Legal Online Poker For Ohio Residents
Luckily for citizens of Ohio, most of the extensive state laws about gambling are aimed at games of chance, specifically craps or other dice games and roulette or other lottery or bingo-style games, not playing legal online poker in Ohio. Poker's skill element has often been its salvation. It can be difficult to call something gambling if it involves a specific set of skills.
Is Online Poker Legal In Ohio?
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A recent legal opinion sent down by the US Department of Justice in December of 2011 makes the federal government's position on poker games played online even more clear. The opinion clarified that the Federal Wire Act, previously used to make vague threats toward online poker players, can only be applied to sports wagers. The government has a vested interest in the purity and transparency of America's sporting events, but no clear claim to the gambling activities of online poker players.
Legal Online Poker Sites For Ohio Residents
We recommend three poker sites for citizens of Ohio that want to play legal online poker games: BetOnline, and SportsBetting Poker.
BetOnline's bonus program is good for the life of your membership: you can get a 15-25% bonus up to $900 on every deposit that you make of $50 or more. BetOnline has been in the online gaming business since 1998, making them one of the oldest continuously operating gambling sites. Traffic is low as of this writing, averaging only 1,000 poker players, but as more Americans gain access to legal online poker play, you can expect that to increase.
For the more discerning Ohio resident seeking a long term poker home, the SportsBetting's online poker has been spent much of the past two decades giving players ample reason to cozy up and stay a while. Throughout its years of fantastic service to its loyal customers, this poker site for Ohio residents has shown off great skill in their ability to appeal to both seasoned poker veterans and newcomers in equal measure.
New players come to play online poker at SportsBetting because it’s easy to find many guaranteed money tournaments and cash games, for recreation and for profit, in a friendly, low pressure environment where guidance is often offered from the site. After they get some wins under their belt, players stay for the high stakes action, which is certainly not for the faint of the heart. Only the very best players in the world will be at home on these tables, where the stakes are high and the action flies by like a runaway fighter plane. For pros, newcomers, and everyone in between, there is a lot of fun and a lot of prize money to be had at SportsBetting.
Ohio citizens are in more danger of prosecution if they play dice games or private lottery games (or place sports wagers) than if they play online poker. To date, not a single citizen in Ohio has been prosecuted or even threatened with prosecution for placing wagers at an online poker site. Yes, Ohio has several dozens of pages of laws related to gambling, but not one of them directly addresses poker, especially not poker played on the Internet.
There is one federal law that applies to online poker played by Ohio residents: the UIGEA. This act was an attempt to cut off Americans from online poker sites by making it illegal for banks to transfer money to or from a known online gaming site. Of course, the dozen or so poker sites that still do business with Americans after Black Friday simply started using more third party payment processors. This is a totally legal loophole, provided you're using an actual third party payment transfer service and playing at a legitimate online casino.
As of this writing, state governments across the country are using the Justice Department's clarification of the Wire Act to prepare state-run online poker sites and other online gambling options. Whether or not Ohio does this remains to be seen. Ohio has a friendly attitude toward casinos, which could prevent the opening of online poker sites for Ohio citizens due to the increased competition for these casino properties.
Is It Legal to Play Land Based Poker in Ohio?
Ever since a certain cable network began habitually airing the world series of poker, the game has steadily grown in popularity. Strangely enough, the ability to obtain solid and reliable information concerning the legality of poker has not become as commonplace as one would like.
However, despite the lack of availability about any real news concerning the legality of poker in Ohio, it’s all good. It’s actually completely legal for any Ohio resident to participate in a poker game, even if they wish to wager a significant amount of money. However much or little a plyer in Ohio wishes to bet, they are completely within their rights to do so.
The only legal complications in Ohio that arise through poker are related purely to the facilitation of the game for profit. This means that even if an Ohio resident is just hosting a small game in their house amongst friends, if the game is structured in such a way that the host can collect a profit from the game itself, or a “rake” (the percentage of pots that the “house” takes as a profit for hosting the game) then they may be legally persecuted unless they have an appropriate license issued by the state of Ohio.
Hosting legal poker in Ohio is treated much like owning a bar or liquor store: while is legal and profitable to do so, one must attain all the proper permits and authorizations in order to remain out of trouble with the law.
Where to Play Legal Poker in Ohio
For the discerning Ohio residents, there are a couple choices for legally run, state sanctioned poker rooms where a resident may choose to bring their business.
One may choose to play in either the Horseshoe or Hollywood Casino. Whereas the Horseshoe Casino has a couple of locations, one in Cleveland and one in Cincinnati, the Hollywood Casinos are located a bit off the beaten path and away from the big city hubs where the Horseshoe casinos are found. The Hollywood Casinos are found in Toledo and Columbus.
Between these four locations, an Ohio resident should be able to find a legal poker room that is reasonably close to wherever they live. Despite the variety of locations available to them, players may only participate in No Limit Hold ‘Em tournaments in these land based facilities. Luckily for these facilities and for poker players alike, No Limit Hold ‘Em is amongst the most popular means to play poker.
Buy ins for these tournaments can vary from smaller stakes around $40 to over $200 for the potential to win big prizes. It’s a good bet that as the winnings get higher, so too does the level of competition. With all of these options available, Ohio residents should be able to find a poker tournament that fits their specific needs, provided that they can plan their lives around the start times for these tournaments.
Note: The above is not meant to be legal advice. It was written by poker players with inside knowledge of USA online poker laws. For questions about the legality of online poker in Ohio, you should seek out the advice of a lawyer. You can also look at other sites that are trusted that can also help you find some valuable information.
