Best USA Poker Downloads for February 2012
Online poker players have gone through some turbulent times in the United States. A constantly changing legal environment has made it difficult to find quality USA poker downloads. If you live in the USA and want to play poker today, the USA poker downloads on this page will get you started right away.
Although the poker situation in the United States has been turbulent over the past few years, things are starting to look bright again. New legislation aimed at regulating online poker is being introduced at all levels of the government. With more important things to worry about and a government in dire need of new tax revenue, it’s only a matter of time before we get the green light on poker in the United States.
Contrary to popular belief, there are no federal laws against playing online poker in the United States. Anti-poker legislation is actually aimed at banking institutions, not at individual poker players. That’s why poker players in the United States have fewer deposit options than players in Canada, Europe and the UK.
The following USA poker downloads are the best bet for all players in the United States:
BetOnline.com Poker - Best USA Poker Download
BetOnline.com is the best USA poker download on the internet. BetOnline has been involved in the betting industry since 1991 and has a strong reputation among its customers. All new players who sign up for an account here automatically qualify for an instant 25% deposit bonus that maxes out at $900.
Special Offer:
- 25% up to $900 Free Cash
- Use BetOnline Poker Bonus Code: Not needed when registering.
Carbon Poker
Carbon Poker is one of the most reputable USA poker sites on the internet. It has a clean reputation and poker games at a wide range of levels. Both Mac and PC users can download Carbon Poker and take advantage of some of the most feature-rich software in the industry.
Special Offer:
- 100% up to $600 Free Cash
- Use Carbon Poker Bonus Code: PWNETBONUS when registering.
Bovada Poker
Bovada Poker is the US-facing brand that Bodog Poker developed and released in 2011. Both poker sites are owned by the same people and they are both highly trusted places for USA poker players. Bovada Poker gives new players a massive signup bonus and hosts a $100,000 guaranteed tournament every week.
Special Offer:
- 100% up to $1000 Free Cash
- Use Bovada Poker Referral Number: 2463653 when registering.
When things stabilize in the US poker market, we’ll be able to offer more high quality USA poker downloads. There are a few sites out there that still accept US players, but we’re pretty picky about who we recommend to our readers. If you plan on playing for real money, we strongly recommend that you stick to the US poker downloads listed here.
How We Choose the Best USA Poker Downloads
Picking the best USA poker downloads is a pretty simple process in which we look at every online poker room that accepts players form the United States. From that list, we then pick out all the poker rooms that are known for being safe places to play for real money. Safety is the most important thing because real money poker requires a certain level of trust.
We also look at a number of other features such as:
- Quality of the poker software
- Ease of multi-tabling
- Player traffic (more is better)
- Games offered in addition to Texas Holdem
- Speed of cashing out winnings
- Ease of depositing
Our goal here is to use a “scientific” method to find the best USA poker downloads. By looking at a wide variety of features, we are able to get a good idea of how each poker site works as a whole. A strong combination of these features makes it easy and pain-free to play real money poker on the internet.
Opinions may differ on which USA poker downloads can be considered “the best,” but people seem to generally agree with our top rankings. We look at a wide variety of factors and we talk with other poker players to see what they think about each poker download.
Legality of Poker in the United States
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to the legality of USA poker downloads. The good news is that there are no federal laws on the books that make it illegal to download poker and play online for real money. You’re not going to get arrested if you hop online and play a few rounds of Texas Holdem.
The bad news is that the United States does not look favorably upon online poker operators. Over the years, the US government has tried to shut down a variety of online poker rooms. This has led to a fragmented industry in which poker sites struggle to establish themselves as legitimate businesses.
The United States poker industry has gone through hard times over the years, but there are rumors that the legal landscape will be changing (for the positive) soon. Various pieces of legislation have been introduced at different levels of government. It is likely that we will see online poker legalized on either a state-by-state basis or nationwide within the next couple years.
The demand for online poker (and for the freedom to make our own decisions) is still strong to this day. Eventually, something has to break. We are pretty confident that the United States will eventually give in to the demands of its citizens. Plus, the government is always happy to find new sources of tax revenue.
In the meantime, exercise your right to choose what you do with your own money and check out any of the above USA poker downloads. It only takes a minute or two to download the software, install it to your computer and create an account. With your poker account, you can log in to your poker room any time of day or night to find real money poker games.
