With legal online poker a reality in Nevada as of Noon EST on Tuesday, April 30, the United States is seeing the first government sanctioned deposit methods offered in some time. While players across the United States cannot access the ability to legally play in Nevada unless they are located within that state’s boundaries, the fact that our federal government has allowed individual US states to regulate online gambling deposit methods themselves is a huge step forward for the online gambling community.
UltimatePoker.com is the web site which will benefit greatly by offering this very historic first hand of legal online poker in the United States since the Department of Justice shut down the big three online poker operators back on Black Friday of 2011. April 15 that year will always be remembered by that negative moniker, but Ultimate Gaming CEO Tobin Prior believes April 30 will always be remembered as “Trusting Tuesday” by online US poker players from this day forth. Prior also stated that finally, “players won’t have to worry if their money is safe.”
After the quiet announcement in late December of 2011 by the Department of Justice that passed online gambling legislation to the state level, Nevada quickly moved to become the first state to legalize Internet gambling in the form of online poker. It has obviously taken quite a while to actually deliver the first hand of online poker, and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval credits his state with taking their time to launch online poker “the right way.” The initial games offered at UltimatePoker.com will be limited to Texas Hold ‘Em limit and no limit offerings.
In the past you only had to be 18 or older to enjoy online poker in the United States, but that has definitely changed. Nevada is requiring players be 21 years of age or older, and go through and a rather extensive sign-up process. However, players can use a multitude of deposit methods, including their MasterCard. In the past, many states would not allow online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks to accept credit card account funding, but that preferred deposit method has returned to the US.
While this is certainly only the case of one out of fifty states supporting multiple deposit methods for Nevada’s online poker play, it is a first huge step. Players can also choose to fund their UltimatePoker.com account through their checking account, a check sent through snail mail, a bank wire transfer or 16 physical Station Casino cage locations. We would like to congratulate both Nevada and Ultimate Gaming for offering the first historic legal hand of online poker in the United States, and for also returning a wide range of deposit method and banking options to US online players.
Posted in Poker |
I think I’m going to stick with my fave online poker room – Bovada. I never have trouble using my Visa there, and there are less hoops to jump through. They rock anyhow – no reason to change rooms just because Nevada is finally getting on board.
Better late than never!!! I plan to give them a chance once they get it all in place – we’ll see if they can compete with the likes of Bovada and Celeb.