Offshore Poker Sites: Risks, Benefits, and Legal Considerations
It is a sensitive topic for many poker players. Offshore sites are often the only choice for those in parts of the United States – the vast majority of the United States – that have no state-regulated gambling operators available to them. There are risks involved in choosing offshore sites for their poker action, but there are also benefits. Most poker players calculate those odds and decide to play on the sites available.
What are Offshore Poker Sites?
An online poker site is dubbed “offshore” when it is based outside of the United States. Sites that are regulated within certain states – currently Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Michigan – are not included in that category.
At one time, prior to Black Friday, all poker sites were “offshore,” including PokerStars and partypoker. They were based everywhere from Malta to the Isle of Man, and Costa Rica to France. There were no major sites based in the United States. However, all of that changed with the 2006 UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) and the Black Friday indictments. Until individual states like Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware enacted pro-online poker legislation, there were no US-based sites for real-money online poker.
Today, most American players rely on offshore sites for their poker needs, as most don’t live in states with regulated online poker. Even some players who do live in those states play on offshore sites for larger tournaments, more cash game variety, and bigger guarantees.
Risks: Regulation of Poker Sites
There are numerous risks associated with playing on offshore poker sites. The most notable one is regulation, the one that offers various protections via regulatory oversight and laws.
An offshore site can obtain regulatory approval and certification from regulators like the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao eGaming, or one from the country in which the site is based. Regulatory approval means that the poker site passed tests regarding safeguarding funds and player data, using proper random number generators, paying withdrawals in a timely manner, preventing cheating, and managing the company efficiently. Certification from a regulator also means that the operator is audited on a yearly basis to keep its standing.
At times, it can be difficult for the general public to verify certification in countries like Panama and Costa Rica. But poker players can look for a certificate from a regulator on a poker site, which should provide a link to its valid license.
Unfortunately, many offshore sites do not have valid licenses.
This means that poker players must risk their funds and decide whether or not to play on a site based on poker community feedback and the operator’s reputation.
Risks: Finances and Transactions
Choosing one of the most popular offshore poker sites has its financial risks. Those who put their faith in sites like Lock Poker and Absolute Poker found out the hard way that there is no guarantee that sites located outside the realm of a dependable regulatory framework will not simply abscond with the funds on the site. Many players with money in those online accounts had to simply write off their losses when the site owners disappeared.
Many poker players trust offshore sites that have been in business for decades, as experience and reputation have shown them to be trustworthy. Most businesses in the industry for so long and making so much profit are not likely to shut it all down to go on the run and watch their backs forever.
However, every time a poker player deposits funds or allows funds to stay in an online account for any period of time, they risk losing that money. Poker sites can lose deposits and and never process withdrawals.
Risks: Legal Abyss
All of the uncertainties about offshore sites boil down to a lack of legal recourse for players. Sites that are not regulated within the United States do not, technically, have any legal responsibilities to do right by American players. And those players have no legal remedies available to them if they lose their funds, if a site or players cheat them, or if a site simply shuts down.
Gambling entities based in the US or in any nation with government-monitored regulators must abide by the rules of the industry. If they do not, they have violated contracts, and players have the option to take the companies to court, to sue for their funds and their rights.
Sites without licenses provide players no such remedies. Worse, some sites have no public image, meaning players have never seen the owners or management staff of the company that owns the sites, the location of their offices, or even proof of RNG (random number generator) use or good business practices. In the case of a player wanting to pursue legal action against one of those companies, most lawyers know that the companies are mostly untraceable. And operating in other foreign countries with no binding licenses leaves players with no options.
Offshore gambling sites can be just that – a gamble.
Benefits: Community Trust
The most well-known offshore poker sites have been in business for decades. Sites like BetOnline and Bovada have been in the gambling industry since the 1990s, never leaving players unpaid or taking advantage of player trust. Not only do they have more than 20 years of experience in providing sports betting, casino games, and online poker per industry standards, they have proven to be trustworthy.
A unique quality of the poker community as a whole is its ability to police itself. Through online poker forums and social media – now also through podcasts and more media outlets – poker players have voices and do not hesitate to speak when they see discrepancies or unethical behavior.
Poker sites have found out the hard way that slow payments to players can result in a rush of complaints with a sort of mob mentality until things are sorted out. Other operators have realized that when they do not police their online poker tables for bots and players using advantage-play software, players themselves will analyze data to discover the presence of those activities. And they will bring it to the attention of the poker public, raising the profile of the site and/or network in a negative way. At the very least, the site may suffer lower traffic and fewer deposits. At most, players can disrupt overall profits and even drive companies out of business.
Only offshore poker sites with the best reputations and the most experience have survived the scrutiny of the poker community.
Benefits: Larger Player Pools
Whether poker players compete at the tables as a career or for fun, they want their time and effort to be worth as much as possible. This means that they want to play on sites with value, where they can win the most for their time and financial investments.
For many American players, offshore sites provide massive player pools, ones that use all sites on a network to join together for better liquidity. With more players on a site, that operator can offer more stakes and game variations for cash game players and buy-in levels for tournament players. Bigger player pools in tournaments means more prize money and the promise of bigger prize pool guarantees.
In poker, liquidity is of the utmost importance. When offshore sites provide the only virtual poker rooms for a particular market and offer a lot of variety and more money to be won, players will sign up and play.
Large player pools also enable professional and semi-pro poker players to earn a living. They can play so many more hands per hour online than in any live setting, and online games couldn’t be more convenient, as most are not only available online but through mobile apps and browsers. The best poker players will go to the opportunities, even – in many cases – if they are only available on offshore-based sites.
Benefits: Better Bonuses and Promotions
Along with the aforementioned benefits of liquidity, a larger player pool allows a poker site operator to offer bigger and better bonuses and promotions.
When the market is large enough and the players trust a brand, that company can offer bigger deposit match percentages and other welcome bonuses, more ambitious tournament guarantees, and more lucrative VIP and loyalty programs. Promotions can include more giveaways and freeroll tournaments, and more satellites to live and online tournaments.
Piggybacking on those benefits, poker sites can then sponsor players, and sponsored poker pros give more credence to a site’s reputation and confidence in the company overall. Sites with sponsored pros demonstrate a trust between an experienced player and the company, and the pros then extend outreach further into the corners of the poker community.
Choosing a Reputable Offshore Poker Site
For players who choose to deposit money and play on an offshore poker site, there are ways to reduce the level of risk.
- Check online forums and social media for site reviews and reports of issues that may or may not have been resolved to the satisfaction of the poker community.
- Ask friends in the poker world about their experiences with a particular offshore site.
- Read about the company behind the site, such as how long it has been in business, what services they offer, and perhaps even who owns the company or where it is based. For example, ACR Poker and parent company Winning Poker Network makes no secret of its home base in Costa Rica. And owner/CEO Phil Nagy spends time on social media, where players regularly hold him accountable for his actions.
- Reach out to a site through its customer service channels to ask specific questions. If unable to find RNG certification or licensing information, ask a representative and make decisions based on the answers received.
Once a player makes a choice to play on an offshore site, there are more actions to take for protection:
- Use trustworthy payment processors for deposits and withdrawals. Credit cards that work with banks are the most trusted option, but many other payment methods have trustworthy reputations and positive reviews.
- Protect accounts with two-factor authentication and other extra security measures.
- Stay alert on social media and poker forums for reports of problems and concerns throughout the community.
- Do not keep money in online accounts for long periods of time. Regularly withdraw winnings, even if it means depositing more often (which allows players to take advantages of more deposit bonuses anyway).
The current state of online poker in America doesn’t leave players with a lot of great choices. Only a few states provide a competitive online poker environment, and liquidity will make that industry more viable in time. Meanwhile, players will continue to patronize offshore poker sites. The best thing to do for them is to keep them informed of choices and protections.
