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Playing Online Poker in the State of Oklahoma

Tags: poker

There are those who are quite content with the myriad live Poker options in Oklahoma, but some people are looking for more. Fortunately, online poker in Oklahoma is definitely available, and it's easy to get started without too much trouble. Oklahoma online poker has a different feel to it than the brick-and-mortar game, and so it's a worthy addition to your repertoire for when you just don't want to travel to a casino or when the weather outside is bad.

Lest you be under the impression that internet poker is illegal, we're here to reassure you that this isn't the case. Federal law doesn't penalize the pastime. A few legal observers used to be under the impression that the Wire Act outlawed the game when played for real money online, but the Department of Justice stated in 2011 that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting. At the state level, nobody has ever been charged with a crime for playing online poker.

Read on for everything you always wanted to know about playing online poker in the State of Oklahoma, including accurate information on the dependable sites waiting to serve you, payment processing speeds, OK poker laws, and the history of gambling in the state.

Table of Contents

1.   Premium Destinations for Online Poker
      1.1. Ignition
      1.2. Chico Poker Network
      1.3. Intertops
      1.4. Winning Poker Network
      1.5. Grand Poker Network
2.   Poker Site Selection Guidelines
3.   Online Poker Payments
4.   Online Poker Laws
5.   History of Gambling in the State
6.   Chances of State-regulated Poker
7.   Live Gambling Options
8.   Conclusion
9.   Do you Have an Address in a Nearby State?

 

Online Poker Sites Available in Oklahoma

You have quite a number of poker sites to sort through if you're in search of internet poker in Oklahoma. In order to help you out, we've gone through them all and identified those organizations that are honest and reliable. No matter which of the poker rooms below you opt to play at, you can look forward to fair card dealing procedures, error-free software, and the rapid payout of your winnings. Read what we have to say about these upstanding firms, and then open an account at the one that seems most enticing to you.

 

    Ignition Poker

Anyone in Oklahoma who's thinking of playing some online poker would do well to put Ignition Poker on his or her shortlist. As the U.S.-facing internet poker room with the highest player volume numbers, it has already demonstrated to countless individuals its value as a poker destination. Newly depositing players get a 100% up to $1,000 poker bonus, which clears at a 30% rakeback rate in tourneys and sit n' gos while providing slightly less value in cash games.

 

The ring games at Ignition start as low as $0.02/$0.05 and climb up to $10/$20 in big-bet formats (NLHE, PLO, and PLO/8). There are additionally tables of Limit Hold'em and Limit Omaha-8 as high as $30/$60. Zone Poker is a fast-fold style of game that's totally absent from all U.S. online poker sites except for Ignition. In Zone Poker, you can fold your hand at any time to move to another table and receive new hole cards. This dramatically speeds up the rate at which you see hands because you don't have to wait around for the rest of the players to complete their actions after you're done with a hand.

Sit and go poker can be had from $1 + $0.05 to $200 + $14. Besides the normal contests you would expect to find, there are also a few nonstandard variants. Beginners SNGs pay out a greater fraction of the field than is usual, and Triple Ups reward the top third of the participants with three times the buyin. The multi-table tournament scene is quite busy at Ignition, and there are $1.5 million in guarantees spread throughout the week. The most noteworthy of these is the $150 + $12 $100,000 guaranteed on Sundays. From time to time, Ignition hosts tournament series, like the Super Millions Poker Open, that hand out millions of dollars in prizes.

Ignition, together with the other sites on the PaiWangLuo Network, maintains an anonymized poker platform. This means that no users can see the screennames of the other players at their tables. Everyone is listed as “Player 1,” “Player 2,” et cetera. As a consequence, nobody can track opponents over the long term and target those who are less skilled. The effect this has had on game quality has been quite beneficial because inexperienced players feel comfortable taking a seat here, and they tend to not get skinned as quickly as they might on other poker sites.

It's possible to download the Ignition Poker software for either Mac or PC. Moreover, you can log in through your smartphone or tablet because there's a web-based app. However, there aren't any tourneys or sit-n-goes available through mobile, only cash games. You can, however, play in the attached casino via your mobile or traditional computing system, and there are hundreds of games present. You'll qualify for a 100% up to $1,000 casino bonus in addition to the poker bonus funds.

Click on the banner above to visit Ignition Casino Poker now. For more information about the site, head over to our detail-filled Ignition Poker review page.

 

        Chico Network

The Chico Poker Network is renowned not just for its poker action but also for the plethora of other real money gaming options that it supplies, like casino games and sports-betting. New poker players at BetOnline, the main network site, can obtain a 100% up to $2,500 bonus on their first deposits. This bonus is equal to 33% rakeback.

The Chico Network has deployed download installers for both Mac and Windows PC machines. There are also apps for iOS and Android systems. We've reviewed this mobile poker product and have found it to be one of the best in the industry. Virtually the whole range of games is playable from cellphones and tablets, and the software is smooth and feature-rich.

Cash game poker can be had from $0.01/$0.02 to $5/$10 in NLHE, PLO, and PLO/8 forms. As far as SNGs are concerned, they exist from $0.05 (with no house fee) up to $500 + $25. Most of these games fill up rather quickly except perhaps for the top few levels. Multi-table tournaments are mostly small-stakes affairs at BetOnline although there is a larger event every Sunday. It's called the Main Event and it guarantees $50,000 for a buyin of $90 + $9. On the last Sunday of each month, the Main Event instead has a buyin of $100 + $9 and a prize pool of at least $100,000.

Every week, you can try to place in three leaderboards that pay out a total of $20,000. There's one of them for each of cash games, sit and goes, and tournaments. Another way to scoop up some extra value at the site is through comp points. You'll receive them as you generate rake, and they can be traded in for tourney buyins at a rate of about 5% cashback. There's one other means through which you can win a ton of free money. At certain NL Hold'em tables of $0.50/$1.00 and above, there's a Bad Beat Jackpot active that pays out whenever someone takes quad jacks or higher to showdown and loses. This jackpot has been hit for $650K before.

It's possible to go to BetOnline and open up an account now by following our banner link above. Or you can familiarize yourself with the room a bit first by reading our comprehensive review of BetOnline Poker. BoL has a sister site on the same network, and you can learn more about it with our factual Sportsbetting.ag review.

 

    Horizon Network

For more than 30 years, Intertops has been serving its customers, first as a bookmaker and then with other gambling services. This is the flagship site on the Horizon Poker Network, and it presents newcomers with a 200% up to $1,000 poker bonus.

You bonus will deliver its value at a rate that varies with the types of games you play, but it can be as much as 27% rakeback. On top of this, you'll get 36% dealt rakeback throughout the lifetime of your account. With your first deposit, you'll also get 100 free lines to use on casino games, and they're worth $90 or more at the blackjack tables. You'll also be able to enter the monthly $1,000 depositors freeroll.

The ring game tables here that are actually active are usually denominated at $0.25/$0.50 and below although you will find higher action occasionally. The sit-n-go tab is pretty much deserted with only a few contests at $5 and below starting up. Tournaments are a bit better because there are plenty of them running every day. The most interesting one is the daily Sundowner, which costs $50 + $5 to join and guarantees $1,500 ($2,500 on Sundays).

As you keep playing at Intertops, you'll benefit from a ton of free goodies. There's a $4,000 rakerace every week, and it's fairly easy to place in it. Reload bonuses pop up about once a month, giving you the opportunity to grab some more complimentary cash after your welcome bonus is finished. The Loyalty Levels system rewards you with prizes as you progress through the tiers while the gold coins you'll collect as you play can be exchanged for no deposit bonuses. There are frequent satellites to live poker events, and they often have overlays, making them wonderful chances to win a poker getaway.

To join Intertops today, click through the above banner. We've gathered together a lot of extra data about this company in our thorough Intertops Poker page.

 

     Winning Network

Americas Cardroom, on the Winning Poker Network, is an established poker room that has grown over the years until it's now the #2 internet poker site for U.S players as measured by player traffic figures. When you fund your account for the first time, you'll qualify for a 100% up to $1,000 bonus that clears at a 20% effective rakeback rate and $50 in tourney bucks for Jackpot Poker SNGs.

The Jackpot Poker games for which you'll receive a complimentary $50 are three-max, lottery-style, winner-takes-all sit-n-gos that use a randomly generated multiplier to decide upon the value of the prize pool. There's a chance that you could play for 2,500 times the buyin if you get a fortunate die roll. There's another unusual single-table format present called SNG 2.0. It's a nine-handed contest that features a pregame round that can cause the total prizes and number of places paid to increase considerably from the standard amounts. You will also see in the sit n' go lobby more standard fare at stakes both low and pricey.

Turning to the cash game lobby, ACR has decided to offer tables as small as $0.01/$0.02 and as lofty as $25/$50 in NL Texas Hold'em, PL Omaha, and PL Omaha/8. Limit fanatics will see LHE, LO-8, Seven Card Stud, and Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo listed up to $30/$60 and even higher in some cases. For tournaments, you have your pick of plenty of competitions with guaranteed prize pools at price points to suit every bankroll. The Sunday Major at Americas Cardroom is the largest such event open to residents of the United States. It's the $200 + $15 Sunday Special, which distributes at least $150,000 to the winners each and every week. Several times a year, ACR hosts tournament series, like the Online Super Series, that contain dozens of events and pay out multiple millions of dollars in total.

There are a couple of network-wide leaderboards every week. One of them is The Beast, which is geared toward ring game players. The other, Sit & Crush, caters to those who prefer single-table tourneys. Each of them awards straight cash to the top places as well as satellite tournament entries. An Elite Benefits program provides further rewards based on the total number of points you accumulate through your poker play.

If a 100% up to $1,000 bonus and Elite Benefits rewards sound good to you, then click our link above to get started at Americas Cardroom today. You may also wish to find out more by looking at our Americas Cardroom overview.

ACR isn't a standalone poker room; rather, it operates as part of a poker network. All the members of the network pitch their efforts together to craft a superb poker product that is probably better than what they each of them could come up with separately. Other premium sites on the Winning Poker Network include: BlackChip Poker (read review), True Poker (read review), PokerHost (read review). All of these sites offer rakeback. To find out how to score yourself a lucrative rakeback deal, browse over to our WPN rakeback signup instructions.

 

        Grand Network

5 Dimes has been a respected name in sports-betting for more than two decades. It used to contract with third parties for its poker room, but that all changed in 2014 when it opened up the Grand Poker Network. The poker software was designed from the ground up, and so it's a fairly slick and polished effort. You can play from a PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and most other types of popular hardware.

The player numbers at 5D are a bit lackluster, and this is because the site is still growing. However, there are other reasons to play here besides just raw population figures. Most of the opponents you'll encounter at the tables are not proficient at poker because they're mainly sportsbetting enthusiasts and casino gamers. You can contend against them at blind levels from $0.05/$0.10 to $1/$2.

There are several interesting components to the tournament offerings at 5 Dimes despite the fact that tourneys top out at $5 + $0.50. A few contests every day run with no house fees. This will instantly improve your return on investment without your having to do anything extra. Furthermore, a $500 freeroll takes place every Sunday, and the field sizes are reasonable. Besides these valuable opportunities, you'll also receive 50% rakeback when you register your account after clicking through our links.

5 Dimes awaits you – all you have to do is click the banner link above and create your account. Peruse our page about the Grand Poker Network first if you want to educate yourself about this site.


 

How to Choose the Right Oklahoma Poker Site

The choice of internet poker site to play at is one that doesn't have the same answer for each individual. This is because they all have their own advantages and disadvantages. You'll have to think hard about your own personal preferences and goals while making your decision. While we can't tell you specifically where to play, we can give you some advice about the factors you ought to consider before settling on a poker home.

▷ If the total number of simultaneous games active is your foremost concern, then Ignition and WPN have the most tables running.


▷ If you wish to increase your haul with a profitable bonus, then the Chico Poker Network has $2,500 for you.


▷ If you're focused on long-term rewards, then consider the Elite Benefits program at Winning Network and the Loyalty Levels at Horizon.


▷ If you want to hook yourself up with a high rakeback percentage, then Horizon's 36% and Grand's 50% may appeal to you.


▷ If you're interested in playing from your mobile or Mac, then Chico, Ignition, and Grand are all fine choices.


▷ If you want to play casino games or place sports bets in addition to playing poker, then Chico, Horizon, and Grand can accommodate you.


▷ If you seek the largest guaranteed MTTs, then Ignition and WPN have the sizeable cash paydays that you're after.

 

Payment Processing

When it's time to request a cashout of your winnings, you can do so via check from any of the places we've discussed above. Other methods may be present depending on your site, like money transfers and bank wires. However, we believe that the digital currency Bitcoin is the best payout processor to use. Other ways of moving money around online sometimes carry significant fees and involve delays, but BTC transactions tend to be very rapid and have low fees. If you don't really know much about Bitcoin but would like to learn about it, then take a look at our guide to using Bitcoin for online poker.

 

Online Poker Law in Oklahoma

Oklahoma has expanded its list of permitted gambling activities in recent decades, but it still has quite strict legal rules in effect against disallowed types of real money gaming. The laws pertaining to this matter can be found in the Oklahoma Statutes, Title 21 - Crimes and Punishments, Chapter 38, Gambling. As might be expected, conducting a proscribed form of gaming is treated more harshly than merely participating as a regular player. The law that deals with this activity is 21-941:

Except as provided in the Oklahoma Charity Games Act, every person who opens, or causes to be opened, or who conducts, whether for hire or not, or carries on either poker, roulette, craps or any banking or percentage, or any gambling game played with dice, cards or any device, for money, checks, credits, or any representatives of value, or who either as owner or employee, whether for hire or not, deals for those engaged in any such game, shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), nor more than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00), and by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a term of not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years.

As we can see, poker is explicitly named as a game that falls under the provisions of this law. This language targets those actually running the games, however, not people who play in them. For more clarity on how the state treats individual gamblers, we must look at the next section, 21-942:

Any person who bets or plays at any of said prohibited games, or who shall bet or play at any games whatsoever, for money, property, checks, credits or other representatives of value with cards, dice or any other device which may be adapted to or used in playing any game of chance or in which chance is a material element, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00), nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than one (1) day, nor more than thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

This passage references the “prohibited games” from the previous section, so poker is definitely included. There's a fine attached to any violations, but it's no more than $100. What may be more worrisome is the jail sentence of up to 30 days. There's one other statute that might be interpreted as being related to online poker, and that is 21-987:

A. Dissemination of gambling information is the transmitting or receiving, by means of any communications facilities, information to be used in making or settling bets. Provided that nothing herein shall prohibit a licensed radio or television station or newspaper of general circulation from broadcasting or disseminating to the public reports of odds or results of legally staged sporting events.
B. Any person found guilty of disseminating gambling information shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years or a fine of not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The language contained in these clauses seems to imply that they're intended to combat illegal sports-betting, but they're vague enough that internet poker might be included. However, the way a law in enforced in the real world is more important than the words written down on paper. In practice, the law against disseminating gambling information is seldom used, and the few times that people have been charged with it involve running illicit gambling operations. Actually, even the law against just playing in gambling games is rarely invoked; the Oklahoma police agencies focus their energies on those profiting from organized underground gambling rather than those merely playing. To date, nobody has ever faced charges in Oklahoma for enjoying card games on the internet. It's totally safe, from a legal perspective, for you to log onto your computer and play online poker in Oklahoma.

There are a whole host of other gambling crimes defined in the OK law code that could be brought to bear against those managing unauthorized gaming enterprises. They include setting up a slot machine, using a building for gambling, dealing three-card monte, permitting gambling on premises, granting of lease of premises for gambling, commercial gambling, dealing in gambling devices, possessing gambling devices, and betting or letting premises for betting on races. Most of these infractions are treated as misdemeanors, but there are a few that are felonies. The maximum punishments can reach as high as 10 years in prison and a fine of $25,000. Irrespective of the sheer number of statutes covering almost every conceivable type of gambling, the offshore U.S.A. poker sites have no problems accepting Oklahomans as customers. Perhaps their attorneys have advised them that the possibility of their being brought up on Oklahoma gambling charges is remote.

The state-supervised types of gaming – charitable, pari-mutuel, and lottery – are dealt with in Title 3A - Amusements and Sports. Tribal casinos are governed by compacts signed between the state and the tribes.

 

 

Oklahoma's Gambling History

Areas now within Oklahoma's borders were claimed by the French and Spanish during the 17th and 18th centuries, but these transactions were basically just paper fictions, and there was hardly any colonization of the territory. This ground was actually occupied by native tribes, like the Plains Apache who routinely played a number of games of chance. One of the most distinctive was the awl game, which women would enjoy for entire afternoons when the weather was good. It involved throwing sticks into the middle of the playing surface to determine how many spaces to move. The players would advance their awls – needle-like tools – around the playing field, trying to avoid the various hazards that were displayed on the board. Whoever succeeded in moving their piece all the way around the circuit would be awarded points, and the game continued until the agreed-upon total was reached.


Guthrie, Oklahoma, 1893

The United States acquired this area in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, but it was not open to settlers until noon on April 22, 1889. A few people hid out within the territory before the official beginning of the land rush so that they could get a head start on claiming the choicest parcels of land. They came to be known as “Sooners” because they arrived in Oklahoma too soon, and they are the reason why one of the state's nicknames is “The Sooner State.” By the end of the day, the population of Guthrie had gone from just a handful to more than 10,000, mostly consisting of adventurers biding their time in tents while waiting for their land claims to be approved. The next day, the Reeves Brothers Casino opened for business inside one of these tents. Custom was good, so much so that the tent was soon replaced by a permanent building. The owners later claimed that they never closed their doors once for 15 consecutive years. Indeed, when the establishment finally shut down in 1907, rumor has it that nobody could find the key. There was a sign inside the Reeves Brothers Casino that read:

We the citizens of Guthrie are law-abiding people. But to anyone coming here looking for trouble, we always keep it in stock with a written guarantee that we will give you a decent burial. We will wash your face, comb your hair, and polish your boots. Place your sombrero on your grave, and erect a momento as a warning to others saying... “he tried and failed.”

This wasn't the only gaming hall to pop up in Guthrie, and others soon appeared in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and other major towns. Much of the early population consisted of cowboys and ranchers, and they surely liked to place a wager or two on the card tables. Draw and stud poker were the major attractions although the older games of faro and monte also had their adherents.

The reason why the Reeves Brothers Casino closed in 1907 may have been related to the fact that prohibition legislation was passed during that same year in the run-up to statehood. An additional 1916 law made gambling illegal.


Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone
As Shown on Cover of His Book

By this time there was a lot of oil money floating around Oklahoma, and Tulsa was known as the Oil Capital of the World. It was inevitable that some of this cash would find its way into illicit drinking and gambling. During the next several decades, pool halls were surprisingly common, and legends like Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone and Ronnie “Fast Eddie” Allen were known to practice their hustle within the state. The game of one pocket was supposedly invented in Oklahoma, and it's widely considered the most gambley of pool variants. Oklahoma became an extension of the underground Texas poker scene with many of the top players sojourning there while on the road. The two pastimes were often combined with pool action taking place in the main room of an establishment while poker could be found in a secondary area. The players often dabbled in both pursuits as did Bobby Baldwin who was first a pool shark before adding poker to his repertoire. Minnesota Fats also played more than one game though he earned his fame mostly as a pool player. He explained the rationale for becoming familiar with multiple games: “What if you are the best gin rummy player in the world and they don’t play gin rummy?”

As the neon lights of Vegas enticed more and more bettors to seek their fortunes in Sin City, these covert facilities began to wane in importance. Fortunately for Oklahomans, legalized gambling soon arrived. A pari-mutuel wagering act passed through the legislature in 1983, and racetracks opened up. In 1992, charitable organizations were allowed to conduct bingo and offer “break open tickets” (pull tabs). In 2004, a referendum was held in which voters approved of signing compacts with the state's many tribes, and tribal casinos proliferated during the next few years. At the same time, racetracks were allowed to add slots and video poker. The Oklahoma Lottery began operations in 2005.

For several years, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has been trying to develop and launch a real money internet poker site called pokertribe.com. The effort has been stalled by disagreements between the tribe, the state, and the federal authorities. Also, the software vendor for the site, Universal Entertainment Group, has come under suspicion regarding the legitimacy of some of its past deals. Pokertribe.com is currently live for play money, and the Iowa have indicated that it will remain play-money-only for U.S. residents while offering real money online poker to countries in which this activity is legal. To that end, the tribe secured in September 2017 an online gaming license from the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. It's not clear what enticement non-U.S. customers would have for playing on the site especially given that it will likely be very small and they already have many rooms to choose from.

 

Online Poker Regulation Chances

Oklahoma has plenty of regulated land-based gaming, so it wouldn't be a surprise for the state to enter the online space. However, there hasn't been any legislative push for this in recent years. If the attempts to launch an online site by the Iowa Indians under the terms of their tribal compact succeed, then this may point the way toward a vibrant OK online poker environment even if the legislature takes no steps to set one up. Whatever winds up happening, the tribes will have to be brought aboard somehow because their casinos represent a very important economic force in the state, and the implementation of any internet poker regulated market could have a big impact on their revenues. We feel that it's only a matter of time before Nebraska gets its act together and implements a legalized online poker market – but how much time is anybody's guess.

 

Offline Gambling Options

Oklahoma has a lottery, pari-mutuel betting, charitable gaming, and tribal casinos. Of all of these, the tribal establishments are likely the most appealing to pokerists. There are dozens of recognized tribes, and they run close to 60 casinos although perhaps only one-quarter of them feature poker. The WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, owned and operated by the Chickasaw Nation, has the largest poker room in the state. There are 46 tables spreading No Limit Hold'em, Limit Hold'em, and Pot Limit Omaha, including a high-stakes area. The annual River Poker Series takes place there, and the winner of the Main Event takes home at least $1 million.

 

Final Words

Several trustworthy entities exist that offer online poker in Oklahoma. No player has ever encountered legal resistance to playing cards over the internet in the Sooner State. Read up on the leading Oklahoma online poker sites, make a deposit, and start playing today!

 

 

Do you have an address in a nearby state?

If you're fortunate enough to have a secondary address in a nearby state, be it your office, vacation home, extra apartment, family house, etc, you may have other online poker options available to you.  Here is a list of the states that border Oklahoma and Professional Rakeback's review on each of them: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas. If none of these particular states is relevant to your situation, then our page covering online poker in the United States as a whole may be more to your liking.

Some poker fans in Oklahoma are Ignorant of the internet poker scene, so you might want to enlighten them by sharing this page with your friends, family members, and coworkers whom you think would appreciate it.

 



This post first appeared on Professional Rakeback, please read the originial post: here

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Playing Online Poker in the State of Oklahoma

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