Online Poker in North Carolina - Best NC Online Poker Sites 2025

North Carolina has a rich history in many activities, but poker is not one of them. Luckily, players don’t have to worry about that as offshore sites accept players for North Carolina online poker, giving their citizens all of the options available to US-based players.

While regulated online poker might be quite a ways off in the future, these gambling sites, including the wonderful Ignition Poker, are great now and offer rewards that far outstrip what any single-state, licensed site for online poker in North Carolina could offer.

Top Online Poker Sites in North Carolina

Sorting among your options for North Carolina online poker can be a taxing endeavor, which is why you may wish to restrict your search to the entities we present below. We've investigated all of them thoroughly to make sure that they're on the level and are ready to send you your winnings faithfully and speedily

1

IGNITION

BONUS:

150% → $1,500

★★★★★

4.5 / 5

BEST FOR TRAFFIC VOLUME

NETWORK:

PAIWANGLUO

EXTRAS

CASINO

MORE:

REVIEW

VISIT IGNITION POKER!

2

SB POKER

BONUS:

100% → $1,000

★★★★★

4.4 / 5

BEST FOR BAD BEAT JACKPOTS

NETWORK:

CHICO

EXTRAS

CASINO+SPORTSBOOK

MORE:

REVIEW

VISIT SB POKER!

3

BETONLINE

BONUS:

100% → $1,000

★★★★★

4.3 / 5

BEST FOR MOBILE GAMING

NETWORK:

CHICO

EXTRAS

CASINO+SPORTSBOOK

MORE:

REVIEW

VISIT BETONLINE!

4

BOVADA

BONUS:

100% → $500

★★★★★

4.2 / 5

BEST FOR SPORTS & CASINO

NETWORK:

PAIWANGLUO

EXTRAS

CASINO+SPORTSBOOK

MORE:

REVIEW

VISIT BOVADA!

5

ACR POKER

BONUS:

100% → $2,000

★★★★★

4.1 / 5

BEST FREE BANKROLL OFFER

NETWORK:

WINNING

EXTRAS

$10 (CODE PRB10FREE)

MORE:

REVIEW

VISIT ACR POKER!

Is Online Poker Legal in North Carolina

Anyone attempting to search the NC statutes for guidance on poker games is certain to be disappointed. The word “poker” can only be found twice within the entire body of state law, and in each of those cases, it refers to video poker machines, not multiplayer poker games of the sort we're interested in. Because of this lack of specificity on the part of North Carolina's legislators, we must fall back on the general laws related to overall gambling activities and try to work out how poker fits into this framework.

Fortunately, residents who wish to play online poker have nothing to worry about. Playing poker online at an offshore site is completely legal and no person has ever encountered legal difficulties by doing so.

Furthermore, The Wire Act, UIGEA, and other federal laws that might pertain to online gaming directly target those actually running the sites and do not penalize ordinary users at all.

Thus, with state laws and federal legislation leaving ordinary players untouched, you can feel comfortable playing online poker in North Carolina without any legal worry.

Best North Carolina Online Poker Sites

Below is a list of great internet poker sites for you to choose from! No matter which of these reputable organizations you sign up with, you'll be able to look forward to honest games, well-functioning software, and superb customer support.

How to Play Online Poker in North Carolina – Detailed Instructions

Getting started in North Carolina 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.

1. Click on any of our links to go to Ignition Poker.
2. A registration page will appear in your web browser. Fill out the required fields, entering your true personal information. Later on, you'll have to complete ID verification before making your first withdrawal, and any inconsistencies in the info you have provided could lead to payment delays or even account termination.
3. Press the “Register” button at the bottom of the form.
4. Ignition may wish to verify your mobile number by sending you a code via SMS. Enter the code in the space provided on the Ignition website.
5. Now that your new account has been created, you can head over to the Ignition cashier and make a deposit through the method of your choice (we recommend BTC).

How We Evaluate North Carolina Online Poker Sites – Choosing the Best Internet Poker Room

In order to bring you only the best online poker solutions North Carolina 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.

Gaming Variety and Stakes

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.

Deposit and Payment Channels

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 properly use Bitcoin, then check out this informative Bitcoin poker walkthrough.

Bonuses and Other Promotions

Many sites for online poker in North Carolina 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

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 North Carolina online poker rakeback sites:

• ACR Poker – 27% rakeback paid on demand
• CoinPoker – 33% rakeback paid weekly (must hold CHP token)
• Everygame – 36% rakeback paid daily
• SwCPoker – up to 50% rakeback dependent on volume of play
• Nitrobetting – up to 35% rakeback paid monthly dependent on volume of play
• BlackChip Poker – 27% rakeback paid on demand
• Juicy Stakes Poker – 36% rakeback paid weekly
• True Poker – 27% rakeback paid on demand

Reviews of Online Poker Sites for North Carolina

We have compiled detailed information below about the best sites for North Carolina online poker. Use these reviews to help you select a provider to call your home for internet poker.

Ignition Casino Poker

Deposit Methods

Credit Card, Voucher Code, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, MatchPay

Pros

• Most games running
• Solid bonus clearing rate
• Easily beatable games

Cons

• No seat or table selection

Review

With the most simultaneously running cash games of any site available to North Carolinians, 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, but 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 phones and tablets. The poker bonus is a 150% up to $1,500 match for crpyto users.

SB Poker/BetOnline

Deposit Methods

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

Pros

• Great mobile client
• Attached casino, live dealer, sportsbook, and racebook
• Bad beat jackpots, contests, leaderboards

Cons

• Rake higher than average

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.

Bovada

Deposit Methods

Credit Card, Voucher Code, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, MatchPay

Pros

• Excellent player traffic levels
• Included casino, live casino, sportsbook, and racebook
• In business for more than a decade

Cons

• Poker bonus only $500

Review

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 a number of 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.

ACR Poker

Deposit Methods

Credit Cards, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, Money Transfer

Pros

• Biggest tournaments for North Carolinians
• $10 for free (bonus code PRB10FREE)

Cons

• Long late registration period in tourneys

Review

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.

Coin Poker

Deposit Methods

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, CHP, Polygon, BNB

Pros

• Crypto poker site with the most players
• 33% rakeback possible

Cons

• Restricted number of game formats

Review

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.

Everygame

Deposit Methods

Credit Card, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Lightning Bitcoin, Litecoin

Pros

• Many lucrative promotions
• 36% rakeback available

Cons

• Outdated software

Review

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.

SwCPoker

Deposit Methods

Bitcoin

Pros

• Numerous poker variants
• Up to 50% rakeback

Cons

• Small player count

Review

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.

Nitrobetting

Deposit Methods

Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tether, USD Coin, BNB

Pros

• Compatible with almost all hardware
• Up to 35% rakeback

Cons

• Few games running
• Only NLHE and PLO

Review

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.

Facts About North Carolina's Poker Industry

The sections below will aim to provide accurate information covering live gambling options in North Carolina, the history of gambling in the state, and famous poker players from North Carolina

Live Poker

North Carolina is about what you would expect for land-based gambling in a very conservative state. There aren't any commercial casinos or pari-mutuel gambling.

That being said, there are still three tribal casinos available to players in the state, and two of them have cardrooms. The largest is Harrah's Cherokee Casino with 32 tables located within the facility.

There are only low-stakes cash games, but the variety of formats is nice for a smaller room: NLHE, LHE, and PLO. Furthermore, there are a couple of low buy-in tourneys most days as well as occasional series, like the WSOP Circuit.

History of Gambling in North Carolina

Almost all forms of gambling remained illegal in North Carolina until 1945 when bingo was allowed at fairs and exhibitions. In the late '40s, the state experimented with greyhound racing, including pari-mutuel betting, but the North Carolina Supreme Court found this unconstitutional in 1954. Bingo and raffles were expanded in subsequent years via a series of ad hoc bills until the regulations governing them were codified into one text in 1979.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians started a bingo hall in 1982 and signed a compact with NC leaders in 1994 allowing electronic games followed in 2012 by table games.

Raleigh officials had neglected to include video poker machines in any of the restrictive laws that they promulgated, and these devices appeared by the hundreds of thousands throughout the state. They were explicitly prohibited by law in 2007. Next, sweepstakes parlors came on the scene, claiming to sell internet time while incidentally giving customers the opportunity to win prizes in games of chance. These establishments were outlawed in 2013.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Education Lottery was set up in 2005. In July 2019, North Carolina legalized sports betting, but no mobile or online wagering was possible; rather, betting took place in-person at the three N.C. tribal casinos. However, this limited menu was expanded in June 2023 when Governor Cooper signed a bill allowing retail betting at sports complexes and online wagering throughout the state.

Famous Poker Players From North Carolina

The N.C. individual with the highest total brick-and-mortar tournament winnings is Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen who is originally from Clayton, North Carolina although he now resides in Las Vegas. His accumulated winnings from live poker events top $16 million.

Mark Newhouse, from Chapel Hill, was born in 1985 and took up the game of poker while in college at Appalachian State University. He used to make $50 deposits on partypoker, which he would play with until he lost.

One month, Mark turned his $50 into $100,000, doubtless following proper bankroll management techniques all the while. The next month, he made another $100,000, which is when he decided to leave college and become a poker pro.

In this, he has been successful. His current total of live poker tourney winnings stands at around $3.7 million.

Alternatives to Registering Your Poker Account in the State of North Carolina

Perhaps you have another address in a neighboring state, be it your business address, summer home, second apartment, family home, etc. If so, then you may have other online poker sites available to you. Here is a list of the states that border North Carolina and Professional Rakeback's review on each of them: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. If none of these states pertain to your situation, then our page describing the overall U.S.A. poker market might interest you.

Many people are ignorant of the internet poker scene in North Carolina. If you know anybody, whether a friend, family member, or casual acquaintance, who you think would like to know more about this subject, please share this page with them.

Responsible Gaming

Internet poker can be an intriguing and profitable pursuit for North Carolina 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.

• Gamblers Anonymous
• National Problem Gambling Helpline
• North Carolina Problem Gambling Program
• Lottery Commission Responsible Gaming

BACK TO TOP

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!