Discover USA Alaska Poker: Venues, Events, and Laws

Alaska was bought by the United States from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. Since then, it has made back its price many times over. Alas, almost none of that revenue came from the gambling industry.

That is because almost all games of chance are illegal in Alaska. There are a few bingo halls on Native American land. However, the most they offer is some pull tab games. While the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 does allow Native Americans on tribal land to operate casinos on their own will, the Alaskan legal landscape is so harsh on gambling that even they can’t put up a “proper” casino with slot machines or table games. Evidently, this makes it impossible for commercial poker rooms to operate as well.

So, what do Alaskan poker players have left to cling to? Not much.

They can host their own private games. Social poker games are legal as long as no rake is collected. They can travel to the neighboring Canada, where they play in any of the many legal cardrooms. Closest to Alaska are the poker rooms in Yukon territory.

Or, they can try one of the real money poker apps that use the sweepstake model, such as PokerBros. At least there’s no news coming about Alaskan authorities cracking down on those.

Famous Alaskan Poker Players

Adam Hendrix from Anchorage, AK tops the Midnight Sun state’s all time money list on Hendon. He has $1.767 million in live tournament cashes.

In August 2019, he finished 2nd in the €1,100 No Limit Hold’em – EPT National event at EPT Barcelona for €346,500. That is the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date. In 2017, he came very close to winning his first ever WSOP gold bracelet. He got to the heads-up stage in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event. However, he lost to the man with a befitting name for a poker tournament, Nathan Gamble. Thus Hendrix finished second for $137,992.

Second on the Alaskan all time money list is Perry Green from Fairbanks, AK with $1.124 million in cashes. He’s an old school poker pro, having won his first WSOP title in the 1976 $1,000 Ace to Five Draw event. He has a total of 3 bracelets. Also, his World Series cashes span over 4 decades.

On the online MTT database PocketFives, there is a single player who set their location as Alaska. A player with the screen name “oneGypsyPlz” on Blackchip Poker and “clarkus” on Americas Cardroom has cashed for $51,281 in online tournaments.