Welcome to the WPT.com guide to the best New York online poker sites! Unlike neighboring states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, New York hasn’t yet legalized real-money online poker.
New York poker players still have options for legal online poker, however. Sweepstakes poker sites are legal in the Empire State.
The best sweepstakes poker site currently available in New York is ClubWPT. This guide to online poker in New York discusses the legal status of sweepstakes poker, and also takes a thorough look at ClubWPT.
Best New York Poker Site
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Is Online Poker Legal In New York?
Regulated online poker sites currently aren’t available in New York. While the Empire State does offer legal online sports betting, online poker hasn’t arrived in the state yet.
In order for regulated online poker to become a reality in New York, state legislature would have to approve some kind of online poker measure. If such a measure became a bill that went into law, the New York State Gaming Commission would then have to establish regulations for the state’s online poker sites.
The last such effort to bring an online poker bill to life in New York was introduced by Sen. Joe Addabbo in 2024. The measure faces a long road to approval, and regulated online poker remains illegal in the state for now.
New York players aren’t completely shut off from legal online poker options, however. Sweepstakes poker sites (online poker sites that award sweepstakes prizes) are legal in the state.
Is Online Poker Legal In The United States?
U.S. laws allow individual states to legalize online poker (as well as online sports betting and online casinos) if they wish. If a state legalizes online poker, you can play at state-approved poker sites from within the borders of that state.
More than half of U.S. states have legalized mobile sports betting. Online poker, by contrast, is only legal in a few states.
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and a few other states offer legal online casino gaming, with online poker available in the lineup of online casino games in those states.
New York could very well join that list of states at some point, with online casino legalization a constant topic of discussion among state lawmakers over the past few years.
Best New York Online Poker Sites
While regulated real-money poker sites are only available in a handful of states, sweepstakes poker sites offer a great legal online poker alternative in more than 30 states. New York is on that list, meaning you can legally play on sites like ClubWPT.
Sweepstakes gaming sites award sweepstakes prizes. At sweepstakes poker sites (like ClubWPT), you compete for sweepstakes prizes instead of directly playing for cash.
The prizes on the line at ClubWPT include sweepstakes credit that can be redeemed for cash, as well as travel packages to WPT Voyage Cruises and entries into World Poker Tour live events.
Read on for more on how ClubWPT works, how to sign up for ClubWPT in New York, and more.
Best New York Poker Site
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ClubWPT
As mentioned, ClubWPT operates as a legal sweepstakes poker site. ClubWPT is owned and operated by the World Poker Tour, one of the world’s most reputable brands.
ClubWPT offers free-to-play games (aka Play Chips games), along with sweepstakes games.
The sweepstakes games at ClubWPT award cash and prizes, including travel packages that send winners to WPT live events and Voyage luxury cruises. If you want to play poker online legally in New York, ClubWPT offers the best way to do so.
How Does ClubWPT Work?
New York players can access ClubWPT’s sweepstakes games by purchasing a monthly subscription.
Available subscriptions include two different tiers – VIP and Diamond. You can also purchase the Super SATurdays add-on, which allows you to play in exclusive satellite tournaments to WPT live events every Saturday.
The tournaments include Texas Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, and Pot-Limit Omama Hi-Lo game formats. The subscription levels break down as follows:
- VIP ($27.95 per month, access to all VIP tournaments)
- Diamond ($149.95 per month, access to all Diamond and VIP tournaments)
- Super SATurdays ($100 add-on per month, access to Super SATurdays satellite tournaments)
VIP Tournaments
The VIP subscription is the most affordable ClubWPT subscription tier. This tier allows access to all VIP-level tournaments at ClubWPT.
VIP tournaments use Tournament Points (TP) as the buy-in currency. VIP Tournaments award TP (so you can “buy in” to more VIP Tournaments), cash, and prizes.
New players receive 500 TP after signing up for a VIP subscription. The TP balance reloads each day.
A typical VIP tournament looks like this:
- Tournament Name: $1,000 Mountain
- Buy-In: 400TP
- Prize Pool: $1,000 USD + 202,500 TP Guaranteed
- First Place: $150 USD + 2,000 TP
The VIP level also includes freeroll tournaments (aka tournaments that require zero TP to buy in) that award TP, cash, and prizes.
Diamond Tournaments
Diamond subscribers get access to all Diamond tournaments, as well as all VIP tournaments.
Diamond-level tournaments award the biggest prizes available on ClubWPT. The Diamond tier offers the best overall value among the sweepstakes subscription tiers.
Unlike VIP tournaments, Diamond tournaments, don’t require Tournament Points to buy in. If you’re a Diamond subscriber, you get unlimited access to Diamond tournaments, with no additional purchase or Tournament Points required.
Like VIP tournaments, Diamond-tier tournaments award cash and prizes to players that finish “in the money.” The cash and prizes available are significantly bigger than those awarded in VIP Tournaments, however.
For example, the regularly occurring $5,000 Cash Guarantee tournament looks like this:
- Tournament Name: $5,000 Cash Guarantee
- Buy-In: Freeroll (unlimited entry for Diamond subscribers)
- Prize Pool: $5,000 USD + 541,000 TP Guaranteed
- First Place: $1,000 USD + 5,000 TP
You’ll also find many opportunities to win entry into WPT live events in Diamond tournaments. Many of the tournaments in the Diamond tier award cash and VIP Tournament Points as well.
World Poker Tour live event entries, as well as Voyage Cruise packages, are among the top prizes you can win in Diamond tournaments.
For instance, the following tournament awards a WPT Prime Passport (travel package and entry fee for any WPT Prime tournament):
- Tournament Name: $2,500 WPT Prime Championship Passport + $500
- Buy-In: Freeroll (unlimited entry for Diamond subscribers)
- Prize Pool: $3,000 USD + 467,500 TP Guaranteed
- First Place: $2,500 WPT Prime Passport + 5,000 TP
Diamond-level subscribers get access to both the Diamond and the VIP tiers, and the TP earned in Diamond tournaments can be used in VIP tournaments.
ClubWPT Sign-Up Link
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$125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge
One of the biggest tournaments on the ClubWPT schedule is the $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge. The details for this special event look like this:
- Tournament Name: $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge
- Buy-In: Entries must qualify through other ClubWPT events
- Prize Pool: $125,000 USD
- First Place: WPT Event Package $12,000
The first-place prize for this tournament is a $12,000 package that sends you to the annual WPT World Championship in Las Vegas.
A total of 400 players compete in the $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge. Those 400 players must qualify through other tournaments on ClubWPT to get their spot
You’ll find the majority of the qualifiers to the $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge in the Diamond tier.
Is ClubWPT A Real Money Online Poker Site?
If real-money online poker sites can’t legally operate in New York, how can ClubWPT be legal? ClubWPT operates as a sweepstakes gaming site, which puts it in a different legal category than regulated online poker sites.
ClubWPT doesn’t operate as a real-money poker platform from a legal perspective.
Subscribers to ClubWPT pay a monthly fee which grants them access to the sweepstakes tournaments on the site. The sweepstakes tournaments award sweepstakes prizes to the winners.
This differs from the way a traditional real-money poker site works.
For example, at WPT Global (one of the world’s best online poker sites), players deposit money directly into their player balance. They then put money from that balance on the line against other players.
The object at a real-money poker site is to win money from other players’ balances and put it in your balance.
Sweepstakes poker is a bit different. At ClubWPT, subscribers compete in tournaments for sweepstakes prizes. These prizes can and do include cash, but you’re technically competing for sweepstakes credits that can be redeemed for cash.
How Do I Sign Up At ClubWPT?
You can sign up for a ClubWPT account from anywhere in the U.S. You can only play the sweepstakes games for cash and prizes if you’re in one of 36 eligible states, however.
New York is on the list of states that allow access to the sweepstakes games at ClubWPT.
Here’s how New York poker players can sign up for a ClubWPT account:
- Click the sign-up link in any of the ClubWPT ads in this article.
- Click the green “Sign-Up” button at the top right of the ClubWPT home page
- Enter a valid email, choose a username and password, and click “Continue”
- Enter your name, DoB, and physical address, and choose a security question and answer.
- On the next screen, choose your subscription and your payment method.
The Play Chips games and tournaments are open to all U.S. players, without a subscription required.
To play the VIP and Diamond tournaments, you must sign up for a monthly subscription package and must be located in one of the 36 eligible states when you play.
If you’re located in New York, you’re in luck, as the ClubWPT sweepstakes games are accessible to you (as long as you’re physically located in New York while you play).
ClubWPT Sign-Up Link
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How Do Sweepstakes Poker Sites Work?
Sweepstakes gaming sites operate games that allow players to win cash and prizes. This form of online gaming is legal in more than 30 states (including New York).
A sweepstakes poker site essentially operates as a sweepstakes gaming site with poker as the game. If you enter a sweepstakes tournament at ClubWPT, you’re entering a poker tournament, but you’re also entering a sweepstakes.
The prizes available in ClubWPT’s sweepstakes tournaments include cash, WPT Voyage Cruise packages, and travel packages/entries to World Poker Tour live events.
Win a tournament at ClubWPT, and you could be off to an event on the WPT Prime schedule, or even the annual WPT World Championship in Las Vegas.
Sweepstakes online poker rooms allow New Yorkers a great option for playing poker legally.
Is It Safe To Play At Offshore Poker Sites?
If you’re interested in playing online poker from New York, you’ve likely come across an online poker room or two that appear to offer online poker for real money. These sites might look like legit online poker operators at first glance, offering real money cash games and tournaments.
These sites try to come off as legal, regulated, and approved by New York poker laws. Keep in mind though – any online poker site offering full-scale real-money poker games in New York is operating illegally.
Consider the following reasons that you should avoid playing at offshore poker sites:
Offshore Poker Sites Conduct Illegal Financial Transactions
Deposit methods at offshore poker sites are often limited, as legitimate banks don’t facilitate financial transactions to and from illegal gambling operations.
If you do manage to make a deposit using your bank account or a credit/debit card, that transaction will often show up on your bank statement as a purchase from an online store you’ve never heard of.
The deposit doesn’t show up as what it really is (a deposit to an online gambling site), and instead appears on your statement as a purchase from an online retailer in a foreign country.
Most offshore sites heavily promote deposits and withdrawals using cryptocurrency. When a poker site discourages transactions involving USD, that’s generally not a good sign.
When you purchase a ClubWPT subscription, the transaction clearly appears on your bank statement as a purchase from ClubWPT.
Your Money And Personal Information Isn’t Secure At Offshore Poker Sites
ClubWPT, and any product backed by the World Poker Tour, operates with a vested interest in protecting your money, financial information, and personal information.
If you give your bank account or debit/credit card number to an offshore poker site, there’s no telling who could get access to that information.
If you try to withdraw from an offshore poker site, you’re requesting money from an illegal operation with no obligation to send your funds under U.S. laws. If you end up on the bad side of a denied withdrawal, you have no legal recourse to file a complaint and claim your money.
Offshore poker sites operate illegally. Any time you deposit at such a site, that could be the last time you see your funds.
Player Security Is Questionable At Offshore Poker Sites
Many offshore poker sites are rife with illegal and unethical activity.
If you play at an illegal poker site, you can virtually guarantee that at some point you’ll run into the following:
- Bots (computer programs that imitate poker players)
- Collusion
- Multi-accounting (players operating multiple screen names at the same time)
- Ghosting (players controlling other players’ accounts)
The games at offshore poker sites are often infested with these kinds of illegal and unethical activity. Offshore sites often don’t implement the security measures needed to find and punish bad actors.
Offshore online poker sites have one goal – taking deposits from players. You can’t expect much player security once they have your money.
New York Online Poker Sites FAQ
Can I play online poker in New York?
Yes. While laws to regulate online poker in New York aren’t in place yet, you can access legal sweepstakes poker sites from New York.
ClubWPT is one of the most popular online poker sites that runs under a sweepstakes gaming model. The sweepstakes tournaments at ClubWPT award cash and prizes, and are 100% legal in the Empire State.
Is WPT Global allowed in New York?
WPT Global is the best online poker site in the world, but isn’t available in New York at this time.
Players in more than 100 countries can play at WPT Global. The United States isn’t one of those countries, unfortunately.
Is online gambling legal in New York?
Online sports betting is legal in New York, while online poker and online casinos aren’t legal at this time.
The legal status of online poker and casinos could change in the next few years, however. New York lawmakers have spent a considerable amount of time discussing online casinos and poker in recent sessions, and it appears that it’s a matter of when, and not if, for the legalization of online casinos and poker.
What is the best legal online poker site available in New York?
ClubWPT is the top legal online poker site available in New York. ClubWPT operates as a sweepstakes gaming site, with poker tournaments that award cash and prizes.
While real-money poker sites can’t legally operate in NY, sweepstakes poker sites are legal in the state.
Where can I play live poker in New York?
New York hosts a handful of live poker rooms across the state. You can check an app like PokerAtlas for details on where these poker rooms are located, what game they offer, etc.
Best New York Poker Site
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There is no purchase necessary to play on ClubWPT. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. For more information regarding events, including how to qualify and location eligibility, visit ClubWPT.com
Ensure your jurisdiction allows play on WPT Global. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.