Legal West Virginia Online Poker
|
|
2011 saw some big changes to the legal status of online poker on the national and state levels. In West Virginia, online poker escapes some of the harsher laws and penalties found in some states. A recent legal opinion sent down by the United States Department of Justice has essentially paved the way for 100% legal unrestricted online poker in West Virginia. Since the state government of West Virginia has a habit of following the federal lead on gaming law, the only two pieces of legislation relevant to West Virginians who play online poker are the Federal Wire Act of 1961 and the UIGEA.
Legal Online Poker Sites For West Virginia Residents
We recommend three online poker rooms for West Virginia residents: Sportsbetting.ag, BetOnline, and Bovada. All three of these online poker sites are legal for citizens of West Virginia, and all three provide alternative payment methods to keep your deposits and withdrawals in compliance with the UIGEA.
If you live in West Virginia and love to play poker, chances are that you already know to look online for the easiest, safest and most legal means to play poker. You may not know where exactly to look, and that’s why we’re here to help steer you towards the Bovada online poker room.
It’s easy to get caught up focusing on the flashy website, intuitive design and flawless performance from their servers, and it’s even easy to go on forever about all the guaranteed money up for grabs in Bovada tournaments, but the one aspect Bovada possesses that sets them apart from their competition is that they genuinely want their customers to win money playing poker, which is why they go to painstaking lengths to help make you the best possible player. By taking advantage of Bovada’s index of every hand you’ve ever been dealt coupled with statistical analysis for each, you should be able to avoid duplicating mistakes and therefore turn yourself into a formidable, poker playing machine capable of earning huge piles of chips on the felt.
If you seek nothing but the best for your online poker experience, seek no further than the poker rooms at SportsBetting. While newer sites with flashy frames, animations and expensive computer graphics may work better for some, most West Virginia residents prefer doing business with someone based on track record, and this legal online poker room has a track record for the ages, indicated by pages upon pages of gushing customer testimony.
The biggest selling point of the 5dimes site is the big time guaranteed cash tournaments, ferocious poker devoted to serving their customers only the highest stakes, fastest paced tournaments in the business. Only the best players around the world are invited to prove their mettle here, assuring that not only will the stiffest of competition be provided for all those who consider themselves aficionados, but that the stakes will always remain high. Sections of the SportsBetting poker site pride themselves on catering to newer player, but this is not one of those sections. The faint of heart need not apply.
If you live in West Virginia and you want to make the most out of your online poker account, consider a visit to BetOnline, the fastest growing and most cutting edge online poker room available to West Virginia residents.
Imagine yourself in a white room, and you want to play poker. Specifically, you want to play Texas Hold ‘em. Thousands of tables whizz by your head, tables featuring five card stud, Omaha, and any other poker variant you can think of. They fly by until you’re only left looking at tables featuring Texas Hold ‘em. Now, you want to play in a tournament. Even more tables fly away. You want to enter for about a $25 buy in, more tables whizz away leaving your pick of poker tables custom fit to your needs and preferences for the moment. That’s how easy the BetOnline software is, and how you can easily find yourself “seated” at one of hundreds of thousands of poker tables within a matter of minutes. Couple this with all the winning opportunities and the most guaranteed money tournaments on the entire web, and you have a winning combination for a poker site that’s hard to beat. Check out BetOnline today, and see why so many players in West Virginia are coming along for the ride.
Now that the Wire Act has been clarified as an anti-sports betting law, the UIGEA is all that stands in the way of a citizen of West Virginia and his favorite poker room. The main reason that online poker escapes what few gambling laws do exist in West Virginia is that poker is a game of skill and not a game of chance. Some states don't recognize poker as a game of skill because of the luck element inherent in cards being dealt randomly from a deck, but West Virginia is happy to follow the federal government's lead on this issue.
Does the DoJ's recent legal opinion mean that online poker is on its way to being regulated on a national or state level in America? Will America's poker scene look like the government-regulated poker games in France and Italy? Remember that West Virginia has only recently added live poker to their state casinos and gaming halls. Live poker was legalized in West Virginia casinos in 2007 after lengthy government debates. Racetrack and casino gambling has existed in West Virginia for decades, but poker has only been available for about 4 years.
The state's willingness to accept live poker in their casinos means they'll be likely to join a multi-state online poker network in the near future. States plan to band together to share online gambling revenue across state lines. The state government of West Virginia is clearly prepared to overlook a distaste for online poker in favor of a new revenue source.
Is It Legal to Play Land-Based Poker in West Virginia?
For those in the Mountaineer State, games of chance stand as unlawful to place bets or wagers on and the game of poker meets no exception to this rule. It is unfortunate for fans of the timeless card game who live in West Virginia that they are not able to scratch when the itch arises for a freshly dealt hand of cards and an opportunity at a sweet pot filled with cash. While it would be pleasing if poker were entirely legal throughout the State (except maybe for a few McCoys who ventured onto the wrong side of the border,) it is in fact illegal to play the game outside of state casinos or poker rooms that are sanctioned by the state. While it is highly unlikely that authorities will raid your home while hosting a small stakes poker night among friends, residents should be wary and tread lightly while adhering to or dancing around the law. Although it is only a misdemeanor and very little record of punishment exists, the law reads under Article 10 61-10-5 regarding betting on games of chance as such: “If any person at any place, public or private, bet or wage money or other thing of value on any game of chance,” So, when starting the game night up with the gang, make sure everyone is trustworthy and in it for fun.
Where Can One Play Land-Based Poker in West Virginia?
Now for the good news for poker fans in West Virginia. Yes, there a variety of places to go to lawfully to play a hand of your favorite style of poker. Many state sanctioned casinos exist throughout the Mountaineer State and are happy to host both high and low stakes for an expanse of players ranging from novice to expert. No-limit Hold ’em appears the name of the game for locals in West Virginia and many games are available to get into each and every day of the week. At the popular Mountaineer Casino, players can get into tables at almost any hour of the day or night and be playing for large pots with $50 buy-ins. Hollywood Casino at Charlestown also proves to be a local favorite with special events planned as if there’s no tomorrow every night at 7PM for a $100 buy-in for an intense game of poker. So, despite rough laws on gambling in this great state, residents should not have to fear for any lack of recreational or lucrative fun with many opportunities than listed here for a night of cards out and about.
The author of this article is not a lawyer and does not consider the above to be legal advice about legal online poker in West Virginia. If you have questions about online poker and West Virginia poker laws, contact a legal professional. The other option is to look at multiple sites about legal online poker in the United States and make up your own decision about whether or not you want to play online poker.
