Nevada was the first state to have regulated online poker in the United States, but that doesn’t mean that offshore online poker in Nevada is dead, quite to the contrary actually. Regulated poker can have some perks to players, but there are still a significant number of drawbacks that might cause players to not feel the best value for them is through these sites. Offshore Poker Sites (Regulated) Offshore sites are licensed by international regulators, such as the ones from Malta, Curacao, or Panama. Most of these sites are entirely legal and reputable, offering even better services compared to the US-licensed ones. In fact, I dare say that some of the best sites for US poker players are actually offshore. In New Jersey, there are three regulated and state sanctioned poker networks that offer play to state residents. PartyPoker New Jersey is a partnership between the Borgata and Party Poker and each has.

US poker sites certainly aren’t what they used to be 5 years ago. Back then, giants like PokerStars, Full Tilt and the Cereus Network ruled the roost in the American market. But thanks to Black Friday, those days are long gone, and of the limited options US players now have, statistics indicate that the majority Americans continue to frequent the offshore variety.

Three states (Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey) chose to authorize regulated US poker sites, all launching their respective markets in 2013. It didn’t take long for officials to realize that not all Americans were interested in the security and player protections that regulation provides.

Many players will tell you that the ability to compete among a larger player base at cash tables, and for higher tournament prize pools, is more important. Perhaps that shouldn’t be the case, but according to the traffic standings recorded by PokerScout, there’s hard evidence to that end.

Of the top 10 most trafficked poker sites that accept American players, the first four on the list are offshore operators. And when you look at their overall global rankings (compared to poker sites that do not accept US players), it’s easy to just how popular unregulated US poker sites are in contrast to the 100% legal variety.

Data Less than Reliable

As telling as the evidence seems to be, there is no genuine statistical data to back-up the theory of US regulators and their respective operators in which they’ve historically blamed offshore operators for their shortcomings. The table above shows traffic at these US poker sites, but it cannot be categorized properly.

We know that only New Jersey players are active on NJ networks, and Delaware and Nevada share their players between those states only. However, we cannot determine how many players on the Bodog/Bovada sites are actually from the US, because players from other countries are also accepted.

Additionally, regulated US poker sites are restricted to just three states, whereas their superior offshore rivals are accepting players from dozens of states, if not all 50 of them. Therefore it’s only reasonable to expect there to be more players from 40+ states accessing an offshore operator than players from a single state like New Jersey accessing the WSOP/888 NJ and Party Borgata networks.

No Action from DOJ in 3 Years

When the US Department of Justice took action against the top three operators (PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com and AsbolutePoker.com) found to be in violation of the UIGEA in April 2011, known as Black Friday, it was thought that the offshore poker industry was going to come to a crashing halt in the US.

Fears were amplified 40 days later when additional offshore US poker sites were seized by the DOJ (DoylesRoom.com, TruePoker.com, BookMaker.com, BetDSI.com, BetED.com and FunTimeBingo.com). the government’s efforts backfired, though, as several of these sites came right back by simply abandoning the old .COM and converting to an .AG (Antigua) domain.

In February 2012, officials attempted to shut down Bodog, but that operator also sprung right back with a new domain suffix, and introduced sister-site Bovada.lv for US players. The DOJ has taken no action since, perhaps because they realized seizing domains was no longer preventing offshore operators from accessing the US market.

As months, and eventually years, went by, Americans became more confident in their ability to access unregulated US poker sites. And the more players those networks attract, the better arrangement of promotions they can offer, like WPN’s $1,000,000 GTD tournaments and Bodog’s commitment to providing a 100% recreational environment for players.

The truth of the matter is that, until to US government takes further action against offshore US poker sites, there’s no real incentive for Americans to stop depositing and playing with these operators. If the collapse of Lock Poker, which finally closed down last month taking an estimated $15 million in player funds with it, isn’t enough to deter US players, there isn’t much that will.

Regulated Offshore Poker Sites Real Money

The U.S. is approaching the one year anniversary of Ultimate Poker’s launch in Nevada. Revenue has not met expectations and the poker markets are already starting to show signs of maturity. One of the unexpected problems is that players in regulated states are still choosing offshore sites.

A recent survey by the Global iGaming Summit and Expo suggested that 38 percent of online poker players in New Jersey are still giving all of their action to sites that were available before November 2013. Presumably, this means sites that are offshore and not licensed in New Jersey. Some players, according to that study, wrongfully assume they are sports betting on regulated sites.

Some players may assume that since online poker is legal in a jurisdiction that all sites must be legal. The word has likely not spread to all potential customers. An information campaign may be in order. This could tell residents the sites that are licensed and maybe even go so far as to discuss the dangers of choosing an offshore site over a regulated one.

This is just one big issue hindering the growth of regulated gaming.

Why are players in regulated markets still choosing offshore sites?

Sign-up Process

Regulated sites require players to provide information that is not required by offshores. This includes a Social Security Number. Some players are not comfortable giving this information for privacy and identify fraud reasons. Others simply want to avoid paying taxes on winnings. This is a requirement that is not going to go away. Sites need this information to verify the age and identity of players.

Depositing

Deposit acceptance is causing players to give up on the first try and keep giving action to offshore sites. A player that tries to create an account and has a deposit rejected may lose motivation to try making a deposit through another method. The introduction of ewallets should help this as it greatly increases the credit card acceptance rate.

Geolocation

Geolocation is another problem. A player that lives in a poor cell phone reception zone or in a rural area may not be able to get his location verified. Some players can at first and run into problems later. A player that repeatedly times out or cannot login to begin with is going to go back to playing at offshore sites where this is not an issue.

This appears to be less of an issue than it was six months ago. Anna Sainsbury, CEO of GeoComply, told a California legislative committee last week that the rejection rate for New Jersey players is down to just 1.5 percent. Many of these rejections are suspected of spoofing IP addresses or running remote desktop software.

Existing Offshore Traffic

Traffic is another concern for players in regulated states. According to PokerScout, four offshore networks that accept New Jersey players are larger than Party Poker. Six offshore networks that accept Nevada players are larger than WSOP.

Bovada, the largest U.S. facing poker site, is 8.5 times the largest New Jersey regulated site and more than 15 times larger than the largest Nevada site. This allows Bovada to spread action that makes it so that the regulated sites cannot compete.

Withdrawal Speeds

Regulated Offshore Poker Sites

Offshore sites have shown a magnificent aptitude for processing fast payments in the U.S., even in this incredibly difficult environment. Most are operated by sports books that are among the most well respected in the industry and have decades of experience. Many offshore sites process payments faster than most regulated ones. This is an issue that must be addressed by the regulated industry. If offshore sites can process a withdrawal in 24 hours, so can regulated ones. Some legal sites are already doing this with cash withdrawals.

Regulated sites do have one major advantage in this category. There are no withdrawal fees for most transactions. Offshore sites can charge as much as $100 for a cashout.

Sports Betting

Poker players are often sports bettors. A Las Vegas poker table will have several players checking out the TVs during football games. Most offshore poker sites double as sports books. This gives many poker players a reason to continue playing at these sites since they will already have money there for sports betting. Unfortunately, barring a Supreme Court victory, New Jersey and other states are not going to be able to spread sports betting to players.

Nevada is the only state that will have this luxury. The current Nevada sports betting apps and websites are separate entities from the current regulated poker sites.

Affiliates

Affiliates are a topic that few seem to want to discuss. Google searches that involve “legal online poker”, “legal poker sites” and similar phrases, return top results from sites that promote offshore sites as legal ones, even in Nevada and New Jersey.

It is one thing to promote both types of sites. It is another to try and drive regulated traffic to unregulated sites, while describing those offshore sites as legal alternatives.

This is a tough issue that will be hard to address. Regulated sites need the exposure to traffic that these old affiliate sites generate. On the other hand, they are competing for this traffic with sites that are not licensed to operate in their states. Due to taxes, legal fees, regulations, royalties, and other operating expenses offshore sites do not have, they may not be able to offer competitive commissions.

This is likely just a symptom of the young age of the industry. As regulated affiliate sites grow, so will their authority in Google. Experienced regulated affiliates are producing large amounts of relevant content, while the typical offshore business model often relies on its age and years of generated content to maintain rankings.

Marketing spends by regulated poker sites, either by developing websites internally, or through investing in affiliates that are marketing the product with the best interests of the regulated industry, might be the solution to help get better exposure.

Regulated Offshore Poker Sites For Real