Georgia Online Poker: find the best legal poker rooms & more in 2024! (2024)

Can I play online poker in Georgia? The answer is yes!

Is it legal to play online poker in Georgia? The answer to this is also yes!

VISIT THE SITE WITH THE:

When looking at traditionally conservative states that tend to be slow in change, Georgia generally comes to the front of people’s minds as an example. Well, there might be some truth to this considering the stance they currently hold on gambling overall. Luckily, citizens of the state don’t have to wait for the government to change their minds on regulated Georgia online poker as tons of great offshore sites offer games to those in Georgia already. All of the major US-facing sites offer their games, promotions, and quick payouts to those in the state.

There are no federal laws that prohibit you from accessing these games. The laws that people often point to as criminalizing the act of playing internet poker, like the Wire Act and the UIGEA, do nothing to target private individuals instead reserving their penalties for those actually managing the sites. And furthermore, it's not clear that these statutes even apply to poker anyway.

Below is a list of all the reliable sites for online poker in Georgia and what they have to offer.

What Online Poker Sites Can I Play in Georgia?

Rather than just joining up at the first Georgia online poker site you stumble upon, it's far better to choose your poker home carefully. We've researched all of the top rooms and have come up with a list of the best ones below. Regardless of which one of these sites you elect to play at, you'll be treated to smooth gameplay, fair dealing, and reliable payouts of your winnings. You can trust in these organizations with confidence because they've been offering their services for many years.

How to Choose the Best Georgia Poker Site For Your Style of Play

As you can see, there are several distinct firms offering Georgia online poker services, and they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. We can't tell you for sure which one would be best for you to register for because this will depend heavily on your own preferences and personal situation. What we can do, however, is point out a few of the factors that you'll want to ponder over as you're making your decision.

How Do I Receive Withdrawals and Payouts?

When it's time to ask for your winnings to be placed into your hands, you can obtain checks from all of the organizations mentioned above. However, check processing speeds leave much to be desired, and there are sometimes fees attached to cashout requests. You can avoid these hassles by conducting all your poker banking functions in the digital currency Bitcoin. All of the rooms listed above support this cryptocurrency. It enables rapid money transfers with low fees. If you don't know much about Bitcoin but would like to know more, then we've prepared a helpful guide to getting started in BTC.

Alternatives to Registering Your Account in the State of Georgia

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have another address in a state close to Georgia, be it your business office, summer home, second apartment, family estate, etc. If this applies to you, then you may have other online poker options available. Here is a list of the states that border Georgia and Professional Rakeback's review on each of them: Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. If you're keen to find out more about online poker throughout the entire United States, then you can read through our guide to internet poker for Americans.

There's plenty of ignorance about Georgia online poker among the residents of the Peach State. You can help enlighten your friends, neighbors, and family members by sharing this article with any among them whom you think would be interested in it.

Facts About Georgia Poker Industry

This section aims to provide accurate and detailed information about the laws and legality surrounding online gambling in Georgia, current and future state regulation, and the history of gambling and poker throughout the state of Georgia.

Land-Based Gambling

Land-based gambling in the state of Georgia is one of the most limited things that you will see in the United States with only charitable gambling and the state lottery being available to residents. The state lottery is rather successful, with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, and this would seem to indicate there is at least some acceptance of gambling in the state. However, repeated attempts to inaugurate commercial casinos and pari-mutuel racetrack betting in GA have met with periodic failure. The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians has made vague statements expressing an intention to open up a tribal casino in Georgia, but thus far, nothing solid has materialized.

State Regulation

When you talk about states that don’t have a good chance of regulating online gambling, Georgia would have to be high on that list. Its exceptionally conservative government and population, combined with a fairly long history of anti-gambling laws and ideas, make for a poor climate regarding online poker. There aren't any brick-and-mortar casinos in the state, and these establishments are usually the forerunners of any kind of legalized real-money online gaming, so the situation in Georgia isn't exactly favorable. It's most unlikely that Georgia will operate a regulated internet gambling market at least until it becomes commonplace in many other states.

History of Gambling in Georgia

Georgia is known for its strong anti-gambling views, and this element of Georgia's character was formed from its foundation. The colony was set up under the auspices of a charter granted to a group of trustees in 1732. Under the supervision of these trustees, gambling was banned throughout Georgia. Even after the charter was rescinded, gambling never assumed the importance that it did in other parts of America. Lotteries, which were used in other colonies to fund public works, were of little importance in Georgia, and the few that did occur were mostly small, local affairs.

Mining Camp in Dahlonega, 1879

Throughout the 1800s, although gambling may not have been strictly legal, it was mostly ignored by the authorities. Milledgeville, the capital of Georgia from 1804 through 1868, had a reputation for the many gambling opportunities it presented to visitors. Similarly, real money gaming thrived in the Dahlonega area after gold was discovered in 1828. The mining camps that sprung up were largely lawless, and all kinds of gambling games could be found.

This permissive attitude ended by the 1930s. During the '20s, newspaperman Thomas Lee Bailey used his “Cochran Journal” as a platform for spreading his Progressive views, including his distaste for gambling. Despite its status as a small-town paper, the “Journal” was widely read in Georgia and was credited by many as being a leading force in convincing the state to toughen its stance on wagering activities in the '30s. Illicit betting was more or less stamped out during this time although there were occasional exceptions as with Eddie Guyol, who operated an illegal numbers racket in Atlanta until he was murdered in 1935.

On the legislative front, nothing happened until 1978 when bingo was legalized for charitable organizations. In 1992, a state lottery was established.

To summarize the history of poker and gambling throughout the state of Georgia, we have assembled a timeline covering every major gambling-related event to take place, which can be found below.

Famous Poker Players From Georgia

For a state that has next to no gambling scene to speak of, Georgia has produced more than its fair share of poker luminaries.

Cary Katz

The Georgian with the highest total offline tournament winnings is Cary Katz who was born in Atlanta in 1970. Katz has accumulated more than $28.4 million in live MTT earnings over his career.

He first learned the game from his grandmother but did not begin playing in live tournaments competitively until 2004 at the relatively advanced age of 34. He has since made up for lost time though with quite a few notable cashes, including a victory in the £250,000 + £2,500 Super High Roller Bowl London in 2019 where he took home $2.6 million for his efforts and a second-place finish in the 2018 Triton Poker Jeju Short Deck Ante-Only event, good for $1.7 million.

In general, Cary appears to prefer entering high-roller competitions with buy-ins of $10,000 or more. This is quite understandable when we reflect on the fact that he was already a successful businessman before beginning to play poker seriously.

In 1999, Katz started the College Loan Corporation and was its CEO for 15 years. After that, in 2015, he launched Poker Central, which is one of the most prominent poker content streaming services.

Cary Katz has not yet picked up any World Series of Poker bracelets, nor has he triumphed in any World Poker Tour events. We suspect that it is only a matter of time before he achieves success in these arenas given his accomplishments both on and off the felt.

Phil Gordon

Phil Gordon was also born in 1970. While he is not a native of Georgia in the strictest sense, having been born in El Paso, Texas, Phil moved to Stone Mountain, Georgia when he was little, and that was where he grew up.

After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1991 with a B.S. in computer science, Gordon went on to work for several enterprises, including Lockheed Martin and Netsys, which was acquired by computing giant Cisco in 1996. This transaction left Phil a millionaire, and he elected to retire from the corporate world and play poker instead.

Phil Gordon's biggest live cashes were a fourth-place finish in the 2001 WSOP Main Event, for which he collected $399,610, and first place in the 2006 FullTiltPoker.Net Championship in Las Vegas where he took home $600,000. In total, he has $2.8 million in live MTT winnings to his name.

Phil was instrumental in the formation of Full Tilt Poker, was a commentator on “Celebrity Poker Showdown” for seven seasons, and has written a number of poker books, including “Phil Gordon's Little Green Book.”

Other distinguished pokerists from The Peach State include Josh Arieh, who has lived in Atlanta since 1984, David Bach of Athens, and Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter, born in Augusta.

Other Types of Online Gambling in Georgia

Unfortunately, Georgia is not well-known for offering live gambling options, but there are still plenty of ways to gamble online. There are many sportsbooks and casinos on the internet, so it can be quite hard to know which brands you can trust. We have carefully researched this topic, putting our own money on the line in determining the best casinos and sportsbooks available to play in Georgia. Below, we will provide our top recommendations for online casinos and sportsbooks.

Online Casinos

It makes perfect sense that such an anti-gambling state as Georgia doesn't feature any terrestrial casinos that you can visit. Still, if casino gaming is within your wheelhouse, you can partake in such online. We have evaluated the leading internet casinos and have identified the best ones:

There are other trustworthy online casinos that accept players from Georgia. Find out more about them in this most trusted online casinos for USA players list.

Online Sportsbooks

There's a Georgia sports betting bill winding its way through the legislative process, but even if it passes, it will probably be a couple of years before the first licensed sportsbooks appear. In the meantime, you have recourse to the numerous online bookmakers who happily transact with Georgians. Three of the best of them are:

If you want more options for sports betting in Georgia, then head over to this page describing the leading internet sportsbooks in the United States.

We strive to maintain this information and update it frequently with our research. However, we are not immune to making mistakes or omitting information that you, dear reader, may find of use. If you have any further questions not addressed in this guide or have noted any discrepancies or inaccuracies we urge you to contact us with your questions and concerns so that we may swiftly address them!