What makes people even ask the question “can I play online poker in the United States?” is the notion that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed by former President George W. Bush in 2006, made it illegal for poker players to play for real money in the USA.

Contrary to beliefs that this bill made online poker illegal, what it actually did was it forbade American financial institutions from conducting transactions with online poker rooms. So in short, in made it more difficult to deposit money directly with your debit card and a with a few of the major credit cards.

Fearing further legal issues might develop from this bill, several major poker rooms pulled out of the U.S. market in 2006, including PartyPoker.com. However, many online poker sites continued excepting American players— most notably PokerStars and FullTiltPoker— and since the bill was passed these sites have flourished as thousands of new U.S. players sign up for real money accounts every day.

And depositing money on these sites remains simple. For instance, PokerStars allows you to deposit money into your online poker account using your Visa card, MasterCard, Diners Club card, E-checks, and more.

(For a complete list of deposit methods for trusted online poker sites read our article “How do I deposit money into my online poker account?”)

In addition, many of the poker professionals you’ve seen playing in the World Series of Poker on ESPN, also play online. And many of them live and reside inside the United States. Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Rousso, Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, and 2009 WSOP Champion Joe Cada all live in the United States and all play in high dollar tournaments on PokerStars.com.

If online poker were banned in the United States these high-profile professionals would not be able to wager thousands of dollars playing poker on the internet.

As I write this legislators are working on a bill to fully legalize and regulate online poker and other casino games in the United States. Hopefully this bill will pass to clear up any issues online poker players may have. (For more information on this bill visit theppa.org). While we wait, ask yourselves if public poker figures like Greg Raymer would risk playing online poker in the United States if it was not legal, or safe.

In short, if you live in the United States you can play online poker. Just make sure you sign up with a reputable site like PokerStars, FullTilt Poker, or any of the other online poker rooms we recommend on ThePokerSource.com. These poker rooms are safe, secure, and provide hundreds of table options for both high and low-limit poker players.

For more information about playing online poker in the United States please read:

• How do I withdrawal my online poker winnings?
• How do I deposit money into my online poker account?

Below is a list of the different types of poker tournaments offered online, as well as descriptions explaining how each is run.

SIT & GO Tournaments

Sit and Go tournaments are extremely popular with online poker players because each event begins as soon as the participant quota is filled. Ranging anywhere from heads-up games to multi-table tournaments, Sit and Go’s afford you the luxury of jumping into the action without having to wait around for an official start date. There are a variety of Sit and Go Tournaments held throughout the day, so don’t worry if you miss your chance to sign up. As soon as a tournament kicks off registration for a new one begins.

Double or Nothing

As the name suggests, these single-table tournaments offer you a chance to double your buy-in amount if you can outlast half the field. Finish in 1^st through 5^th and you double your cash, bail out in 6^th through 10^th and your opponents walk away with your buy-in.

Steps or Ladder Tournaments

Steps or ladder games allow you to buy-in on the ground floor for little money (or using frequent player points), and then gradually work your way up through stages or tiers where you can earn big bucks!

Multi-table Tournaments

The most common type of online poker tournament, multi-table events begin with an equal number of chips given to each player, and conclude when one player remains (unless the event is a qualifier or satellite that awards the top prize or entry to more than one player). Multi-table tournaments can have fields that range from a few dozen, to several thousand players (such as the World Series of Poker).

ThePokerSource.com Tip:

During multi-table events you will often be shipped around from table to table. Each time you move from one table to the next sit a few hands out and study your opponents. It’s a good idea to gauge the action and get a read on the players and their betting strategies before you dive into the game.

Shootouts

Shootout tournaments are similar to multi-table events with one major exception; you must win your table before you can move on. Each table is a tournament in itself, where the last player standing moves on to compete with the remaining table winners until a final table is reached.

Satellites

Satellite tournaments allow you to play your win into high stakes events, such as the World Series of Poker, without spending a fortune. Satellites can be entered for as little as a few cents or a single frequent player point, but can lead to huge pay days!

Rebuy Tournaments

Get knocked out early on a bad beat? No problem. Rebuy tournaments allow you to buy back into the event during extended registration that remains open for a set period after the tournament begins.

Turbos

Turbo tournaments offer fast-paced action because the blinds increase much quicker than in normal events. In turbos, the action is forced quicker opening the door for any type of player, beginner or pro, to come out on top. Turbo tournaments are also ideal for players who don’t have the time or the patience to play in multi-table events, which can often last for hours.

Now, Bodog is also gaining popularity for its online poker room, which features a variety of tournaments and ring games, advanced table graphics, and excellent poker sign up bonuses.

Poker professionals David Williams and Evelyn NG both play at Bodog’s poker room, and each day thousands of online poker players gather at the tables to play Texas Hold’em and other popular card games.

Below is a list of the best online poker promotions offered at Bodog Poker. Please note this list is ever changing as many online poker promotions vary from week to week. Please check back to ThePokerSource.com often to stay up-to-date on current events.

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Site: Bodog Poker

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Promotions:

Deposit Bonuses!

Bodog offers fantastic online poker deposit bonuses that allow you to earn free cash each time you play. Sign up now and Bodog will put an additional 110% of your deposit (up to $1,000) into your account for free! That’s the largest online poker sign up bonus around!

Additional bonuses include a 100% reload bonus every month up to $500 for current players, and new players 6 get exclusive free shots at Sunday’s $100K guaranteed.

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Top Promotions!

Top promotions include: an opportunity to earn double bonus points each month to cash in for top prizes and high-dollar tournament buy-ins; win a cash reward of 50x the big blind up to $200 when you’re dealt a royal flush; and win free money for suffering through a bad beat. Read more about Bodog’s promotions.

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$100,000 Guaranteed Tournament

This extreme value weekly tournament allows you to buy-in for as little as $1, and take home your share of $100K! Sign up now.

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Tournament Leader Board

Climb the leader board by playing in tournaments and cash games and you’ll have a shot each week of playing poker professional David Williams heads up for $1,000, with nothing to lose of your own money. Read about all the weekly prizes you can win just for playing at Bodog.

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Player Point Buy-In Tournaments

Collect Bodog Player points and use them to enter high-stakes online poker tournaments. You can play in daily tournaments are special events absolutely free, and even win a seat at next year’s World Series of Poker!

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Daily Freerolls

Looking to save a little cash without sacrificing the chance to win big bucks? Bodog freeroll tournaments are held daily and offer the richest, free buy-in tournaments online!

Visit Bodog for a complete list of online poker sign-up bonuses and promotions.

Below is a list of the best online poker promotions offered at Full Tilt Poker. Please note this list is ever changing as many online poker promotions vary from week to week. Please check back to ThePokerSource.com often to stay up-to-date on current events.

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Site: Full Tilt Poker

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Promotions:

100 % Sign up Bonus!

Double your money when you sign up for Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt Poker will match your initial deposit up to $600! This is a great way to jump start your online poker career by banking free cash just for downloading Full Tilt Poker and signing up for an account.

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MiniFTOPS

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Beginning March 10, 2010, Full Tilt Poker will offer 27 high-roller tournaments with affordable buy-ins for a chance to share in prize winnings of $6 million! Top events include a $250 + $ 16 2-day event, where you’ll compete for $600 thousand guaranteed! And, the main event, where online poker players can compete for $800 thousand for only $50 + $5.

Click here for a complete list of events.

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Big Money Sundays

Now that the football season has ended the best way to spend your Sundays is online at Full Tilt Poker playing in one of three events that offer a combined $1 million in cash prizes. Tournaments include: The Sunday Brawl, beginning at 14:00 ET, the $750 Thousand Guarantee at 18:00 ET, and the Sunday Mulligan at 19:05 ET.

Satellites starting as two bucks or 50 Full Tilt Player Points are offered throughout the week. Sign up here.

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Refer a Friend Program

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Talk your friends into signing up at Full Tilt Poker and you both can receive $115! Your friends will also be eligible for the $600 sign up bonus. Spread the word, and invite your friends to play with you at Full Tilt Poker. You’ll both come out ahead just for them signing up!

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Bonus Points Happy Hour

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At special times throughout the day you can earn double and triple Full Tilt Player Points while playing in cash games and online poker tournaments. Points can be used to purchase valuable merchandise (including golf clubs and plasma TV’s) and to buy-into top-dollar events. Visit Full Tilt Poker to find out more ways you can earn Full Tilt Points.

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$200-K Double Deuce Tournament

Every Sunday you can win your share of a $200, 000 guaranteed prize pool for only a $22 buy in! The winner will take home more than $30,000 cash! Plus, you can win your seat through daily satellite tournaments starting as low as $0.60, or 200 Full Tilt Player Points.

Sign up for the Double Deuce Tournament here.

Visit Full Tilt Poker for a complete list of online poker sign-up bonuses and promotions.

Please note that these are just a few of the ongoing Poker Stars promotions and sign up bonuses. Be sure to visit Pokerstars to see the complete list. Also remember that promotions change every month so check back to the ThePokerSource.com soon to read about up-to-date PokerStars promotions and sign-up bonuses.

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SITE: PokerStars

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PROMOTIONS:

$600 Sign up Bonus!

Earn a 100% bonus up to $600 on your first three deposits at PokerStars. Deposits can be made within 90 days of each other and all you have to do to earn your FREE $600 is keep playing! This is an excellent way to boost your poker bankroll by playing with the house’s money. There’s nothing better than free money!

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Frequent Player Points

Each time you sit down at an online poker table you can earn valuable frequent player points that can be used to purchase a wide selection of merchandise and buy your way into big money events! frequent player points are similar to casino comps, and the more you play, the more you earn. Frequent player points can be used to buy your way into North American Poker Tour Events, the World Championship of Online Poker, Daily Poker Tournaments, and more. For more information about online frequent player points please visit the PokerStars website.

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NHL Awards and Dallas Stars Freerolls

Play in freeroll tournaments (absolutely free to enter!) and you can win a trip to Las Vegas to attend the NHL Awards. Compete in the grand finale on April 4 and you a three friends can win a Las Vegas prize package that includes airfare, lodging and extra spending cash to burn in Sin City. Did we mention it’s free to enter! Visit PokerStars now to find out more.

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Turbo Takedown Tournament

Every month PokerStars offers a frequent player points Turbo Takedown Tournament with a one million dollar prize pool! The winner also gets a new Audi TT! In addition, there are bounties awarded to players who knock out PokerStars Pros. This is an unbelievable event that can earn you thousands of dollars for free! The tournament only costs 3000 Frequent Player Points to enter and there are satellites running throughout the day that allow you to qualify for a fraction of that. Visit PokerStars to enter.

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Battle of the Planets

Join this sit & go tournament challenge for a chance to win $3,000,000 in cash and prizes! You will accumulate leader board points each time you play in a sit & go tournament, and the more you play, the more points you’ll earn. Earn the most points and you’ll win the leader board prize pool. There are even different levels to match your poker bankroll.

Visit Pokerstars for a complete list of online poker sign-up bonuses and promotions.

Or rather inside of your home! Unless you live on the Vegas strip, you likely have to travel some distance to find a brick and mortar card room to play your favorite poker game at.  Quite a few states don’t even have casinos within their boundaries and you have to drive across state lines just to get an opportunity to sit down and play!

Online poker rooms are only as far away as your laptop or desktop computer. Just think of all the fuel you’ll save not having to drive to and from the casino each time you get an itch to play. Plus no more traffic jams, tool booths, speeding tickets, or driving in the rain or snow.

2. The options are endless

No matter what poker game is your favorite, online poker rooms offer them all. Sites like FullTilt Poker and Poker Stars offer a variety of online card games including: Limit and No Limit Texas Hold’em, Omaha Poker, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Razz and mixed games. PokerStars even offer the popular five card draw!

3. You can be yourself

You don’t need to wear a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses when playing online poker in the comfort of home. No one is around to see your poker face!

Online poker rooms are ideal for players who tend to get nervous playing in person or in front of a crowd. When playing poker online you can focus on your play without having to worry about “bluff” being written all over your face. Just be sure to read our article “Online Poker Tells,” to avoid showing your virtual poker face.

4. You can play more hands

Online poker dealers don’t have to collect, shuffle and deal the cards after each hand- everything is automated. You can play two to three-times more hands an hour, if not more, playing at online poker sites rather than in brick and mortar card rooms.

This is ideal for poker players looking to get a few quick hands in before work or during their lunch break.

5. Tournaments are played out much faster!

Between the ability to play more hands and the automatic transferring of players from one table to the next, online poker tournaments are played much faster than poker tournaments played in brick and mortar casinos. What would take days to complete in a casino card room, can be completed in hours online!

6. The variety of buy-in amounts

From Freeroll tournaments, to satellites to the World Series of Poker, to high stakes events, to sit-and-go tournaments that begin when they are filled, to $0.01/$0.02 cash games— online poker sites like BoDog, Poker Stars and Full Tilt offer a variety of tournaments and ring games to fit the bankroll of every type of player.

Where else but online can you play in a $0.01 tournament and a $100 buy-in event at the same time if you choose? And you can always join in a tournament without having to wait days or weeks for it to begin. So if you happen to get knocked out on a bad beat you can jump right back into the action by signing up for another online poker tournament.

7. The bank’s always open

Depositing money into your online poker account is as simple as making a purchase on Amazon.com. Trusted online poker sites do not charge a transaction fee and you can often use a major credit card to fund your account. Please read the article “How Do I Deposit Money into My Online Poker Account,” to find out more on getting started playing online poker.

8. You can smoke…or not smoke!

Many brick and mortar card rooms have followed the trend to become non-smoking facilities. This is good if you don’t smoke— but if you like to have a cigar or cigarette while you play, maybe to help calm your nerves, this isn’t what you want to hear. When playing at home you can smoke if you so desire. It’s your house after all!

In addition, some poker rooms still allow smoking. So for you non-smokers, you’ll probably prefer your clean-air living room to a smoky card room.

9. You can play your way into big money events

Online sites such as FullTilt Poker offer a variety of satellite tournaments throughout the year that allow you to play your way into the World Series of Poker and other events held at Exotic poker locations worldwide. And they even offer packages that include airfare and hotel accommodations when you win your seat.

Plus, no longer do you have to incur the expenses of traveling to Las Vegas if you wish to play in a World Series of Poker satellite event. Now you can do it from home. Just think of all the money you’ll save even if you don’t happen to qualify.

10. You can do two things at once

Baby crying–cell phone ringing– important email coming in from a client— no worries, just click the “sit out” button and take a few hands off to go take care of business!

You don’t have to be cut off from the outside world when playing poker online, unless you want to be!

11. Crowds but not crowded

Hundreds of thousands of people play poker online at sites like PokerStars, yet online card rooms have the ability to handle the masses by creating new tables for players to sit down at when others are full.

You can always find a game to meet your bankroll in a matter of minutes—unlike in brick and mortar card rooms where you may have to sign up and wait an hour or more for your name to be called for an available seat.

12. The bonuses are out of this world!

From 110% sign-up bonuses, to frequent player points that allow you to purchase merchandise and play in high-stakes events for free- online poker sites know how to treat their players.

Please check back to ThePokerSource.com often for up-to-date listings on the Best Online Poker Sign-Up Bonuses and Best Online Casino Promotions.