Poker in Oklahoma

Poker In Oklahoma

Oklahoma plays a significant role in the gambling industry across the United States, so poker in Oklahoma is not that limited.

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by Reagan in 1988. The act gave tribal governments in the United States the option of deciding whether to allow casinos on their land.

The new law was especially helpful to the state of Oklahoma, home to numerous Native American tribes like the Creek, the Cherokee, and the Chickasaw. In terms of the total number of Native Americans, its 320,000 residents make it the second most populous state after California. Many so-called “Indian casinos” sprang up rapidly all over the state.

The Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, is the most important of these for poker players. The World Series of Poker Circuit and the World Poker Tour have both held events there. Television cash game sessions have been filmed there for the CBS Sports show Poker Night in America.

Additionally, Thackerville, Oklahoma is home to the WinStar World Casino, the world’s biggest casino in terms of gaming floor space.

Though Oklahoma is a major land-based gambling hub, the state does not yet have its own lawful and controlled online gambling market.

Quick Summary

• Estimated Number of Residents: 39,510,000
• Sacramento is the capital.
• Money in US dollars ($)
• CA is the abbreviation for California.
• They have the UTC-8 time zone.

Where You Can Play Poker in Casinos:

• Downstream Casino
• Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant
• Grand Casino Hotel & Resort
• Choctaw Casino & Resort-Pocola

A Few Notable Poker Players From Oklahoma

Oklahoma native Bobby Baldwin won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1978. His contributions to the launch of the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas have earned him a place in casino lore. His name lives on in the casino’s illustrious ultra-high-stakes cash game room, known as Bobby’s Room.

Tulsa native Ben Lamb has won $11.381 million from live tournaments. He has one gold bracelet from the World Series of Poker. When he won the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament in 2011, he pocketed $814,436. Twice he reached the final table of the WSOP Main Event, once in 2011 when he finished third and won $4.021 million, and once in 2017 when he finished ninth and won $1 million.

Another Oklahoman to win the WSOP Main Event is Berry Johnston. To the tune of $570,000, he won the 1986 Poker World Championship. With these five bracelets, he has an impressive total of nine. Johnston has won 5 World Series bracelets, making him one of only 26 players in history to do so.

In-Person Poker Game in Oklahoma

Existing Oklahoma Live Poker Laws

Officially, gambling is against the law in Oklahoma. Commercial gaming, as defined in statute 21-982, “includes getting revenues out of a betting place or conducting an illegal lottery,” as written on gamblingsites.com. The penalties for breaking the rules regarding commercial gambling are severe: a fine of up to $25,000 and up to ten years in prison.

We did, however, bring up the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Land-based casinos operated by Native Americans on tribal lands are legal. In fact, there are 143 tribal casinos in the state, with many more opening soon. This is according to 500nations, a website devoted to providing data about Indian casino sites and the Indian cannabis market.

They are responsible for reporting to the State Compliance Agency of Oklahoma’s Gaming Compliance Unit (SCA).

Rooms in Oklahoma Where You Can Play Live Poker

We have discussed Durant, Oklahoma, and its Choctaw Casino Resort. The cash room is open nonstop all year long, with games running at stakes of $1/$2, $1/$3, $2/$5, and $5/$10 for No Limit Hold’em and $1/$2, $2/$5, and $10/$25 for Pot Limit Omaha.

They have hosted an impressive number of major poker tournament series. A stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit is held here annually. Except for a $2,200 High Roller tournament scheduled for the fall of 2019, their buy-ins range from $100 to the Main Event’s $1,700.

The Choctaw Casino also hosts the annual World Poker Tour, the Card Player Poker Tour, and the Choctaw Spring and Fall Poker Series, all of which are highly regarded poker tournaments.

The Choctaw people also maintain a casino and poker room in the nearby town of Pocola.

At the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in nearby Shawnee, Oklahoma, poker is also available. It was there that the RUNGOOD Poker Series, the Firelake Grand Poker Championship, and the Ironman Poker Challenge took place. All year long, this venue hosts monthly NLHE and PLO tournaments in addition to daily cash games.

Quapaw is home to the Downstream Casino Resort. The cash room offers NLHE games from $1/$2 up to $5/$10, as well as a PLO table with stakes of $1/$2/$5.

Gambling Facilities & Poker Rooms Across OK & OK Online Poker

There is no mention of online gambling or online poker in particular in the Oklahoma Statutes. Online gambling is prohibited in Oklahoma due to the state’s strict stance on gambling, which is laid out in the penal code.

However, because they could only accept customers from within their own territory, tribal casinos are also prohibited from running their own online US poker sites.

On the plus side, though, nobody has ever been indicted for playing poker online in Oklahoma. You can probably get away with playing online poker if you sign up for a site like Ignition that does not limit participants from the United States.