Oklahoma Online Poker Sites

Gambling is big business in Oklahoma with more than 100 casinos throughout the state. For a state with a population of only 3.9 million that’s a lot. One thing to note about those 100-plus casinos is that none of them are commercial casinos. All of them are tribal casinos.

While Oklahoma has embraced casino gambling as a massive source of tax revenue they haven’t come onside with legalized online gambling in the state, yet. Oklahoma, unlike many other states are against social gambling and have laws on the books against it.

Is Online Poker Legal in Oklahoma?

Online gambling falls into a grey area in Oklahoma. No laws in the state specifically mention online or internet gambling. However, the state’s criminal code does include some vague language that, depending on how it is interpreted by the courts, could be used against online gamblers. For example, in section 21-964 (a) it states,

“Any machine, instrument, mechanism, or device that operates or may be played or operated mechanically, electrically, automatically, or manually, and which can be played or operated by any person by paying to or depositing with any person, or by depositing with or into any cache, slot, or place a coin, chip, token, check, credit, money, representative of value, or a thing of value, and by which play or operation such person will stand to win or lose, whether by skill or chance, or by both, a thing of value.”

This language could potentially be interpreted to include gambling on a mobile device or computer. There are very few instances of anyone in Oklahoma being arrested for gambling online, so most residents should feel safe in gambling online on offshore sites.

Running an online poker or online gambling site within the state aimed at Oklahoma residents would be a whole different story and would most likely be shutdown by law enforcement.

Is Any Gambling Legal in Oklahoma?

Yes. Gambling is a major money maker in Oklahoma to the tune of more than $2 billion in revenue annually. Almost all of this is generated through the tribal gambling market. Native American tribes in Oklahoma are allowed to offer Class II and Class III gaming. Under Class II gaming allowances they can run bingo games, pull tabs and punch boards.

Class III gaming allows them to run casinos with tables games like Blackjack and roulette, slots and poker. There are over 100 tribal casinos in Oklahoma, the largest being WinStar World Casino & Resort which features 7,400 slot machines, 96 table games and a large poker room.

Oklahoma also allows charitable gambling, but there are limits. Charitable gambling laws allow charities to offer bingo, pull tabs and raffles, but casino gambling and poker tournaments are forbidden.

Oklahoma has a different stance on social gambling than most states. Under statute 21-942 it is illegal to hold gambling events of any type, except those granted exception under law such as tribal casinos. This means private games, even a poker game in your basement are illegal. It’s highly unlikely the cops are going to bust up low-stake basement poker games, but high stakes games and any poker game taking a fee or a rake is fair game for authorities.

Oklahoma Laws Pertinent to Online Poker

As previously mentioned section 21-964 (a) states,

“Any machine, instrument, mechanism, or device that operates or may be played or operated mechanically, electrically, automatically, or manually, and which can be played or operated by any person by paying to or depositing with any person, or by depositing with or into any cache, slot, or place a coin, chip, token, check, credit, money, representative of value, or a thing of value, and by which play or operation such person will stand to win or lose, whether by skill or chance, or by both, a thing of value.”

This causes Oklahoma online poker players to fall into a grey area. Online poker isn’t specifically mentioned in the laws, but it could possibly be interpreted that way. Oklahoma residents are able to play on offshore site like Ignition Poker and so far, haven’t been arrested for doing so.

One interesting aspect of Oklahoma online gambling is a site called PokerTribes.com It is run by the Iowa Tribe Oklahoman and allowed by the state because they do not offer online poker to residents of the state, only international players. It is expected, if Oklahoma does eventually legalize online poker in the state the organizers behind PokerTribes.com will be the first in line.