Why is online poker illegal
There are many reasons that can lead to some countries banning online poker and online gambling in general. Some of them include moral and religious reasons that the legislators have, others include the suspicious of troubles with tax evasion and money laundering. But that is not often the case.
You can safely play poker online in most countries! Some online poker rooms even accept countries from all over the world and have cryptocurrency payment methods, being an option for playing poker online wherever you are! Other players use VPN and account rental services to play online poker on sites that are only accessible to players of certain countries.
Most countries, however, have not banned online poker. Instead, they regulate it to make sure taxes are paid and other policies dictated by the government apply. Those regulations nearly always require identification from the player as well.
Agents such as DonkHunter work by helping people with this, as well as providing services, and recommending the best online poker sites for each player. But first, let’s discuss some basic regulations regarding online gambling, which also include casinos, internet poker, and sports betting.
Online gambling regulations
As previously mentioned, the vast majority of countries have legalized online poker by imposing certain regulations. Regulated online poker starts by issuing licenses to operate: an online poker room interested in providing games and services in a certain country, state, or region must comply with the rules for legal online poker and apply for a license. Such is the case with US online poker: each state has its own licenses and regulations, others have online poker banned entirely.
These in turn will require that players provide proof of identity and residence, most of the time. Some online poker rooms are only legally available for residents of a certain area. Some poker sites charge fees and taxes from players. Most online gaming regulations revolve around those areas.
Playing online poker sites safely
An online poker player has a few options. First, if legal online poker is available in the country, they can play on those poker sites and do so legally.
Another option is playing poker on a site or app that uses cryptocurrency or certain social poker apps. Those apps technically only use play money, so they avoid most regulations. However, there are private clubs that negotiate chips in real money and this way makes it possible to play real money online poker in a play money app. This is considered a grey area. Playing in cryptocurrency poker sites is also a grey area in most cases, illegal in others, depending on your country.
Risky online gambling options
The use of a VPN an account rental is risky because you can get banned from the online poker site and lose all your money. Still, many players decide to take the risk when it’s lucrative. Those are usually skilled players, that can pay account rental fees that are usually not cheap and still profit with it.
