Best Online Poker Sites in Florida for 2024

Top Florida online poker sites: where to roll

After thoroughly testing the Florida market, we’ve found several gambling sites offering exquisite poker services. Our team narrowed the list down to the top three options to play. Let’s examine them.

• 

  Chico Poker Network

  BetOnline

  4.7

  • Bitcoins accepted

  4.7

  Bonus

  100% up to $1,000

  Rakeback

  VIP

  Sign upReview
• 

  Winning Poker Network

  Americas Cardroom

  4.7

  • Bitcoins accepted

  4.7

  Bonus

  up to $2,000

  Rakeback

  up to 65%

  Code: WPD27

  Sign upReview
• 

  Independent

  CoinPoker

  4.5

  • Bitcoins accepted

  4.5

  Bonus

  150% up to $2,000

  Rakeback

  33%+

  Code: WPD

  Sign upReview
• 

  Paiwangluo Poker Network

  Ignition Casino

  4.3

  • Bitcoins accepted

  4.3

  Bonus

  150% up to $1,500

  Rakeback

  Sign upReview
• 

  Paiwangluo Poker Network

  Bovada

  4.3

  • Bitcoins accepted

  4.3

  Bonus

  100% up to $1,000

  Rakeback

  Sign upReview

And if you need advice on choosing online poker sites, get in touch right now - we are online seven days a week.

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ACR Poker

ACR Poker, which conducts the legendary $12,500,000 GTD Venom Tournament, welcomes new poker players from Florida with a $2,000 bonus. To receive it, just make your first deposit of $25 or higher and receive a 100% match.

In the ACR cashier, you will see a wide range of cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Tether, Litecoin, Currency Binance (BNB), etc. Crypto deposits and withdrawals are commission free and are processed within 48 hours.

BetOnline Poker

Being present in the gambling market since 1991, BetOnline has built a perfect toolkit for online poker players. In the site’s “Poker” section, you’ll find dozens of poker tables for quick play, millionaire poker tournaments series, and the guide you need to start grinding at BetOnline. 

The platform also has massive poker promotions ready to give you extra funds at any moment. For example, the BetOnline welcome offer provides each newcomer with a 100% deposit match up to $1,000 and 21 paid tournament tickets for free.

Ignition Poker

Ignition Casino is a licensed and secure online poker room that accepts crypto payments to enable payouts in up to 72 hours. In addition to that, this platform offers the biggest welcome offer among the 3 sites we present, giving you a chance to claim up to $3,000.

With that much cash on your balance, you can participate in Ignition quick poker games (there are several different tables to choose from) and tournaments.

How we choose the best Florida online poker sites

What makes a poker site good? According to our experience, it’s a compilation of criteria and the quality of their execution. So, here’s what we consider:

1. License: an online poker room has to be licensed to guarantee safe and transparent services. We ensure that by finding a license number and checking it on the issuer’s site.
2. Background with several years of experience. For that, we check its launch date and several of its dated reviews.
3. Security: a poker room has no disputes with its players, payments are SSL-encrypted, and playing software is checked by gambling labs.
4. Cashier: you can pay with classic payment methods (e-wallets, credit/debit cards, and bank transfers) and modern ones (crypto, like BTC, LTC, USDT, etc.).
5. Games and traffic: 24/7 and a variety of game types available (Texas Holdem, Omaha, Stud, Short Deck, etc.). In addition, our recommended sites are based on Florida time (GMT-4).

When you join a website based on our recommendation, you can be sure these elements are included.

Online poker in Florida

Online poker is available in Florida. However, due to a lack of regulation, there are no local poker sites; you can only play at offshore sites that aren't banned in the state.

Online gambling in Florida has always been like that. However, the situation may drastically change soon if the state recognizes and regulates gambling, like in New Jersey, Delaware, or West Virginia.

Many people ask if offshore poker rooms are safe when they discover that Florida doesn't regulate gambling. The answer is yes. The first is that offshore gambling sites have been around for over 20 years and are still operating.

More so, off-shore sites receive a ton of client feedback. You can find it on independent review sites like Trustpilot and Reddit.

The legal background of online poker in Florida

Land-based poker in Florida is regulated by the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) and its Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering. However, real-money online poker is a grey area. The state doesn’t legally recognize it and, therefore, can’t prohibit it. You are free to play in any online poker site you want. However, it’s optimal to choose reputable offshore sites, as they’re reliable due to their extensive extensive history and reviews.

What about regular gambling? According to Florida law, most of its forms are prohibited, and those that aren’t fall under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The law allows tribal casinos, state lottery, pari-mutuel, betting on horse races, and poker card rooms.

Florida grinders are essentially stuck with sweepstakes poker, playing for virtual currency. You need to exchange real money for virtual credits (like coins at Global Poker) and use them to place bets.

Another poker type that might interest you is live poker. In it, all the games are conducted by actual dealers and live-streamed from special studios. Since players in live poker still compete against one another and not the dealer, this type is not prohibited in Florida. 

Like with live poker, you can also play penny-ante at home. No mediator charges extra fees from your stakes, allowing you to play without any losses for participation. Section 849.085 of the Florida statutes defines a penny-ante game as poker or similar games like bridge, dominoes, or mahjong. To qualify, a player's winnings in one round, hand, or game can't exceed $10. The host can't receive any compensation or charge an admission fee. These home games must not be advertised to the public. It’s one of the biggest benefits of the lack of Florida poker regulations.

Comparing Florida to neighboring states

Even though Florida gambling conditions aren’t perfect, they’re even worse in adjacent states. Let’s take Georgia, for example. It prohibits all types of gambling (including poker) except lottery betting, bingo, and raffles.

States further across Georgia have poker regulations similar to Florida’s. For instance, poker isn’t regulated in South Carolina, which allows you to play offshore gambling sites.

Taxes

Another factor that makes Florida a better place for playing online poker is the lack of income tax on gambling winnings. This benefit is immensely important. For example, in other states, a gambling tax reaches 10% (depending on your income). So, if you’ve won $10,000 in a month, you have to pay $1,000 tax from it to your local state.

Prospects for regulating online poker in Florida

An increasing number of states in America have started to reckon with online gambling. Florida is on its way. The poker business brings huge revenue to offshore sites, which the Florida government will definitely prevent in the foreseeable future.

Florida land-based card rooms

All this time, we’ve been talking about online poker regulations. But what about real-life poker? Florida regulates and allows it, which results in over 30 poker rooms being available in the state in 2024.

Offline poker playing is completely different from online. When your cards are dealt in an actual poker room, the process feels very authentic. The gameplay also becomes more tense.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

As online gambling isn’t regulated in Florida, depositing real funds into an off-shore gambling site would raise questions. To make it easy, the sites use crypto. Therefore, you can deposit and cashout via Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, and other popular altcoins (the choice of coins depends on the poker site).

Depositing crypto has several benefits. First, such payments are fast. More so, crypto is very secure. Thanks to blockchain technology, criminals have no chance of extracting information from your payment. And finally, depositing crypto is cheap. Thanks to mining technology, crypto networks have decreased their processing fee to 0% and have allowed instant payments.

What about other payment methods? Even though most poker rooms accept e-wallets and credit/debit cards, these tools aren’t available if you’re in Florida.

Brief history of poker and gambling in Florida

Florida's betting began in 1931 when the state’s legislation approved horse and dog racing by one vote. These bet types weren’t very popular. However, we can’t say that about slot machines, which were legalized in 1935.

A huge chunk of the state’s citizens began playing slots. Therefore, the government had to restrict such leisure, banning slots two years later, in 1937. The next big thing was bingo. The state made it legal in 1970, creating a new wave of gambling hype.

Poker’s turn came in 1989. This year, Florida has approved poker games at home, with the pot limit up to $10.

By the year 2000, people were already playing online poker legally. But after the UIGEA was passed in 2006, it became illegal under federal law to operate a real-money online poker site.

In 2011, Joseph Abruzzo introduced HB 77, which was an online poker bill. The idea was to regulate real-money poker sites across the state, but it didn't succeed.

Best Florida poker players

Sean Winter has won over $30 million in live tournaments since 2011, outlasting such notable Florida players as the Mizrachi brothers, John Mercier and Daniel Cates.

Sean Winter started his poker career online (going by the nickname 'Nolez7'), but switched to live poker after Black Friday. His first success came in 2015 at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic High Roller, where he took home $441,450 for finishing fourth in the event.

All of Sean Winter's wins have come in events with buy-ins of $50K or more. However, in none of them has he finished in first place. The same was true online. The American won $1,048,000 for his second-place finish in the SCOOP 2016 Main Event.

In recent years, Sean Winter has played only at the WSOP, PokerGO Tour and Triton Poker events. In 2022, he won his seventh Poker Masters Series title, finishing 1st and 2nd in two events for $777,000.

Conclusion

Florida, like many other states in America, doesn’t regulate online poker yet. So, playing online poker isn’t restricted and doesn’t carry any legal liabilities for you. But where do you play? As there are no local online poker rooms, you must select among high-quality off-shore sites, like BetOnline, ACR Poker, and Ignition Poker.

When choosing a place to bet, remember its important criteria. It has to be licensed, have a clear and positive background, be secure, and offer multiple payment methods. And don’t forget the traffic. As poker matches are conducted against real players, you must be in a specific time zone to match the highest player activity.

Responsible gambling in Florida

Be responsible when playing poker. Remember that such games are entertainment, not profit tools — income isn’t guaranteed. To avoid the development of gambling addiction and to enjoy gambling more, always play with funds that you can afford to spend. If you struggle to control your gambling urges, contact these organizations.

• Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling
• Gamblers Anonymous
• NCPG

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