About Us
Real Money Online Poker Sites is an independent guide to real money online poker in the United States. We compare licensed sites and apps on the things that actually change a player's experience — traffic, game variety, rake, bonus terms and how quickly a cashout actually lands — so you can pick a room without wading through marketing copy yourself.
Why this site exists
Online poker in the US is fragmented by state law, and the number of skins, networks and offshore operators marketing to American players makes it genuinely hard to tell a reputable site from a risky one. We built oscarscuba.com to cut through that: plain comparisons, honest write-ups, and no pretending that any of this is a guaranteed way to make money. Poker is a game of skill and variance combined — you can lose money playing it, and nothing on this site should be read as advice to the contrary.
How we assess and rank poker sites
Our rankings are built from publicly available and researched information about each operator, not from live testing of real-money accounts. We look at:
- Traffic and liquidity — how many active tables run at peak hours, and whether stakes you'd actually play are populated
- Game variety — the mix of No Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha, tournaments, Sit & Gos, Spin & Go formats and fast-fold variants
- Rake and rakeback — the stated rake structure and any loyalty or rakeback scheme, evaluated against the terms as published
- Welcome bonuses and promotions — the headline offer alongside its playthrough or clearing requirements, deposit minimums and expiry
- Deposit and withdrawal options — the payment methods available to US players and any stated processing times
- Licensing and site security — where an operator publishes licensing, regulation or fair-play certification information
- Software and mobile experience — how usable the desktop client and mobile app are for cash games and tournaments
Ratings are editorial scores, not customer reviews, and they reflect our own weighting of the factors above. Sites such as Coinpoker, Bovada, Stake, Ignition, Americas Card Room, Black Chip Poker, Ya Poker, BC Poker, Betonline and Jack Poker appear on our comparison pages because they meet enough of these criteria to be worth a US player's attention — not because any of them has paid for a higher position.
How we make money, and why it doesn't buy rankings
Real Money Online Poker Sites may earn a commission when a reader signs up through a link on this site, at no extra cost to the reader. This is how independent comparison sites are typically funded, and it lets us keep the content free to use. Commission never determines where an operator sits in our tables or how we describe it — a site that pays us nothing and a site that pays us a referral fee are judged against the same criteria. Where an offer carries wagering requirements, deposit minimums, time limits or other conditions, we try to note them alongside the offer rather than bury them elsewhere.
What we don't do
We don't claim any site guarantees winnings, and we don't frame poker as a reliable income source or a way out of financial trouble. We don't fabricate traffic numbers, invent licensing claims, or publish testimonials that didn't happen. Where we're not certain of a fact — a specific licence, a processing time, a promotion's exact terms — we say so or leave it out rather than guess, and we recommend readers confirm current terms directly with the operator before depositing.
Eligibility and playing responsibly
Online poker for real money is legal only in certain US states and is regulated state by state; there is no federal framework covering the whole country. Players must be at least 21 in most regulated states (a small number set the minimum at 18), and must be physically located in a state where the site they choose is licensed to operate. It's the reader's responsibility to check the law in their own state before signing up anywhere featured on this site.
Poker should be entertainment, not a way to solve money problems or escape stress, and it's possible to lose more than you intend to. If you're concerned about your gambling or someone else's, free confidential help is available around the clock through the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER. Our Responsible Gambling page has more detail on setting limits and where to find support, including state-specific resources.
Get in touch
If you spot something out of date, disagree with a ranking, or just want to ask a question about a site we cover, our Contact Us page has the details. For the full legal terms governing use of this site, see our Terms and Conditions.