About Us — Why Trust Our Online Poker Reviews

Online Poker compares online poker sites for US players who want to know where the games are soft, the traffic is real, and the payouts actually clear. We're not a poker room and we don't deal cards — we research the operators taking real-money players and put what we find into rankings you can act on.

Poker is a game of skill against other players, not against the house, but choosing where to play still involves real risk: your deposit, your time at the tables, and your personal information all go somewhere. This page explains how we build our recommendations and what we look at before any site earns a spot on this list.

What We Actually Look At

Every site we cover is assessed against the same set of factors. No operator buys a better position — commission from an affiliate link never decides where a site lands in our rankings. Here's what does:

Traffic and liquidity — how many players are seated at cash games and tournaments at different times of day, and whether stakes below the highest limits still get action
Game variety — the spread across No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, fast-fold formats like Zoom or Snap, Sit & Gos, Spin & Go lottery formats, and any mixed-game tables
Rake and rakeback — the rake structure at each stake, and how loyalty or rewards programmes claw some of it back for regular players
Welcome bonuses and promotions — the size of the deposit match, and just as important, the playthrough or clearing requirements and time limits attached to it
Software and mobile experience — client stability, table speed, and how the iOS/Android apps hold up compared with desktop
Payments — deposit and withdrawal methods available to US players, processing times, and any fees
Licensing and player protection — how the operator is regulated, and whether player funds appear to be handled separately from operating funds
Customer support — response times and whether help is actually available when a withdrawal stalls or a hand history needs checking

How the Top Sites Compare

Coinpoker currently tops our list, largely on the strength of its blockchain-based games and the scale of promotions like the Battle of Malta Online Series — a headline series that draws serious tournament traffic. Its main trade-off is that crypto-first platforms won't suit every recreational player who'd rather deposit with a card. Bovada follows closely, long known among US players for a recreational-friendly cash game pool and a straightforward 100% bonus up to $500; the flip side is that its tournament traffic can thin out at higher buy-ins compared with global networks. Stake rounds out the top three with a sweepstakes-style model — 25 Stake Cash and 250,000 Gold Coins as a welcome offer — which suits players in states without direct real-money regulation, though the dual-currency structure takes some getting used to if you're expecting a conventional cash-out.

Further down the list, sites like Ignition, Americas Card Room and Black Chip Poker each bring their own angle — combo casino-and-poker bonuses, larger deposit matches, or specific network traffic — and we weigh those differences the same way across the board rather than defaulting to whichever pays the highest commission.

Licensing, Regulation and Eligibility

Online poker in the US is regulated state by state — there's no single federal framework, so legal availability and licensing depend on where you're physically located when you play. Offshore-facing sites operate under licences issued outside the US (jurisdictions such as Curaçao are common), which is a different standard of oversight than a state-regulated US site. We note licensing details where we can verify them and stay factual where we can't — we never claim a specific licence or registration for a site without confirming it. Players must be 21 or older to gamble in most regulated states (a small number allow 18), and it's the player's responsibility to confirm the legal status of real-money poker in their own state before signing up.

Bonuses: What the Headline Number Doesn't Tell You

A welcome offer like "100% up to $2,000" only tells part of the story. What decides whether it's actually worth claiming is the fine print sitting next to it:

The playthrough or clearing requirement — how much you need to play through before bonus funds convert to real money
The time limit — most bonuses expire if not cleared within a set window
Which games count — bonus clearing is often tied to hands played at real-money tables, and some formats may be excluded
Minimum deposit and maximum bonus caps

We list the offer as published by the operator and flag these conditions beside it rather than burying them. If a term isn't published, we say so instead of guessing.

Payments for US Players

Deposit and withdrawal options for US-facing poker sites typically include debit and credit cards, ACH bank transfers, PayNearMe cash deposits at retail locations, operator-branded prepaid cards, and — on crypto-friendly platforms — Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Withdrawal speed varies by method and by operator, and every site should require identity verification (KYC) before releasing a payout of any size. Treat a request for ID or address confirmation as normal, not a red flag.

Beyond the Poker Tables

Most of the operators on this list don't stop at poker. Several run a broader online casino alongside their poker room — slots, blackjack, live-dealer tables — and some offer sports betting too. These aren't the focus of this site, but if you're weighing a combo bonus (poker plus casino, for example), it's worth knowing the casino side exists and reading its terms separately, since clearing requirements often differ between the two products.

How We Stay Independent

Online Poker earns revenue through affiliate partnerships. If you follow a link from this site and sign up with an operator, we may receive a commission. That relationship never buys placement, a higher rating, or softer coverage — every site is assessed against the same criteria regardless of what it pays us, and we say so plainly when a site has a real drawback, including the ones ranked highest.

Playing Within Your Means

Poker is a game of skill, but no amount of skill removes the risk of losing money, and results at the tables are never guaranteed. We don't present real-money poker as a source of income or a way to solve financial pressure, and nothing on this site should be read that way. If poker stops being fun, or you find yourself chasing losses or spending more than you planned, free and confidential help is available around the clock through 1-800-GAMBLER. Our Responsible Gambling page has more detail on limits, self-exclusion and support resources. Real-money poker is restricted to adults aged 21 and over in most states (18 in a few) — this site is not intended for anyone under that age.

Questions or Something to Flag?

If you spot outdated information, want to raise a question about how we scored a site, or need to reach us for any other reason, our Contact Us page is the place to do it. Our Terms and Conditions page covers the rest of the legal detail governing use of this site.