Online Games Watchdog: Playing on US facing networks

Online Poker in the US

Did you know that it was still possible to play vs american players?

Since the events of Black Friday, online poker has become an uncertain area for the US population. Many believe playing online poker is impossible, even though in most states, that isn’t really true. American players have still appetite for online poker. As the largest contributor of online poker traffic before Black Friday, US players are beginning to come back into the market, although not at the major brand name poker rooms most of us know.

Some changes of legislation in certain states have led to online poker being regulated but the main actors on the US Market are now offshore operators which aren’t regulated by US authorities. These US facing poker rooms have reported increases in player traffic, of up to 25% in the last year alone, compared to a 20% drop in traffic at regulated rooms.

Recently, Winning Poker Network were able to hold a $1 million guaranteed tournament which attracted in the region of 1,800 runners. Of course the quality of poker rooms such as these probably does not necessarily match up to the worldwide industry leaders, but they offer US players a reasonably good option for playing poker online.

The Big Picture

Despite legal uncertainties in particular areas surrounding online poker in the US, no offshore company has been prosecuted by the department of justice since Black Friday. It seems that companies are slowly growing confident in being able to offer online poker in the US, just as the players in that country are feeling more confident about playing.

Traffic on US facing sites increased from 25% last year

Despite this apparently being all positive news, it is important to note that transferring cash out of these poker rooms can be slow at times for American players, mainly because one barrier for them to overcome is the ‘Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act’ from 2006 which makes it illegal to process transactions from gambling companies which aren’t regulated by US authorities. In short, this leads to slightly higher processing fees for transactions, and longer waits but these problems only impact US based players.

Playing on US facing Network

Since the scandal with Lock Poker, there are some understandable nerves surrounding offshore poker rooms. It’s clear that these sites don’t offer the same guarantees than PokerStars or 888Poker, but there are many positives to consider. It’s important to remember that these rooms are gaining players which mean softer games.

When you are living in Asia, playing very late at night, through until early afternoon will ensure that if you are playing at one of these US facing offshore sites, you’ll get to play against most of the US traffic. These networks are comparing very well compared to industry leading poker rooms except Pokerstars so there will be plenty of games running for Holdem (up to USD$5/$10 in some places.) Also PLO games are filling quite well too, also with the occasional Omaha hi/lo game running. The tournament action seems to be less populated, but there are still some good guaranteed prize pools on some networks.

Rakeback deals are in effect at almost all US facing networks, and no matter what country you are in (Thailand, Phillipines, Vietnam…), you are allowed to create an account and play. Generally cashing out is fast for non US players when using Skrill Neteller. For example Tigergaming on Chico Network promises 24 hour cashouts.

We offer to our players tailor-made deals on all US-Facing Network. Contact us or send us your Skype details to discuss your personal deal: [email protected]