Minnesota still has a long way to go to get regulated online poker in the state. Minnesota is actually much more liberal than most people think, and it has been open to many ideas in the past. With an affluent population that needs to spend a lot of time inside from the cold, real-money online poker in Minnesota seems like a good idea. Luckily, offshore sites service Minnesotans right now, so you can play card games on the internet even though there are no state-regulated sites.
While regulated online poker might be a ways off in the future, many trusted gambling sites like Ignition Poker, are available now and offer rewards that far outshine what any state-licensed site for online poker in Minnesota could offer.
There are quite a few poker rooms online for Minnesotans to play at, but they're not all trustworthy. We've done the legwork to determine which ones have stellar software, fair RNGs, and speedy payouts. Set your mind at ease, and know that whichever of the below sites you join, you'll be in good hands.
Minnesota's laws are a bit vague when it comes to poker. Betting on an event “dependent on chance” is illegal, but the law contains the usual carveouts for contests of skill. There's no determination made, though, as to which category poker falls into.
One thing is abundantly clear however: Regardless of the theoretical capacity for these laws to be employed against poker, the truth is that no single Minnesota online poker player has ever been targeted by them. Therefore, you can play online poker in Minnesota free from legal worry.
Below is a list of excellent internet poker sites for you to choose from. No matter which of these sites you sign up with, you'll be able to look forward to honest games, modern software, and top-tier customer support.
Getting started in Minnesota internet poker is not too challenging. We've included instructions below for signing up to our #1 rated site, Ignition Casino, but the process should be similar, albeit with a few differences, no matter which room you elect to play at.
In order to bring you only the best online poker solutions Minnesota residents have available to them, we have thoroughly researched all the options. We recognize that all rooms are not identical and have their own particular strong points and areas for improvement. We've evaluated them all according to a set of criteria to see how they stack up against each other.
There are numerous poker variants out there from the basic, like NL Hold'em and Omaha, to the esoteric, like 12-game mix and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball. Even at sites that offer the same forms of poker, the blind levels available may vary enormously from nano-stakes to high-roller tables.
Such formats as fast-fold poker, lottery-style contests, satellites, STEPS, and On Demand tournaments complicate matters too. The presence of these non-standard games varies quite a bit from site to site.
Many poker rooms provide several old-school deposit and payout methods, like credit cards and checks. However, they all also permit you to use Bitcoin to add money to your account and retrieve your winnings.
We're big fans of Bitcoin and other crypto coins because they make it easy to perform transactions quickly and with reasonable fees. If you're uncertain as to how to use Bitcoin, then check out this informative Bitcoin poker walkthrough.
Many sites for online poker in Minnesota will provide you with a welcome bonus upon your first deposit. Most of them will also extend to you further opportunities for free money as you keep playing, like loyalty points, rake races, reload bonuses, and freerolls.
Some of these promotions are likely to be seasonal and good for a limited time only. Others are more permanent and will continue to provide value to you in the months and years to come.
Rakeback is one of the most worthwhile online poker promos you could find. It refers to an ongoing percentage refund of the rake you pay while playing poker. Unlike most internet poker promotions, it generally lasts for the lifetime of your account rather than expiring at any point. We appreciate the value of rakeback so much that we have included it in the name of our site, Professional Rakeback.
Here are the Minnesota online poker rakeback sites:
We have compiled detailed information below about the best sites for Minnesota online poker. Use these reviews to help you select a provider to call your home for internet poker.
Credit Card, Voucher Code, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, MatchPay
With the most simultaneously running cash games of any site available to Minnesota, Ignition certainly deserves your attention. You can enjoy big-bet games (NLHE, PLO, PLO/8) up to $10/$20 and Limit Hold'em as high as $30/$60. Zone fast-fold Poker picks up the pace by bringing you to a new table whenever you fold.
Sit n' goes, including the popular lottery-inspired Jackpot Poker, and multi-table tournaments round out the selection. There's a $150,000 guaranteed MTT every Sunday as well as several series throughout the year that award millions in prize money.
Players here are not identified by screenname but are rather assigned a player number. In addition, your table and seat are determined randomly. There's thus no seat selection or long-term player tracking possible here, which has its detractors. Still, it does lead to soft games because newcomers feel welcome here.
Ignition has created software for PCs and Macs, and there's also a web client that's compatible with mobile phones and tablets. The poker bonus is a 150% up to $1,500 match for crypto users.
Credit Cards, Person to Person, Money Orders, Bank Wire, Cashiers Check, Bitcoin, Avalanche, Binance, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Polygon, Ripple, Shiba Inu, Solana, Stellar, Tether, Tron, USD Coin
At SB Poker and BetOnline, which are partner sites, you can partake in NL Hold'em, PL Omaha, PLO Hi-Lo, 5 Card PLO, and 6 Card PLO from micro-stakes up through $5/$10. There are also pools of Boost, a fast-fold poker variant. One drawback of these rooms is the high rake.
A full SNG lobby beckons, and there are lottery-style Windfall contests too. A robust weekly tourney schedule completes the picture at Sportsbetting.ag. All Hold'em and Omaha cash game levels have bad beat jackpots, and you can get more free money from contests and leaderboards in the poker client.
Beyond its Mac and Windows desktop software, SB Poker also hosts an excellent mobile poker solution, which contains almost the entire complement of games. Make your first deposit to get a 100% up to $1,000 poker bonus as well as various promos in the sportsbook, racebook, and casino.
Credit Card, Voucher Code, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, MatchPay
Part of the same family of companies as Ignition, Bovada has all the same ring games and tournaments as its sister site. Yet, there's more to explore at Bovada.lv because it has a sportsbook and racebook, which cannot be found at Ignition. Not only can you bet on horse races and professional athletics, but you can also put your money down on eSports matches, political elections, and many novelty markets.
The standard Bovada software runs on PCs and Macs, and you can also go to a special mobile website to log on and play from your smartphone or tablet. Your first deposit will unlock a 100% up to $500 poker bonus, which is admittedly much smaller than Ignition's bonus. However, Bovada gives you large bonuses of $3,750 for casino games and $750 to use in the sportsbook.
Credit Cards, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, Money Transfer
ACR has the broadest range of stakes of any U.S.-facing online cardroom with $0.01/$0.02 comprising the low end and stakes higher than $25/$50 going off from time to time. NLHE, PLO, and PLO/8 make up the bulk of the action here, but there's also Limit Hold'em, 7 Card Stud, and Limit Omaha/8.
ACR Poker is especially good if you love tournaments because there are recurring series with eight figures of guaranteed prize pools, occasional Venom $5M+ tourneys, and $300K GTD Sunday Moneymakers.
Leaderboards exist to reward dedicated cash game and SNG grinders. There's also an Elite Benefits program to deliver rewards over time.
ACR Poker provides dedicated downloads for PCs and Macs as well as a mobile client. Enter our exclusive no deposit bonus code PRB10FREE for $10 free. Then get a 100% up to $2,000 bonus on your first deposit.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, CHP, Polygon, BNB
CoinPoker is a crypto-only poker website that uses USDT (Tether) to denominate its tables and games although you'll be able to deposit and withdraw utilizing ETH, BTC, and a few additional cryptocurrencies. CoinPoker is the largest crypto poker room on the web, and it has been experiencing solid growth.
There are only three types of cash games here: NL Hold'em, PL Omaha, and 5 Card Omaha. Moreover, standard SNGs are absent though lottery-style Cosmic Spins are spread.
You can play at CoinPoker on any desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. You'll receive a deposit bonus of 150% up to $2,000. Another benefit at CoinPoker is that you can get 33% weekly rakeback, if you maintain a balance of CoinPoker's crypto token, CHP.
Credit Card, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Lightning Bitcoin, Litecoin
Though it is one of the smaller destinations for internet poker, Everygame deserves a mention because of its fantastic promotions, which promise to propel your bankroll growth into the stratosphere. For starters, you'll get 36% dealt rakeback on every dollar in rake and tournament fees you pay when you use our links to register your account. Then you will also be able to benefit from weekly rake races, occasional reload bonuses, a loyalty tiers system, and many other rewards.
Everygame is primarily designed with Windows in mind, but there's an Instant Play client that connects through a website and supports mobile and other OSes. The first deposit bonus is 200% up to $1,000.
Bitcoin
SwCPoker is an internet crypto-only poker site, which is well-recognized for offering multiple niche poker formats, like Open Face Chinese, Mixed Games, Draw Games, and more.
SwCPoker operates on any Mac, PC, iOS, or Android system. SwC isn't currently offering a first deposit bonus, but you will be able to earn rewards as you play through the Krill Rewards program.
Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, USD Coin, BNB
Nitrobetting is an online poker site that runs directly in any browser, so no download requirement exists. You can play with ease from any desktop, tablet, or smartphone. There are only two formats of poker offered, NLHE and PLO, and traffic is very light. You can earn up to 35% rakeback monthly depending on your volume of play.
The section below aims to address the legality of playing online poker, live gambling options, current and potential state regulation, and the history involving poker and gambling within the state of Minnesota.
Minnesota has quite an extensive lineup of gaming options, including tribal casinos and racetracks. The tribal casinos are pretty much the same as any normal casinos in other states and offer a pretty extensive collection of games for people to choose from, including poker. The racetracks in Minnesota also have poker rooms, and they're an order of magnitude larger than those in the casinos.
Canterbury Park in Shakopee has the largest number of tables with 32 of them that deal Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, and Seven Card Stud. There are daily, small-stakes tournaments as well.
Because of the way Minnesota law works, there are no true No Limit cash games. However, there's spread limit, which at the smallest stakes, functions basically as NL cash.
The Gopher State does have a lively brick-and-mortar gambling scene with its native casinos and “racinos,” but this hasn't translated into any particular support for licensed online poker. There haven't been any pieces of legislation introduced that would add this form of gaming to the roster of legally authorized activities, and there are no immediate prospects of any such bills appearing.
The state has flirted with internet gambling before when the Minnesota Lottery introduced online ticket sales, but the Minnesota Legislature took a dim view of this and demanded that the Lottery stop. The authorities have made a few harsh pronouncements against betting for money over the internet in the past, so there's not likely to be much help from that quarter.
We must also consider that the tribal casinos would have a large say in whether or not state-regulated internet poker would be welcome in the state, and most tribes have come out against it. We feel that legalized online poker is many years away from becoming a reality in Minnesota.
Minnesota state leaders have taken a dim view of gambling almost since the founding of the state, but this didn't stop illicit gambling halls from popping up all throughout the state during Prohibition. The FBI started cracking down on these shenanigans though in the mid-30s.
Legally, the first permitted form of gaming was charitable bingo in 1945. From there, the authorities saw fit to allow certain types of private gambling in 1963. In 1982, voters authorized parimutuel racetrack wagering, and a similar vote in 1988 allowed the Minnesota Lottery to begin.
1989 saw tribal compacts signed for the purposes of gaming. In 1999, racetracks were permitted to install cardrooms to their facilities, and at the same time, tribal gaming interests were allowed to host poker games as well.
In the past few decades there has been little of note happening in Minnesota gambling. We'll keep our eyes on the scene and inform you of anything important that occurs.
Though not precisely a spawning ground for poker talent, Minnesota has nevertheless seen a few of its citizens achieve greatness in the game. Lyle Berman, of Minnesota, for example, has been a fixture in poker since the early '80s. He has recorded more than $2.7 million in poker tournament earnings, including three WSOP bracelets. Away from the felt, he co-founded the World Poker Tour and became chairman of a company that makes electronic poker tables.
Players who are lucky enough to have another address in a nearby state, be it your business address, summer home, second apartment, family home, etc, may have other online poker options available to them. Here is a list of the states that border Minnesota and Professional Rakeback's review of each of them: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. For a more generalized rundown of U.S. poker in all 50 states, examine our guide for American online poker players.
Ignorance is rife regarding the subject of online poker, but you can do something about this sad state of affairs. Please think about sharing this page with people you know who are fans of poker but may not have accurate information on the game as played online in the United States.
It's no trouble at all to play online poker in Minnesota from the comfort of your own home. You won't need to worry about if your money is safe, and you won't face any legal prosecution either. Find the Minnesota online poker room that looks best to you, make a deposit, and start playing cards today.
Internet poker can be an intriguing and profitable pursuit for Minnesota residents. However, if you find that the time and energy you devote to the game is having a negative impact on your life, then it might be time to seek outside assistance. Below are links to several problem gambling resources.
You'll find presented below a selection of the questions people often have about online poker in Minnesota. It's our goal to answer any doubts or concerns that our readers have.
Yes, online poker in Minnesota is effectively legal. There are a couple of ambiguities in state law that could theoretically be interpreted as making online poker against the law. However, none of these old statutes have ever been used to prosecute Minnesota online poker players. And federal anti-gambling laws are aimed squarely at those offering the games, not ordinary players. Therefore, participating in online poker in Minnesota purely as a player will not get you into any kind of legal trouble.
Yes, Minnesota's residents can legally open an account at PokerStars and play. However, the game selection is limited to practice chip tables only.
The reason for this dates back to the Black Friday prosecutions of 2011. In order to settle the legal suits against it, PokerStars pledged to the DoJ that it would cease offering real money online poker in Minnesota and other jurisdictions across the United States. The only exceptions are in those states where it is explicitly licensed to operate such gaming endeavors.
The lowest age at which Minnesota residents can gamble is 18. This is true regardless of the type of gambling. The only exception is that tribal casinos that serve alcohol can impose a higher minimum age of 21.
Online, this 18-plus philosophy is also adhered to, so you can only legally open up a gaming account on the internet if you're 18 or above. In case you're below this age, the smartest thing to do is wait until you're older before beginning to play.
Yes, you need to pay income tax on your internet poker winnings as a Minnesota resident. Not only does the Minnesota Department of Revenue expect its cut, but so does the federal Internal Revenue Service.
If you're unsure of how to calculate your tax liability or what specific forms you must file, then we advise you to consult with a qualified tax lawyer or account. A failure to properly report and pay taxes on your income could subject you to fines and other penalties.
Yes, mobile poker is a growing segment of the market, and almost all sites have a solution to cater to it. You may discover that your favorite poker site has dedicated apps for iOS and Android, but even those rooms that don't host mobile-specific software generally tend to have a web interface that you can log into from many kinds of hardware, including cellphones and tablets.
The only issue might be that some mobile poker clients are stripped-down versions of the desktop application and are missing a few features and/or game formats. The best mobile poker endeavors have been upgraded to become nearly indistinguishable from the software you would run on your computer; nevertheless, if you wish to guarantee yourself the best possible playing experience, running the software on your PC is probably the way to go.
There's a lot more to discover about gambling in Minnesota, and you can conduct research at these sites:
We strive to maintain this information and update it frequently with our research. However, we are not immune to making mistakes or omitting information that you, dear reader, may find of use. If you have any further questions not addressed in this guide or have noted any discrepancies or inaccuracies we urge you to contact us with your questions and concerns so that we may swiftly address them!
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