The legality of online poker in the United States isn’t black and white. Some forms of the game violate decades-old US gambling laws, and are challenging these laws in court. As these challenges continue, state legislators are re-examining decades-old gambling laws, in part to stay competitive and generate revenue. Nonetheless, some states remain adamant about their legality of online poker, and the debate will continue. Until then, we’ll have to wait and see how the outcome turns out.

The current legal status of online poker in the US is generally favorable. The US Department of Justice reversed its 2011 opinion, allowing internet poker in New Hampshire. A positive ruling from a US District Court has now been received by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission, which could take several years to finalize. In the meantime, a handful of states have regulated the online poker industry. However, other states, including Germany, Slovenia, and the UK, are still working on their licensing laws and regulations.

Before you can play online poker, you need to download the software for your computer. Most poker software requires a tiny amount of memory on your computer, and downloading shouldn’t take long even with an archaic connection. However, if you don’t want to download the software, you can still play no-download versions of the games. However, no-download poker sites don’t offer as many features as the full download version. It is still recommended to download the software from a trusted source.