Online Poker Legal Ma
Under current MA law, while there are no legal poker sites in Massachusetts that are regulated by the state, there is nothing to stop anyone playing poker online for real money. Some laws DO relate to live. Currently, playing online poker is not legal in Massachusetts. For more information, please contact us at support@pokeratlas.com.
Massachusetts is a pretty conservative state, so when itcomes to gambling as a whole, it has had a negative view until very recently. Withsome changes to the laws in the state to allow land-based casinos, pokerplayers were hopeful that online gambling legislation may also pass. This pageis all about poker in Massachusetts – learning about it, playing it live andonline, and where to find the best games for your particular level of play.
Though Massachusetts legislators as well as the head of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission had been experimenting with online poker and gaming bills for several years, first trying for internet poker.
Online Poker in Massachusetts
We are going to start this page with a status update ononline poker. If you are a poker fan and lived through the 2000s poker boom,you likely had at least one online poker account (and probably more) and playedin tournaments which regularly qualified players for events like the WorldSeries of Poker or paid out upwards of millions of dollars of prizes. Sadly,those days are long gone for online poker enthusiasts thanks to the federalgovernment. Today, 5 states have made online poker legal in the wake of the bigsites all being shut down in 2011, but Massachusetts, with its conservativeapproach to gambling, is not one of them. There is some positive news, though –the state has softened its stance on gambling in general, and this, in combinationwith all the discussion about legalized online sports betting across thecountry, could reignite a conversation about bringing legal online poker to thestate.
Land Based Poker in Massachusetts
Free And Legal Online Poker
For the longest time, the state of Massachusetts did notoffer gamblers much in the way of options aside from the lottery. However, afew years ago, the government decided it was time to add land-based casinos tothe mix, considering how many residents were traveling to other states likeConnecticut to play their favorite games.
Two casinos were granted licenses by the Massachusettsgovernment, and the two casinos that opened both have full poker rooms forplayers to try their luck at cash games and tournaments. The two Massachusettspoker rooms are located at the MGM Springfield in Springfield, near the borderof Connecticut, and the Encore Boston Harbor, located just outside of Boston.
Social Poker in Massachusetts
When companies like Zynga started social poker sites onnetworks like Facebook back in the early 2010s, many from the traditionalonline poker industry could not believe that the proposed model would be asuccess. Social poker sites are just that – built with social interaction, notwinning money, in mind. These sites, however, do give players the option ofeither earning free chips in games or purchasing chip packages that allow themto skip levels and enter bigger events. If you are planning to play at a socialpoker site, the gameplay will be just like playing at a typical card room, butif you buy any chips, don’t expect to be able to cash them out anytime – theyare meant for entertainment purposes only.
Subscription Poker in Massachusetts
A funny thing happened when the poker industry splinteredin the early 2010s – people didn’t lose interest in playing the game. Despitehaving most of their online options removed from them, the power of pokerpersisted, and that gave the industry cause to find new ways to attract andallow players to access their favorite games.
While the social poker model works for a certain subsetof players, those who want to play with a little skin in the game can use thesweepstakes model that allows for subscription-based poker. Sites like Club WPTallow players to pay a one-time monthly fee to access as many tournaments asthey want on the site. Even this minimal monthly fee weeds out many of thefree-chip players that tend to drive down the quality of play. This is anexcellent way for players to practice tournament poker against thousands ofother players, and while there are no cash winnings, the sites put up thousandsof dollars of prizes in tournaments every day on these sites.
Mobile Poker in Massachusetts
Mobile devices around the world are being used for realmoney online poker, and in states where poker is legal in the U.S., the move tousing phones and tablets to play games is evident. The good news for residentsof Massachusetts is that by the time online poker is legal again in the state,the technology will have improved, even more, making it way easier to accessand play cash games and tournaments from anywhere you have an internetconnection.
Poker Guides
Regardless of what type of poker you are planning to playor how much experience you have with the game, there is always something tolearn with poker. Even the best players in the world are working to understandhow to play certain situations better, and new games like Short Deck Poker thathave burst onto the scene have given everyone something new to play. Our PokerGame Guides break down each game into an easy-to-understand overview, showingyou how each hand is played and giving you some great tips and tricks from ourteam of experts. After you are done, you are bound to feel more confident atwhatever table you choose to play at!
Online Poker in Massachusetts FAQ
Are there still online poker sites that take play fromAmerican players?
There are some smaller sites that did not get shut downin the crackdown on online poker in the U.S., but these sites are notrecommended by our team. In the years since 2011, these sites continue to findways to get money to and from their sites, often using Bitcoin or other lessthan reputable means to do so. Add in the fact that a couple of the poker sitesbased offshore have just closed their doors in the last couple of years withoutany notice, and you can imagine that the risk is just too much for many casualonline poker players to bear.
I read a lot about Bitcoin – is this something I needto understand for online poker?
As we mentioned above, the cryptocurrency that you haveseen in the news a lot recently has actually been used in the offshore onlinegambling world for many years. This digital, unregulated currency may have somemerit in countries where moving money is difficult or costly, it is highlyunlikely that regulated markets will allow its use without at leastunderstanding it better. No need to worry about it for the time being.
What is the best way to learn poker if you are abeginner?
Is Online Poker Legal In Massachusetts
Online Poker Legal America
Well, the first thing we can suggest is to check out ourPoker Guide section – there, we have overviews of all the different types ofpoker along with some beginner and intermediate tips. If you are looking formore in-depth knowledge or advanced training, there are many great trainingvideos and tools that you can get your hands on. The main thing is to keeplearning – this game is not easy to master, just ask the pros!