Discover Maryland's Poker Scene: Laws, Events & Venues
Maryland is a large East Coast state with legal land casinos.
What’s more, thanks to a bill passed in April 2021, even online sports betting became legal – that is a rarity in the United States! Alas, online poker wasn’t included in this piece of legislation. However, these new developments make many in the industry hopeful that Maryland may be the next in line to legalize online poker.
Gambling as a whole goes back hundreds of years in the state of Maryland. Even before the US was born, in the 1740’s, horse races with betting were held at the Pimlico Race Course in the Province of Maryland. In 1870, horse racing became a regulated and taxed industry.
The state lottery was founded in 1973; then, finally, land based casinos became legal in the state in 2008.
As for poker, Pokeratlas.com lists just 4 poker rooms in the entire state of Maryland. However, for some reason, they failed to add Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, MD. This is a major venue which regularly hosts poker tournament series, even World Poker Tour events in 2021. WSOP Circuit events were held at the Horseshoe Baltimore in October 2019.
Famous Marylander Poker Players
Two of the biggest legends of online poker come from the Old Line State.
Daniel “Jungleman” Cates was born in Bowie, MD. He was known to be constantly battling at the highest stakes cash game tables, both NLHE and PLO, on the now defunct poker site Full Tilt. His unfinished heads-up challenge against Tom “durrrr” Dwan is one of the most talked about scandals in recent poker history.
Cates also has over $9 million in live tournament cashes. This includes a €1.284 million payday for a second place finish in the €100K Super High Roller event at EPT Monte Carlo in 2014.
Phil Galfond is from North Potomac, MD. He too was a well known high stakes cash player on Full Tilt. He is a 3-time WSOP gold bracelet winner.
Galfond founded his own online poker room, Run It Once Poker. On this site, he played a series of high stakes heads-up PLO challenges. In his first match-up, he beat “VeniVidi1993” despite being down €900K midway through the challenge.
Currently, Anthony Gregg from Columbia, MD tops the Maryland all time money list on Hendon with $11.980 million in live tournament earnings. His biggest cash is $4.831 million, which he got for winning the $111,111 One Drop High Roller at the 2013 World Series of Poker.
Online Poker in Maryland
Online Poker Legislation in Maryland
Online poker is illegal in Maryland. While the state allows for other forms of gambling, such as land-based casinos and sports betting, it has not legalized or regulated online poker. There are no licensed online poker platforms available, and players cannot legally participate in online poker on state-regulated sites. Some residents access offshore platforms, but these are not authorized or protected under Maryland law. There are no current efforts to legalize online poker in the state.
Best Online Poker Sites in Maryland
Live Poker in Maryland
Live Poker Legislation in Maryland
Section 12-102 in the Maryland Code, Criminal Law deals with the criminal aspects of gambling.
Without a state licence, even owning gambling paraphernalia is illegal. Thankfully, since the constitutional referendum held in 2008, companies can apply for licences to operate land casinos. The body giving out those licences, as well as the ones regulating the gambling industry in the state, is the Maryland State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency.
Live Poker Venues in Maryland
The Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover, MD has a packed tournament schedule. They host two or three tournaments every day. The buy-ins range from $130 (excluding satellites, which can go as low as $50) up to $1,100. Most are NLHE tourneys, but they even have 5-Card Omaha events as well. In September 2021, they hosted WPT Maryland with a $3,500 buy-in Main Event.
As for cash games, they have a wide and exciting selection. Their poker room has No Limit Hold’em tables on $1/$3, $2/$5, and $5/$10 stakes; Limit Hold’em tables on $4/$8 and $20/$40 stakes; 5-Card PLO tables on $2/$2 and $5/$5 stakes; a Limit Omaha 8-or-Better table on $4/$8 stakes; as well as an Omaha8-Stud8 mixed game table on $6/$12 stakes.
At Horseshoe Baltimore, owned by the famous gambling company Caesars Entertainment, you can play a number of cash games. Their table selection includes No Limit Hold’em (on stakes ranging from $1/$3 up to $10/$20), Limit Hold’em (from $3/$6 to $40/$80), and Pot Limit Omaha (with $1/$2 and $2/$2 blinds). As we wrote in our intro, they’ve hosted WSOP Circuit events in the past. There, the buy-ins ranged between $135 and $3,250.
You can also find consistent poker action at the Hollywood Casino Perryville in Perryville, MD.
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