Ohio plays host to a thriving online gambling industry, but regulated online poker isn’t part of that scene just yet. This guide to Ohio online poker sites from WPT.com outlines the best legal options for online poker currently available in the Buckeye State.
When it comes to online poker in Ohio, sweepstakes poker sites offer the best way to play legally. The top sweepstakes poker site in the state, ClubWPT, allows Ohio poker players to play for cash and prizes while avoiding illegal, offshore poker sites.
This page explains the legal status of online poker in Ohio, and provides a thorough review of ClubWPT.
Best Ohio Poker Site
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Is Online Poker Legal In Ohio?
Ohio lawmakers have yet to legalize online poker. Online sports betting is currently the only form of online gambling that’s legal in the Buckeye State.
Ohio hosts one of the most successful mobile sports betting industries in the U.S. Online sports betting launched in the state in early 2023, and the state immediately emerged as one of the biggest sports wagering markets in the U.S.
Unfortunately for poker players, online poker wasn’t included in the Ohio iGaming launch. If regulated online poker ever does come to Ohio, it would likely do so as part of a bill that would approve online casinos in the state. Online poker would then arrive in Ohio as part of a launch of regulated online casino sites.
An online casino launch in Ohio probably won’t happen any time soon, however. Ohio lawmakers appear content with limiting iGaming options to just online sportsbook sites for now.
Sweepstakes poker sites are the only form of online poker currently legal in Ohio. Sweepstakes gaming sites operate in a different legal area than full-scale, real-money poker sites.
ClubWPT is currently the top legal sweepstakes poker site available in Ohio. You can purchase a monthly subscription to ClubWPT and get access to tournaments that award cash and prizes.
Some of the prizes on the line at ClubWPT include entries to live World Poker Tour events.
Is Online Poker Legal In The United States?
Federal gaming regulations allow U.S. states to decide their own stance toward online poker. If a state launches online poker, you can then play at state-approved poker sites from within the borders of that state.
While more than half of U.S. states have launched online sports betting, only a few have authorized online poker. Some of those states lie in close proximity to Ohio, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
Most of the U.S. doesn’t have access to regulated poker sites. In states without full-scale, real-money online poker, sweepstakes gaming sites offer the best way to play legally.
Sweepstakes gaming sites operate under different laws than real-money poker sites. Sweepstakes sites allow players to compete for sweepstakes prizes.
A sweepstakes poker site essentially operates as a sweepstakes gaming platform with poker as the game.
ClubWPT’s sweepstakes tournaments award cash and prizes. These prizes are awarded as sweepstakes prizes, which means the tournaments at ClubWPT operate a bit differently than a traditional poker tournament with a cash prize pool on the line.
Best Ohio Poker Site
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Best Ohio Online Poker Sites
ClubWPT
ClubWPT operates as a legal sweepstakes poker site. The platform is owned and operated by WPT, one of the world’s most reputable poker brands.
ClubWPT offers Play Chips games (aka play money games), along with sweepstakes tournaments.
Cash and prizes are always on the line in the sweepstakes tournaments at ClubWPT. The prizes include packages that send players to World Poker Tour live events and WPT Voyage luxury cruises. ClubWPT offers the best way to play poker online legally in Ohio.
How Does ClubWPT Work?
Ohio players can access ClubWPT’s sweepstakes games via monthly subscription.
Available subscriptions include VIP and Diamond. You can also purchase the Super SATurdays add-on, which gives access to exclusive satellite tournaments to WPT live events each 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 lowest-priced ClubWPT subscription tier. The VIP subscription allows access to all VIP-level tournaments at ClubWPT.
VIP tournaments use a currency called Tournament Points (TP) for buy-ins. VIP Tournaments award TP (that you can use to “buy in” to more VIP Tournaments), cash, and prizes.
New players who sign up for a VIP subscription start with 500 TP. Your 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 subscription also includes freeroll tournaments (tournaments that require zero TP to buy in), which award TP, cash, and prizes.
Diamond Tournaments
Diamond-level subscribers get access to all Diamond tournaments, as well as all VIP tournaments.
Diamond-level tournaments award the biggest and best prizes available on ClubWPT. The Diamond subscription gives players the best overall value among the sweepstakes subscription tiers.
Diamond tournaments (unlike VIP tournaments) don’t require Tournament Points to buy in. Diamond subscribers get unlimited access to Diamond tournaments, with no Tournament Points or additional purchases required.
Like VIP tournaments, Diamond tournaments award cash and prizes to players who finish “in the money.” The cash and prizes available are significantly larger, however, than those awarded in VIP Tournaments.
For example, the $5,000 Cash Guarantee (a staple on the Diamond tournament schedule) 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.
The top prizes on the line in Diamond tournaments include entries to World Poker Tour live event entries and WPT Voyage Cruise packages.
For example, the following tournament awards a WPT Prime Passport (travel package and entry fee for any WPT Prime event) to the winner:
- 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 subscribers get access to both the Diamond and the VIP levels. 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
The biggest event on the annual ClubWPT schedule is the $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge. The details for this special tournament 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.
The $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge is limited to 400 entries. Those 400 players must qualify through other tournaments on ClubWPT to get their spot
You’ll find most of the qualifiers to the $125,000 WPT World Championship Challenge in the Diamond tier.
Is ClubWPT A Real Money Online Poker Site?
You may be asking – how can ClubWPT be legal in Ohio if online poker sites aren’t legal in the state? ClubWPT operates as a sweepstakes poker site, which puts it in a different legal category than a real-money online poker site.
ClubWPT doesn’t operate as a real-money poker platform from a legal perspective. Subscribers pay a monthly fee which grants access to the sweepstakes tournaments on the site. These tournaments award sweepstakes prizes to the winners.
As a sweepstakes gaming platform, ClubWPT operates a bit differently than a traditional real-money poker site.
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.
You and your opponents compete for your money and their money at a site like WPT Global. The cash games and tournaments at WPT Global are direct competitions for cash.
Sweepstakes poker is a bit different. ClubWPT subscribers compete in tournaments for sweepstakes prizes. These prizes 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 in 36 eligible states.
Ohio is on the list of states that allow access to the sweepstakes games at ClubWPT.
Here’s how Ohio 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.
Ohio poker players are in luck, as the ClubWPT sweepstakes games are accessible to you (as long as you’re physically located in Ohio while you play).
ClubWPT Sign-Up Link
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How Do Sweepstakes Poker Sites Work?
Sweepstakes gaming sites offer games that allow players to win cash and prizes. Sweepstakes gaming is legal in more than 30 U.S. states (including Ohio).
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 in ClubWPT’s sweepstakes tournaments include cash (technically sweepstakes credits that can be redeemed for cash), WPT Voyage Cruise packages, and travel packages/entries to live events on the World Poker Tour.
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 at Wynn Las Vegas.
Sweepstakes online poker rooms offer Ohio poker enthusiasts a great, legal option for playing poker.
Is It Safe To Play At Offshore Poker Sites In Ohio?
If you’re interested in playing online poker in Ohio, you’ve likely come across online poker rooms that appear to offer online poker games for real money. These sites might look like legit online poker platorms at first glance, offering real money cash games and tournaments.
These sites try to appear as legal, regulated, and approved by Ohio poker laws. To be clear – any online poker site offering full-scale real-money poker games in Ohio is operating illegally.
You should avoid playing at offshore poker sites for the following reasons:
Offshore Poker Sites And Illegal Financial Transactions
Deposit and withdrawal methods at offshore poker sites are often limited, as legitimate banks won’t facilitate financial transactions to and from illegal gambling operations.
If you do manage to deposit using your bank account, credit card, or debit card, the transaction will likely appear 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 poker 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 traditional banking methods, that’s usually an indicator of an illegal gambling operation.
When you purchase a ClubWPT subscription, the transaction clearly appears on your bank statement as a purchase from ClubWPT.
Lack Of Security Of Money And Personal Information
ClubWPT, (like 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 where or with whom that information will end up.
If you try to withdraw from an offshore poker site, you’re asking for money from an illegal gambling operation that has no legal obligation to send you your winnings. If you end up on the wrong side of a denied withdrawal, you have no legal way 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.
Questionable Player Security
Many offshore poker sites are rife with illegal and unethical activity.
If you play at an offshore 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 the activities listed above. 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 count on player security once they have your money.
Ohio Online Poker Sites FAQ
Can I legally play poker online in Ohio?
Yes. While laws to regulate real-money online poker in Ohio aren’t in place yet, Ohio players can enjoy legal sweepstakes poker sites from Ohio.
ClubWPT is the best online poker site that operates under a sweepstakes gaming model. The sweepstakes tournaments at ClubWPT award cash and prizes, and are 100% legal in the Buckeye State.
How can I legally play poker online?
If you want to play online poker legally in Ohio, your best option is ClubWPT. ClubWPT operates as a legal sweepstakes poker site, with tournaments that award cash and prizes.
The prizes up for grabs at ClubWPT include entries into World Poker Tour live events, WPT Voyage Cruise packages, and more. You can also win sweepstakes credits that can be redeemed for cash.
Is WPT Global allowed in Ohio?
Unfortunately, no. WPT Global is the world’s top online poker site, but isn’t currently available in Ohio.
Players in more than 100 countries can play at WPT Global. The United States isn’t one of those countries, however.
Can I gamble online in Ohio?
Online sports betting is legal in Ohio, while online poker and online casino games aren’t legal at this time.
If Ohio were to regulate online poker, that would likely happen as part of an online casino launch in the Buckeye State. It doesn’t appear that any kind of expansion to Ohio’s current iGaming industry will happen any time soon.
What is the best legal online poker site available in Ohio?
ClubWPT is the top legal online poker site available for Ohio online poker players. 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 Ohio, sweepstakes poker sites are legal in the state.
Best Ohio 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