Unfortunately for New Yorkers, NY does not offer state-regulated games at this time. leading some states to pursue state-regulated poker and reintroduce sites such as PokerStars and PartyPoker back to the USA. This led to a determination that the Wire Act did not apply to online poker and thus made the provisions of the UIGEA irrelevant for card games played over the internet. On the other hand, NY was one of the two states that asked the federal government to clarify what exactly constituted illegal gambling in late 2011 and for further clarification as to the definition of the Wire Act. On one hand, the online poker landscape was changed forever when the district attorney of Southern New York, Preet Bharara, brought charges against PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet in what is now known as “ Black Friday.” New York has had a very long and tenuous relationship with online poker.
Online poker in New York carries no penalties or risks of legal persecution for individual players. You might be under the impression that it's against the law to play the poker games you love over the internet, but this is not true. New York real money online poker is a diverting form of entertainment that many of the state's residents eagerly participate in.
