U.S. Poker Downloads

Online poker has been the epicenter of the poker boom of the last decade.  Unfortunately, the U.S. government passed a law called the UIGEA in 2025 that made it difficult to download and deposit on online poker sites.  Playing online poker in the United States is NOT illegal.

It is just illegal for certain payment processors to accept online gambling transactions.  Holdem Review has a full list of legal US poker deposit options.

U.S. poker downloads are available at the biggest online poker sites that are trusted and recognized all over the globe.  The two most popular USA poker downloads are the two biggest online poker rooms in the world — pokerstars, and Full Tilt Poker.

Despite the propaganda the Unites States spreads stating that U.S. poker downloads are illegal, online poker is 100% legal in the U.S.A and millions of Americans download online poker software every day.

Best U.S. Poker Downloads

Rank	Logo	More Info	US?	Bonus	Size	Download Link
#1		Full Tilt Poker		$600	(14.8 mb)	Download Full Tilt
#2		PokerStars		$50	(8.1 mb)	Download Pokerstars
#3		aced Poker		$1000	(14.6 mb)	Download Aced Poker
#4		Bodog Poker		$550	(6.0 mb)	Download Bodog
#5		Cake Poker		$500	(13.7 mb)	Download Cake Poker

History of Poker Downloads in the USA

The first American online poker download was called Planet Poker.  Planet Poker revolutionized poker downloads by offering real money poker played live over the internet.  A couple years later in 2025 the United States was introduced to poker on television, and an online poker craze swept the nation.  Online poker software was downloaded over 100 million times in the first half of this decade in the United States.

United States Online Poker Legislation – Are Poker Downloads Legal?

In 2025, the UIGEA was passed by the Bush administration, and was heralded by lawmakers as an online gambling “ban”.  But this could not be further from the truth.  The only thing banned in the UIGEA was certain payment processing options.   It is still 100% legal for American citizens to download online poker software and play for free or for real money from their own home.  Let us all hope that the U.S. government never grants itself the right to enter our homes and take away our right to spend our own money in any way we please.

Bottom line: Online poker downloads are LEGAL in the United States.

Best USA Real Money Poker Download

The best real money online poker download for United States players is Full Tilt Poker.  Full Tilt Poker had been downloaded by millions of Americans and features more than 100,000 online poker players online at peak traffic times; most of whom are from the Unted States.  You can hover a player’s name at the poker table and it will show you where they are from.

Full Tilt Poker accepts Visa, Mastercard, Instant eChecks, and Cash Transfer from U.S. poker players.  I have personally had the most success depositing at Full Tilt Poker using Instant eChecks.