PA Online Poker – Pick The Best Pennsylvania Online Poker Sites 2024

To start at the top and answer the main question many of you landing on this page may have – online poker is legal and regulated in Pennsylvania!

Pennsylvania regulated online poker in 2017, becoming the fourth US state to do so, after Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. The very first PA poker site went live a couple of years later, in 2019.

On this page, we bring you all the answers about legal online poker in PA, including the best PA poker sites, the most generous bonuses, different types of games available, supported banking methods, and more. So, let’s get straight into it!

Best PA Poker Sites

At this moment, there are four fully licensed and completely regulated online poker sites operating in Pennsylvania. We bring you a quick overview of these sites, with links to full reviews if you want to know more about these operators.

PokerStars PA

PokerStars was the first poker site to go live in Pennsylvania. The operator launched in 2019, almost two years after the law regulating online poker in the state was passed.

If you’re into tournaments, PokerStars PA is your best choice, featuring rich daily and weekly schedules and big series such as PACOOP and PASCOOP. These events take place a few times every year and regularly offer seven-figure guarantees across the board.

PokerStars PA is also your go-to place if you are looking to play poker variations beyond Hold’em and Omaha. The site features many less popular variants like 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, and even Badugi in ring games and tournaments.

As a newcomer, you can take advantage of a nice welcome bonus as the site offers a 100% match of up to $600 on your first deposit.

WSOP PA

After more than a year of PokerStars reigning supreme in the state, another site had finally joined the market. It was WSOP PA, bringing some competition and adding some diversity.

Like everywhere else in the US, WSOP.com’s main selling point is the operator’s ability to host bracelet and ring-awarding online events. No other online platform can offer this, and the idea of winning a coveted bracelet from the comfort of your home attracts many people.

Of course, this isn’t the only thing WSOP PA has going for it. Operator’s jackpot sit-and-go BLAST games are very popular, and the site has a decent weekly MTT schedule outside of major series.

The WSOP PA welcome bonus for new players provides a generous 100% deposit match of up to $1,000, alongside $100 in free funds.

BetMGM Poker PA

When compared to the other two, BetMGM Poker PA is a smaller site, but it’s always good that players have more choice and more freedom when deciding where to play.

BetMGM is fully licensed in Pennsylvania, and it offers solid cash game action and a decent MTT schedule with smaller guarantees and more manageable fields.

What makes BetMGM Poker PA attractive to many is that the operator also offers a quality casino platform and one of the best sports betting sites, so it meets all your gaming needs.

On the poker side, you can claim a very solid welcome bonus, giving you a 100% match on your first deposit of up to $1,000 and up to $75 worth of tournament tickets.

BetMGM Poker App Review.

Borgata Poker PA

Everything that we said about BetMGM applies to Borgata Poker PA. These two sites are owned by the same company, and they actually share the player pool within the state, so you’ll find similar games and promotions across both platforms.

The site offers some advantages for serious grinders, as its rewards program can add quite a bit of value to the time spent at the tables. On the flip side, for more casual players, the likes of WSOP PA and PokerStars PA have more to offer.

Borgata PA and BetMGM PA do host regular MTT series that encompass both platforms, boosting player numbers and allowing them to offer bigger prize pools, but these are usually in the low to mid six figures.

As for the welcome bonus, the offer is identical to that at BetMGM, as first depositors get a 100% match up to $1,000 and up to $75 in tournament tickets.

Borgata Poker App Review.

Best PA Online Poker Bonuses & Promotions

One of the best things about competition in online poker is that it results in better poker bonuses for the players. With four sites now operating in Pennsylvania, a few nice sign-up bonuses are up for grabs if you’re just starting.

All four PA poker sites have good welcome packages, although we have to say that the WSOP PA offer is the most appetizing one, purely because of up to $100 in free credits that you can get alongside the $1,000 match bonus, as well as several entries into their new player freerolls.

Talking about PA poker bonuses in general, playthrough requirements are quite player-friendly across the board, making them valuable and worth taking. There are no weird restrictions or shady requirements that you may have to deal with at offshore sites.

The total value will depend on your poker bankroll, of course, but given the fact these bonuses are completely transparent and quite valuable, we do recommend taking full advantage of them if your budget allows it.

Comparing Best PA Online Poker Bonuses

We’ve covered Pennsylvania poker bonuses quite a bit, but seeing things side by side can be quite helpful when trying to make a decision. So, here’s a quick overview of all welcome bonuses available at PA poker sites and all the perks you stand to get with your first deposit.

Pennsylvania Online Poker Promotions

Welcome bonuses are great, but they are only there for new players. The good news is PA poker sites also take good care of their existing customers via different promotions that give you an opportunity to improve your win rate:

• Cash & MTT leaderboards – You’ll encounter all sorts of leaderboards at PA online poker rooms, usually lasting between one week and a full month. BetMGM PA and Borgata Poker PA are great picks for these if you’re a cash game player, while WSOP PA offers some fun tournament leaderboards.
• Reload bonuses – similar to welcome offers, reload bonuses allow you to get extra cash with your next deposit. All PA poker sites offer these occasionally, so the best way to stay in the loop is by keeping up with the emails and checking out new promotions on the websites. WSOP PA has been known to offer these frequently in connection to their big tournament series.
• Loyalty programs – All poker rooms have loyalty programs, where the more you play, the more value you can get. PokerStars PA is a fun choice for casual players with its personalized Chests, but this really boils down to how much you play and your average stakes.
• Freerolls & giveaways – All poker sites in PA have frequent freeroll tournaments and giveaways you can get involved with directly through the client or via their social media pages. Since these are often spur-of-the-moment things, you’ll need to put in a bit of work to catch them all, but it will be well worth it.

The bottom line is that you can find many interesting and valuable promotions in PA between all the reload bonuses, special tournaments, and leaderboards. If you want to see your poker bankroll grow quickly, taking advantage of as many of these as possible is a must.

Online Poker Games in Pennsylvania Poker Rooms

Regulated PA poker sites cater to players of all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re a casual looking to play some small-stakes MTTs or a high-roller looking for fast-paced ring action, these operators have you covered.

Best PA Online Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments are by far the most popular poker format, and it was tournaments that helped make the game the global phenomenon that it is today. Whether you crave big prize pools and brag-worthy trinkets or just want to play a few small events while watching your favorite sports team, PA poker sites have you covered.

There is plenty of action available across all operators, but PokerStars PA certainly leads the way when it comes to tournaments.

On a daily basis, you’ll find tournaments with buy-ins starting as low as $1 and going up to around $215.

On Sundays, there are regular Sunday majors with boosted prize pools, while the operator also hosts big series like Pennsylvania Online Championship of Online Poker (PACOOP) and Pennsylvania Spring Online Championship of Online Poker (PASCOOP).

WSOP PA has its own regular schedule, but it gets the most traffic while hosting bracelet-awarding events and WSOP circuit tournaments, awarding actual WSOPC rings. These events usually have higher buy-ins, from several hundred to a couple thousand, but you can win your way into them via various satellites.

Finally, Borgata PA and BetMGM Poker PA offer smaller-field events, both with their regular schedules and occasional series. These are your go-to options if you want to experience tournament action but don’t feel like going against hundreds or even thousands of other players.

PA Poker Sites Cash Games

When it comes to ring games, the action is pretty good across the board. With over 13 million people, Pennsylvania is currently the largest regulated US poker state, which translates to solid player traffic.

In terms of available stakes, all PA poker sites offer games as low as $0.01/$0.02, so you don’t need a huge bankroll to get started. On the other side of the spectrum, the highest regularly-running games are $10/$20 for Texas Hold’em and $5/$10 for Pot Limit Omaha.

PLO and NLHE are also the two games you’ll find spread across all sites. If you’re looking for other variations or mixed games, PokerStars PA is currently the only site offering these.

The player traffic is generally decent, but the best times to play are evening hours, especially during weekends. Also, it’s common for all PA poker rooms to see an uptick in cash game traffic while running tournament series.

Sit & Go Games at PA Poker Rooms

PA poker sites still offer sit-and-go tournaments, although these games, at least in their traditional format, have been slowly going away.

You will find 6-max and 9-max sit and goes with buy-ins from $1 to about $20, and heads-up SNGs with buy-ins of up to $100. While these games exist and run occasionally, you should know that they take time to fill up, especially at higher stakes.

Luckily, if you crave sit-and-go action, there is a very viable alternative that presents itself in the form of jackpot SNG games, and every PA poker site has its own version of these.

The premise is the same across the board: these games offer a multiplier of your buy-in instead of a fixed prize, and that multiplier can be anything between 2x and 10,000x (or even more). This big win potential is what attracts players to these games.

Signing Up With PA Online Poker Sites

When you’re done reading and feel ready to sign up and join the action, you’ll have no problem signing up with any regulated poker site in Pennsylvania. The process is very similar across the board and consists of a few simple steps:

1. Pick one of the sites from our recommended PA poker rooms.
2. Visit the website and click on the “Register” or “Sign Up” button.
3. Fill in the required info: email, password, user name, your name, surname, date of birth, address, etc. Always fill in the correct and truthful info, and make sure you make no mistakes.
4. Check your inbox for the confirmation email and click the link contained inside.
5. Visit the cashier to claim any bonus offers and make your first real money deposit
6. Once your deposit is processed, you can join cash games and tournaments without restrictions.

One important caveat is that you can sign up to PA poker sites from anywhere in the United States. However, you can only play in tournaments and cash games while physically within Pennsylvania state borders.

PA Online Poker Apps

All currently regulated poker sites in Pennsylvania either have their own modern software or have partnered with gaming companies that provide such software. In any case, players get to take advantage of all the benefits such platforms bring with them.

One of the biggest advantages is the ability to play on the go using your mobile device. You’ll find that PA poker mobile apps meet and exceed your expectations for the most part.

Even if you’re new to online poker, it is extremely easy to find and install these real money poker apps onto your device, as they’re readily available in their respective stores.

This is another advantage of playing on regulated poker sites, as these can feature their apps in Google Play and App Store without any limitations.

All PA poker apps will require you to enable geolocation on your device, at least while using the app. This is a mandatory step you can’t get around, as this system ensures that players outside of Pennsylvania cannot access the games.

In terms of functionality, online poker apps in PA give you full access to everything. You can join the cash games, register for and play in tournaments, make deposits, request withdrawals, and participate in various promotions – all from the palm of your hand.

PA Online Poker Banking

As long as you stick to regulated PA poker sites, you will have no problems in the payments department, whether it is deposits or withdrawals.

You’ll discover that these rooms feature a rather impressive selection of payment options, and all of them are very reputable and trustworthy. You won’t be dealing with any shady payment processors, and no regulated US sites accept cryptocurrency payments.

Because everything is legal and regulated, you will not experience any problems with your bank when making deposits. Likewise, when you request a withdrawal, you can expect it to be processed and paid out within a few days.

⭐ Popular Payment Methods at PA Poker Sites

Supported payment options will vary between different PA poker rooms. However, these are some that you’ll be able to use at almost all of them:

• MasterCard
• Visa
• Discover
• Apple Pay
• PayPal
• ACH
• Online banking
• PayNearMe
• Tappp
• Game On
• Wire transfers

With most payment options, the minimum deposit requirement is just $10. The maximum deposit varies greatly between different methods.

Online Poker in PA – Laws & Regulations

Pennsylvania passed its law regulating online poker in the fall of 2017, becoming the fourth US state to do so. However, it took another couple of years before Pennsylvanians could start playing, as the very first site launched in 2019. PokerStars PA was the first operator to acquire a PA online poker license.

Like elsewhere in the US, all poker sites are regulated on the state level, and the job of licensing and regulating the operators falls with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

They approve licensing applications and ensure that once licensed, these sites do things by the book, providing players with a safe gaming environment.

To obtain a license, online poker rooms must enter partnerships with land-based casinos, so every PA poker site has a physical base in the state.

When it comes to other important poker laws in Pennsylvania, they are similar to those in other states, namely:

• All players have to be at least 21 years old
• Players can only access real-money games while physically present in Pennsylvania
• Sites perform diligent KYC checks to ensure everything’s by the book

When it comes to interstate poker, Pennsylvania is still not a member of the MSIGA, which means the operators can’t combine their player pools across the state border. If recent trends are any indication (i.e., Michigan joining the MSIGA in 2023), this is likely to change in the not-so-distant future.

Currently, there are four states with WSIGA agreements that combine player pool:

• New Jersey
• Michigan
• Delaware
• Nevada

Offshore Sites vs. Legal PA Poker Sites

Although online poker was regulated in Pennsylvania, several offshore sites continue to accept players from the state. These operators try to attract players with big bonuses and large tournaments, among other things, and some of these things are quite attractive.

However, PA poker players should always stick to licensed sites and avoid all other options. Despite what it may seem like, playing on these other sites is not worth the associated risk and hassle.

If you have doubts and aren’t sure whether to go the legal route, keep reading to discover the main reasons why sticking to regulated sites is in your best interest and will serve you well in the long run.

⭐ Safe & Quick Payments

As already mentioned, when transacting with regulated poker sites in Pennsylvania, you’ll never have to deal with delays, blocks, or other issues that are quite common for those who play with offshore operators.

Your deposits will be virtually instant, regardless of what option you use. Withdrawals will be quick and smooth, and there will be no problems when the money hits your bank account. Almost anyone who’s ever tried cashing out from an offshore site will tell you that withdrawals are anything but smooth.

⭐ Trusted Platform

When playing online poker, it’s important you feel safe. Sites regulated by the PGCB adhere to very strict rules and perform thorough checks to ensure their software is truly random and their tables are only populated by real people.

Many offshore sites have struggled in both aspects, but especially in terms of bots. It is no secret that many of these operators either allow or simply can’t stop the onslaught of AI-powered players, which ruins the experience and cuts into your winning potential.

⭐ Stable Software Solutions

All PA poker sites are owned and operated by major gaming companies. Keeping up with their reputation, these companies offer software solutions that meet all your gaming needs, are very stable, and don’t have many bugs. Even when a problem happens, their support teams are quick to fix it.

On the other hand, offshore sites can’t offer the same level of experience for various reasons. These sites often experience periods of instability, especially during big online events, and this is exactly when you want things to go smoothly so you can focus on playing the game.

⭐ Responsive Customer Support

Regulated PA poker rooms feature dedicated customer support teams available to you around the clock. These support agents will come to your aid regardless of your query type and will do their best to assist.

This can hardly be said for offshore sites. While some of them do a decent job in the support department, many leave players to their own means and are only happy to help when you’re trying to make a deposit.

⭐ No Legal Risks

Last but not least, playing on licensed sites ensures you’ll never have to deal with any legal repercussions. Since these are completely legitimate businesses, you have nothing to worry about, as you aren’t breaking any laws.

Things are always in a grey zone (at the very least) when playing at offshore sites. While the odds of you facing any serious issues as a player are slim, they’re not completely non-existent. And, given that you have access to legal options, why risk it?

Pennsylvania Online Poker Summary

Players looking to play online poker in Pennsylvania can access four fully licensed and regulated sites. It’s up to you where you want to play, and nothing is stopping you from registering an account with all PA poker sites and moving around as you wish.

The bottom line is that online poker has been thriving in the state, and we expect that to continue as existing sites continue to grow and new operators enter the market.

The state is likely to join the MSIGA soon as well, so the future of PA online poker looks very bright!

PA Poker Sites FAQ