With Big Poker Sites Shut Down, USA Poker Players Find Alternatives

With the disappearance of several major poker sites in the wake of the “Black Friday” indictments a little over a week ago, many in the media have declared online poker dead in the United States. But the truth is that PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker – the sites embroiled in the USA online poker shutdown – weren’t the entirety of online poker in the United States, just the biggest players. American players still have many options open to them today, even without those major sites operating in the USA market.

Click Here for Sites Accepting USA Poker Players

Even before the “Big Three” were shut down in America, many USA poker players were playing at other, smaller sites. With those being the only remaining option in the United States, these secondary online poker sites are now seeing a rapid increase in traffic and interest, with more poker being played at their tables than ever before.

That said, not all of these sites are exactly unknown to online poker players. For instance, Bodog Poker has long been a player in the USA market; at one time, it advertised nearly as heavily as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker did. But over time it faded into the background, and remained as a minor alternative to the emerging online poker giants. Now, Bodog is positioned to once again be one of the biggest names in USA online poker while the bigger rooms are busy fighting the Department of Justice.

Another major player in the new poker landscape is likely to be the Cake Poker Network. Though the network has had its up and downs over the years as rooms have joined and left their brand, it has consistently offered players unique promotions, fun alternatives to standard poker games, and some of the softest games online. Right now, there are no signs that Cake won’t continue operating in the United States, making it a great option for American online poker players.

Perhaps the largest surviving entity in US online poker is the Merge Gaming Network. This alliance of dozens of different poker rooms has a fairly large following, and has been serving American poker players for many years. Some of the largest rooms on the Merge Network are actually well known to most players – in particular, Carbon Poker has made a name for itself as the biggest room on the network.

While the Black Friday indictments certainly weren’t good news for USA poker players, it’s not the end of the line, either. With so many other sites willing to continue taking American players at their tables, it’s a safe bet that online poker will be around in some form for a long time to come.