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Online poker gives you 24/7 instant access to Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and your other favorite game types. It’s starting to get popular again, too, with the online poker market projected to grow to $8.23 billion by 2033 and states like Illinois pushing to legalize it.
Plus, online poker players have also recently grown by 10% in the UK thanks to the likes of PokerStars and 888 Poker, so it’s a booming time for the industry.
Luckily, today’s online poker world doesn’t require you to pay huge buy-ins or even stake any money at all. This is because there are plenty of ways to play poker online for free without any sort of catch involved. And you can discover everything you need to know in this complete guide.
What Is Online Poker?
Online poker is just like real-life poker, except you play online on either PC or mobile. Across online casinos and dedicated poker sites, you can find endless lobbies and tournaments to enter.
From the pre-flop to the end of the game, it’s exactly the same, with the only major difference being that online poker games tend to be more fast-paced and there’s no actual human dealer, unless you play a ‘live’ version of the game.
When you win in online poker, money from the pot gets automatically added to your account balance. You can then withdraw that money at any time to your bank account, or save it for future games or for buy-ins to big tournaments. All in all, it’s much simpler than you might imagine.
The Legality of Online Poker
There’s still some confusion surrounding the legality of online poker. Currently, online poker is legal and regulated in eight states: Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada, Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
New York, Illinois and a few other states have also recently been pushing to legalize online poker in their state borders, so this number will almost certainly be higher by the time 2026 wraps up.
Where to Play Online Poker for Free
If you reside in a state where online poker is legal, the good news is that it’s easy to play poker for free. The best way to do this is by using a free-to-play sweepstakes casino, but there are other options available as well. Let’s take a closer look.
Sweepstakes Casinos
Sweepstakes casinos on SweepsPlays are an excellent free-play option for poker fans, as they use virtual Gold Coins (GC) and Sweeps Coins (SC). GC lets you play completely for free, while SC allows players to compete for prizes.
The best part about this is that most sweepstakes casinos give out welcome bonuses when you create an account, so players get plenty of these coins with no deposit required. Plenty of popular sweepstakes casinos offer their own version of poker, such as Stake.us’s highly popular ‘Stake Poker,’ so check them out.
Sweepstakes Poker Sites
The internet is home to a small number of poker-exclusive sites following the sweepstakes model. These sites let you play for free and you don’t bet any real money at all.
GGPoker, Clubs Poker, and ClubWPT are the top picks for this, essentially functioning just like sweepstakes casinos but with only poker available. These sites are also excellent when it comes to weekly tournaments, huge player lobbies, and big Sweeps Coins prize pools.
Real-Money Online Casinos
It’s still possible to play poker for free in real-money online casinos. The way this works is you take advantage of any no-deposit sign-up offers, get your free cash, and then use that money in your chosen poker lobby.
No-deposit promotions are popular across all the major US online casinos. BetRivers Poker, PokerStars US, BetMGM Poker, and DraftKings Poker are completely legal and trusted, so you simply need to collect their welcome bonuses and you’re ready to go.
Are Sweepstakes Casinos Fully Legal?
If you opt to play using a sweepstakes casino or sweepstakes poker site, like GGPoker or Stake.us, the good news is that they’re legal in 40+ US states. This is because these sweepstakes model gambling sites use virtual currencies, usually Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins, instead of actual money.
So, when you play Texas Hold’em using Gold Coins, it means you’re technically not gambling, which is why so many sweepstakes casinos are able to bypass traditional gambling laws and operate all across the US.
Sweepstakes Poker vs. Real-Money Poker
When you compare these two popular types of online poker, sweepstakes poker comes out on top if you’re only focused on playing for free.
You can grab your Gold Coins or free Sweeps Coins and play for as long as you like, while even enjoying the prospect of winning prizes at the end of it all (most sweepstakes casinos and poker sites let you redeem cash transfers and gift cards).
Real-money poker is different, as you have no choice but to bet actual cash and the games themselves tend to be much more competitive because of this.
Summary
Online poker is going through a major resurgence at the moment, not too dissimilar from the legendary online poker ‘boom’ of the mid-2000s.
The difference today, though, is that a lot of players, especially Gen Zers and Millenials, want to play poker but without having to bet any of their own money.
After all, the economy is shaky so people understandably are cutting back on their gambling.
As we’ve shown in this guide, there are actually plenty of ways to still play online poker for free, including in sweepstakes casinos, poker-exclusive sweepstakes sites, and regular online casinos that give out free cash bonuses. Remember to get plenty of practice in before you play, choose lobbies wisely, and take advantage of any free-entry tournaments with big prize pools.
