States with legal online poker and who regulates it

The six states with licensed poker

According to industry trackers, regulated online poker is available in Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In five of them the regulator is the same body that licenses online casino games. Nevada is the exception: the state has no licensed online casino, as the status table shows, yet it licenses online poker under its interactive gaming regulation. Poker can therefore be licensed in a state that has not authorized slots or table games online.

Who regulates each state

Each regulator below was read at its own site where the site answered our client on November 11, 2026.

New Jersey's older Division address now shows a notice that the page has been replaced, and the Attorney General's site that hosts the current page also refused our client. The permit list is therefore the New Jersey source we read. The list gives a permit number and a holder name and does not say which holders run poker.

Pennsylvania's poker page

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board keeps a separate page for online poker operators. When read on November 11, 2026, it named seven brands: BetMGM, BetRivers, Borgata, DraftKings, FanDuel, PlaySugarHouse and World Series of Poker. The Board's wording is that a player should use its links to verify that a site is regulated by the Board, and that licensed sites carry the Board's logo. The Board's wider list of interactive gaming certificateholders is dated April 30, 2026 in its file name and counts twelve certificateholders.

The shared player pool

Industry trackers report a multi-state player pool agreement under which licensed operators in one state seat players from another at the same tables. Trackers list Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia as members of the pool, and some trackers count only five. We did not read the agreement or a regulator statement of its members, so the count is reported as tracker information and the sources vary.

Connecticut and Maine

Connecticut has legalized online poker in law. One tracker reports that no operator has launched, while another lists the state as regulated, and the reports conflict. Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection names its licensed online casinos on its Legal Gaming in Connecticut page, which is where a launch would show.

Maine's legislature passed a poker measure that was signed in January 2026. Industry trackers report that no license has been issued and no room is live.

Everywhere else

In the other 42 states and the District of Columbia, industry trackers record no regulator licensing online poker. New York and California are named among the states where online poker is not legal. A poker site that accepts players there holds no license from that state, and whatever license it claims has to be checked against the issuer's own register, a step set out in how to check a license.

The federal picture sits behind all of this: no federal license exists, and the federal statutes leave licensing to the states, as federal gambling law explains.

Frequently asked questions

Which states have legal online poker?

Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, according to industry trackers. Connecticut and Maine have enacted laws without a confirmed launch.

Do players in different states share tables?

Industry trackers report that licensed operators in the pool states seat players across state lines. The pool's membership is reported differently by different trackers, and no regulator page we read lists it.

Is online poker the same as an online casino license?

Not necessarily. Nevada licenses online poker and has no licensed online casino. The state status table shows both columns for every state.