pay $1 to $5 max per hand depending on the number of players in the pot. That’s 70% less on the high side, just for playing online.

That’s not all the money you’ll save either. Here are the other ways you’ll save by choosing to play real money poker online instead of live.

• Not having to travel
• Not wasting time waiting for a game or seat to open
• Not playing at rooms without a no flop, no drop policy
• Choosing whether to play bad beat jackpot games

You’ll save money, but you can also make more money playing poker online because you can play more than one table at a time and you can participate in promotions like deposit bonuses and VIP programs.

The bottom line, you’ll increase your hourly rate and take-home pay. And all you have to do is choose to play games at the top CA poker websites instead of live.

This doesn’t just apply to cash games either. It applies to tournaments, too.

California is also known for their poker tournaments. They host some of the largest and most popular poker tournaments in the world.

• WSOP circuit events
• WTP tournaments such as the WPT Deep Stacks Championship
• Battle of the Bay
• California State Poker Championship
• Memorial Day Tournament Series
• Bay 101 Summer Open
• Commerce Hold’em Series
• A. Poker Open
• Gold Rush Poker Series

These are great live tournaments to play in. They can add a nice boost to your total live earnings column, especially since they routinely pay six and seven-figure prizes to the winner.

There’s also a little prestige and notoriety in doing well in these tournaments, which some poker players care about.

But do they offset the downsides?

• Buy-ins range from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
• The rake is expensive. You should expect the cardroom to collect $15 to $20 for every $100 you pay to play.
• The bigger tournaments can take days to complete.

Now, these will apply to live tournaments. But you also have the fact that you can spend hours playing, bust the tournament, and walk away with nothing.

This will apply to online tournaments too, but they have advantages that California poker tournament players do not have.

If you want to play real money poker tournaments in California, we recommend you play online. Here are a few reasons why, relative to the points made in the last section.

• The largest tournament buy-ins online are between $215 to $600 (with a few rare exceptions).
• The prize pools still reach six and seven figures because online poker sites aren’t confined to California or a specific square footage. They can allow a larger number of players to play, which increases the prize pool without increasing the buy-in.
• You pay less rake. You’ll usually pay $9 to $10 for every $100 you pay to play.
• Most tournaments are done in a (long) day.

Now, we mentioned that you can play a tournament for hours only to bust and walk away with nothing. That’s possible in any tournament, online or live. But here’s why online poker tournaments are better.

Online poker rooms can run more tournaments since they’re not limited on space. This means you can play more tournaments. And most CA poker sites let you play more than one tournament at a time.

Since you can put in more volume (play more tournaments), you can get through your variance (losses) faster. This enables you to cash out and win more often. You don’t have to go weeks, months, or years without a score. You’ll cash out far more often than that.

There are many other benefits to playing poker tournaments online instead of live, too.

• You can earn VIP perks.
• You’ll have a larger variety of tournament games, variations, and stakes to choose from.
• You can satellite into larger poker tournaments for much less than you can online.
• You can buy into many tournaments for less than $20. Many of these have three- or four-figure prize pools/payouts.

While there’s more money, prestige, and notoriety to gain playing in California’s live poker tournaments, it also costs a lot of time and money to play these tourneys.

Online poker tournaments are a middle ground. You can still play in tournaments with large prize pools. But you won’t spend as much to play them. And you have the added benefit of multi-tabling, which will enable you to play, cash in, and win more tournaments than you ever could offline.

Yes. We highly recommend it. The traffic at each poker site fluctuates, both in terms of overall traffic and traffic to the specific game you want to play.

You’ll have better odds of finding a profitable game or tournament the more poker site accounts you have.

The most common is the deposit bonus. Make a deposit and the poker room will match a percentage of it up to so many dollars.

For example, if the poker room you join is offering a 100% match bonus up to $500, then they’ll give you $1 for every $1 you deposit. You can get as much as $500 free.

Poker rooms also offer VIP programs, rebates, tournament tickets, guaranteed tournaments, VIP exclusive freerolls, and more.

It depends on the poker room.

A typical guaranteed tourney during a Sunday schedule is $100,000. That said, we’ve seen guarantees as high as $1 million.

You should take a two-pronged approach.

One, figure out what you want in a poker site — the games, variants, stakes, promotions, etc. Then, read the reviews for every site we recommend and choose the site that offers the closest to what you’re looking for.

Yes. Most poker sites offer mobile poker.

Some poker sites offer a native app. Others have a browser-based setup where you’ll play poker in your mobile web browser.

There are tons of variables to consider, too many to cover here. If we had to give a sweeping statement, it’d be the one below.

American Poker Sites Real Money

If you play medium stakes or higher, chances are you’re better off playing live. You can find games like $5/$10 or $10/$20 online, but you’ll probably find more consistent action offline. And depending on where you live in California, it might even make more sense to drive to Reno or Las Vegas.

For micro and small stakes players, as well as tournament players, we think there’s a lot of value in playing at online poker sites for all the reasons mentioned above.

Poker is popular in CA. You’ll find loads of live cash game action and poker tournaments. Many of these poker tournaments pay life-altering sums to the players who win them.

But live poker in California is far more expensive, less profitable, and less convenient compared to playing online.

There’s no reason you can’t play both formats, both live and online. But if we had to choose, we’d choose to play real money poker online.

If you see where we’re coming from and want to make the leap to playing poker online, then join one of the best California poker sites and create your account now.

Play Online Poker Real Money

Cash games and tournaments are running all day every day. Are you going to be part of the action?

Choosing to play poker online for money is simple – once you know what to look out for. This page covers everything you need to know on playing poker online in the US. We break down how to find a safe and easy to beat poker room, and rank the best casino sites to play online poker real money in the United States. This includes poker sites like Bovada Poker, Ignition Poker & America’s Cardroom.

Before you jump into a US real money poker game, though, here are the key factors to consider:

• Site Safety: Choose licensed, trusted and tested rooms
• Game Selection: What choice of games are available, and at what buy-ins?
• Bonuses / Rewards: How well will your play be rewarded?
• USA Friendly Poker Site: This depends on which state you are playing from.

These days, the biggest and best US poker rooms are based offshore. They are licensed by their host country, and welcome players from all over the world – including the USA.

You can also find smaller in-state poker rooms. Four individual US states currently provide regulated online poker rooms, namely Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Games are shared between players from the first three states mentioned, with the US poker market expected to grow as more states start to offer regulated online poker for real money in the future. Likely contenders include such states as West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri and New York.

Best Online Poker Sites for Real Money in 2020

Deposit Limits: $10 - $5,000

Accepts: Visa, Bitcoin, Mastercard, Bank Wire

Ignition is a popular option for players in the United States. They offer most popular cash game variants and more than $1.5 million in weekly online poker tournament guarantees. Ignition also offers Zone Poker, similar to Zoom Poker where you’re moved to a new table and dealt a new hand every time you fold.

Ignition Poker also offer a wide variety of poker promotions.

Join Ignition Poker here and get up to $2000 free!

Deposit Limits: $10 – $5,000

Accepts: Bitcoin, Visa, Bank Wire

Licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Bovada is one of the oldest online poker sites servicing America. Bovada offers anonymous tables and a mobile-optimized design allowing play on all mobile platforms. The design makes it feel like you’re playing in Las Vegas rather than your home computer.

They offer a wide variety of cash games and tournaments with over $1.5 million in weekly guarantees.

Join Bovada Poker here and get a $500 bonus!

Deposit Limits: $25 – $25,000

Accepts: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Visa, MasterCard, Money Transfers, Bank Wire

Sportsbetting.ag offers a robust online poker option with excellent cash game and tournament action. For cash games, they provide weekly cash leaderboards with $10,000 in prizes weekly. They offer over $45,000 in weekday guarantees, over $130,000 in guarantees on Saturday and over $275,000 in guarantees on Sunday.

Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For Real Money Right Now

If you like fast-fold poker variants like Zoom Poker, you’ll love Boost Poker. Get a new hand every time you fold in this fast-paced game.

Join Sportsbetting.ag – 100% up to $1000 for new US players!

Deposit Limits: $25 - $2,500

Accepts: Bitcoin, credit cards (MasterCard, Amex, Visa), money transfers

Intertops Poker is fully licensed by Curacao and the Netherlands Antilles and offers a wide variety of cash game and online poker tournaments. Their software is available as both a PC downloadable client and a mobile-optimized web version.

This site is perfect for players looking to grow their poker bankrolls at lower stakes.

Join Intertops Poker here and claim a 200% match bonus!

Deposit Limits: $25 - $25,000

Accepts: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Visa, MasterCard, Money Transfers, Bank Wire

BetOnline is the newest online poker site for American players. This site is part of the BetOnline group which includes a well-known and reputable Sportsbook as well as an online casino. BetOnline launched their poker room in 2012 and has quickly become one of the largest US accepted poker rooms on the market.

When you make your 1st, 2nd and even 10th deposit to the poker room, you will receive 25% upfront in cash.

Join Bet Online Poker and qualify for a $1,000 deposit bonus!

Deposit Limits: $50 - $25,000

Accepts: Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin

America’s Cardroom is one of the most popular online poker rooms for American players with over 1 million hands of poker played daily. They are a popular room because they readily accept American players and offer a wide variety of online payment options including Bitcoin.

America’s Cardroom offers a wide variety of tournaments with substantial daily guarantees. Their Sunday tournaments have guarantees ranging from $50,000 to $150,000.

Join America’s Cardroom here and claim $1,000 in bonus cash!

Deposit Limits: $50 - $10,000

Accepts: Visa, Mastercard, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Wire

Black Chip Poker is a legally licensed online poker real money site for US players. Licensed in Costa Rica, BCP is part of the Winning Poker Network. New players qualify for a 100% deposit bonus up to $1,000 or you can take advantage of the cryptocurrency offering, giving you a 200% match bonus when you make your first deposit with Bitcoin.

The poker room provides a variety of tournaments including the Million Dollar Sunday tournaments.

Join Black Chip Poker here and claim a 100% match bonus!

You can play poker online for real money in the United States as long as you’re outside of banned online gambling states like Washington. If you’re looking for where to play online poker from the USA, or which casino sites accept US players, check out the poker websites above. Each casino site provides players with a special bonus and have the ability to process poker deposits.

8 Things to Look For Before Playing with Real Cash

The list below covers the main factors to consider when choosing an online gambling or online poker real money USA site. It is important to choose a site which works for your experience level and skills. If you are a recreational player, who enjoys the occasional casino game and casual poker game, then your requirements are different from those of a multi-tabling pro grinder.

1) Comparing The Features of Different Online Poker Sites

A great online poker site has a good selection of poker games featuring a wide variety of buy-ins and game combination. The Winning Poker Network, 888poker and partypoker, for instance, regularly runs large poker tournaments, while online poker players can easily find high limit poker cash games at site such as Bovada and Ignition. If you plan on enjoying poker from your iPhone or Android Smartphone, the fast-fold game ‘Zone Poker’ from Bovada is also good choice.

2) What to Look for in Poker Site Reviews?

When visiting an online gambling news or poker news sites, focus on those real money poker reviews based upon first-hand experience. This will show in comments about navigating through the menus, the softness (or otherwise) of the games – and other small features. When reading poker reviews, it’s also best to get more than one opinion for a more well-rounded view.

3) How to Compare Poker Bonus Offers?

Welcome bonuses are good for boosting your initial bankroll. However, different poker site have different bonus ratings, with these bonuses then varying in their size, as well as terms of satisfaction. Furthermore, your welcome bonus will typically expire after 30 to 60 days, so make sure your site offers subsequently offers ongoing rakeback, loyalty schemes and regular promos.

4) What Games and Variations are Available?

The three basic poker formats are cash games, poker tournaments and Sit n Goes. While No-Limit Holdem is the most popular variant offered at US online poker rooms, other poker formats available include Pot-Limit Omaha, Razz, Stud and Draw. Needless to say, choosing the biggest sites also means more games and a wider variety of stakes to enjoy.

5) Licensing at Legal Online Poker Sites for Real Money

Check the poker room has an online gambling license before depositing at any online poker real money USA site. After all, licensed legal online poker sites are required to adhere to the strictest legislation and operating standards. Reputable international sites are licensed by the governments of their host countries, with popular jurisdictions including Curacao, Panama, The Isle of Man, Malta and Kahnawake in Canada.

6) Banking at Poker Sites for US Players: Depositing and Withdrawing

Getting your money deposited on a online poker real money USA site is straightforward, with the most common poker deposit methods as follows:

1. Credit Cards: Widely accepted, though transactions can be blocked by banks, quick and easy when they do work.
2. Prepaid Credit Cards: Check with your site for the best working brands, then buy from convenience stores.
3. Bitcoin / Other Cryptocurrencies: One-off setup needed, though once you have a cryptocurrency ‘wallet’ these coins will solve your deposit and withdrawal problems completely.
4. Money Transfer: Send cash from your local Western Union or MoneyGram office.

Deposit methods are fairly similar across the various online gaming sites, including credit cards, money transfers, bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, withdrawing with cryptocurrency is easy, with other ways to withdraw your cash including as a paper check or bank wire. Make sure you check for minimum withdrawal amounts, and any fees, though. Withdrawal options and administration charges may differ, too, so look for sites with a low minimum, and at least one free withdrawal per month, such as Betonline.

7) Poker Site Complaints: Red Flags to Look Out For

There are always bad players who claim that every site has a ‘rigged deal’ simply because they do not understand the game well and are not be able to win money playing poker. Far more important are any complaints concerning delays in payments, which are a red flag for any poker site. Also, customer feedback concerning the softness of poker games is important, with numerous comments suggesting a site is full of pro ‘grinders’ probably worth avoiding.

8) The Small Print: Read the Poker Rooms Terms / Privacy Policy

Check the terms and conditions of a poker site before you play with real money, and look out for online gaming caps on withdrawal amounts, high minimum withdrawals and time restricted bonuses. Reputable poker rooms have a ‘Responsible Gaming’ policy and self-exclusion options, as well as a number of contact methods, such as phone number, e-mail and physical address.

Frequently Asked Questions

You’ll find detailed answers to some common questions below. These cover a wide range of topics, from which is the best room through to how to play using Bitcoin!

Is Playing Real Money Poker Legal from My State?

Offshore poker sites are not under US jurisdiction. They do, however, maintain their right to accept players from anywhere in the world, including the United States. There may be no US federal laws stopping individual players from enjoying casino games and real money poker online, but state laws do vary, though. Some States, for instance, already have legalized regulated online poker rooms, including New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware and Pennsylvania. On the other hand, some states have clearly banned real money online poker games, thus making poker illegal, including Utah and Washington State. While federal law prevents banks and gambling sites transacting within the USA, legislation does not cover individual players.

Are There Any USA Friendly Poker Sites That Accept Bitcoin?

Yes, all the main offshore online poker sites accept Bitcoin as a payment option. There are some sites which accept other cryptocurrencies, too, including Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum.

What is the Best USA Online Poker Site?

A perfect site would include soft games, a huge choice of tables, big guaranteed tournament prizes, plenty of promotions and bonuses – and smooth, fast software that can be accessed from many different devices. Several sites come close, with the biggest and best USA real cash poker rooms found here.

How do Poker Sites Structure Themselves to be Legal in the USA?

The ‘Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act’ of 2006 prohibits financial transactions to online gambling sites in the USA. Sites offering real money poker games to American players stay legal by being located outside of the US. The sites we subsequently recommend are fully legal in their host countries and maintain the right to welcome players from anywhere in the world, citing global free trade laws. Meanwhile, federal can enforce the UIGEA on the US banks and financial networks, but UIGEA does not cover players.

Is Playing Online Poker Profitable?

One of the best things about online poker is that skilled players are able to learn poker strategies and win money. While you won’t be profitable right away, if you are better than your opponents, then over time your bankroll will grow. You’ll need to study, though, and once you have identified your own leaks and developed winning poker strategies, making a living playing online poker becomes possible. You can even transfer your skills and poker strategies to the live arena and play at land-based casinos such as the Rio in Las Vegas, which hosts the iconic WSOP tournament series every year.

What Can I Do if a Poker Site is Delaying Payments?

That depends on the licensing arrangement of the site you are playing at. If you chose an unlicensed site, then your chances of getting money back if they close or go rogue are small. As far as legal online poker at international licensed sites is concerned, complaining to their official licensing body will provide you a much better chance of being paid. After all, the loss of a license is something many United States poker sites take seriously.