The Best Offshore Poker Sites in December 2024

Finding the best offshore poker sites can take time, which is why our experts have done the digging for you.

In this comprehensive guide to offshore poker guides, we’ll show you where you can play, how to claim the biggest bonuses, and more.

Best Offshore Poker Sites Reviewed

There are many excellent offshore poker rooms and the best one for you might be a little different than the best for someone else. Check out the pros and cons of some of the top sites below, with key details and concise reviews from our experts.

CoinPoker – Best for Offshore Crypto Poker

• Established: 2017
• License: Curacao eGaming
• Poker Network: Proprietary
• US Restrictions: None

Our Rating: 10/10

CoinPoker is one of the hottest offshore poker sites around at the moment. It’s a name we’re seeing everywhere, thanks to its wide selection of games, juicy rakeback scheme, and crypto payment options.

If you’ve never tried playing at a bitcoin poker site or using another major token, we recommend it. Crypto payments are much faster than traditional fiat transfers, especially when it comes to withdrawals.

There’s even a special cryptocurrency at CoinPoker called CHP. When you use it, you’ll unlock 33% rakeback, which can really add up over time.

Player traffic is solid and they sometimes run tournaments and series which reach seven-figure prize pools.

Features

Ignition – Best for Anonymous Offshore Poker

• Established: 2016
• License: Union of the Comoros
• Poker Network: PaiWangLuo Poker Network
• US Restrictions: NJ, NY, NV, MD, DE

Our Rating: 9.9/10

It might be referred to as Ignition Casino, but one of the best things about the site is the offshore poker room which runs round the clock and is packed with bonuses.

There are a couple of extra steps to how rakeback here works, but it’s worth it for the freedom it gives you. Every time you join a cash game or offshore poker tournament at Ignition, you’ll pay rake, and paying rake earns you loyalty points called ‘Miles’. These can be cashed in for a bunch of useful rewards, including tournament tickets and bonus cash.

But one of the best things about playing at Ignition is the fact that it’s a completely anonymous offshore poker site. This means players can’t rack up data on how you play over time. Each time you sit down, it’s like you’re getting a fresh start.

The schedule is consistent each week, and packs in a strong mix of Hold’em and Omaha tournaments.

Features Overview

ACR Poker – Best for Big Guarantees

• Established: 2001
• License: Costa Rica
• Poker Network: Winning Poker Network
• US Restrictions: LA, KY, MD, NJ, DE, WA

Our Rating: 9.8/10

One of the oldest offshore poker sites is also one of the best, as ACR Poker is a site that really does it all.

In recent years, ACR has become a much more crypto-friendly offshore poker room, which means you can easily deposit using coins such as BTC and USDT and then withdraw in minutes rather than days.

A host of major names in poker are strongly associated with the site. Chris Moneymaker and Tom Dwan are a couple of the best-known poker pros who’ve attached their names to ACR Poker, helping to bring in a huge number of players, which means the tables are always thriving.

They have big tournaments, too. The Venom is their most famous and largest one, with previous guarantees exceeding the $12.5 million mark. Live event satellites are also available to the WSOP.

Features Overview

Black Chip Poker – Best for Niche Games

• Established: 2008
• License: Costa Rica
• Poker Network: Winning Poker Network
• US Restrictions: DE, KY, LA, MD, NV, NJ, WA

Our Rating: 9.8/10

Closely associated with ACR Poker, Black Chip Poker is another offshore poker site with terrific software, tons of tournaments, big guarantees, and the chance to enter live events.

Much like ACR, you can win packages to the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas at Black Chip Poker. There are also lots of juicy Hold’em and Omaha MTTs, with millions in guarantees each week.

One particularly interesting aspect of Black Chip Poker is the game selection. You’ll find events here which aren’t too common at most offshore poker websites, such as Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. This will be irrelevant for large sections of the player base but, if it’s what you’re into, it’s perfect.

Features Overview

Choosing the Best Offshore Poker Rooms

When you’re weighing up the best online offshore poker sites and trying to figure out which one is right for you, it’s important to take an honest assessment of where you are as a player. Are you relatively new, or do you know your way around a table?

Best Offshore Poker Rooms for New Players

When you’re new to poker, you ideally want to make sure you’re playing with other inexperienced players. This helps reduce the chance of a shark swooping in and gobbling up your chips while you’re still getting the hang of things.

Ignition is a fantastic choice for new players. You can play completely anonymously, which can be off-putting for mega-stakes players who rely on their notes and data from previous sessions with players.

Additionally, Ignition has plenty of bonuses you can claim, and operates a casino which increases the chance of first-time players cropping up at this offshore online poker site.

Start at the microstakes and work your way up over time.

Best Offshore Poker Sites for Experienced Players

If you’ve got more experience under your belt, you can take your pick from loads of regulated offshore poker sites. ACR Poker would make a great choice.

The reason our experts selected ACR Poker for experienced players specifically is because the caliber of player can be quite high – but so too can the reward. The Venom has boasted guarantees of over $12.5 million in the past, comparable to the world’s best poker sites.

Those of you who prefer live poker events can also try a few WSOP Main Event satellites, which run fairly regularly at ACR Poker.

Best Bonuses at Offshore Poker Sites

When you play at offshore poker sites for real money, you’ll spot a bunch of opportunities to pick up bonuses along the way.

These bonuses come in all shapes and sizes, so we’ve created a quick breakdown of the best poker bonuses and promotions you’ll see at the top offshore poker sites.

Welcome Bonus

Most of you will probably be familiar with what welcome bonuses are, whether you’ve claimed them through offshore online poker, casinos, or sportsbooks.

As you’d imagine, welcome bonuses are special offers which you can only claim when you first join an offshore poker site. Often, this can include a big deposit bonus and possibly some free tournament tickets.

Note that you can’t simply withdraw the bonus cash. You’ll usually need to unlock it by paying a certain amount in rake.

Poker Freerolls

Poker freerolls are a little different to free tournament tickets.

Tournament tickets give you access to a ‘normal’ tournament, where your opponents will still pay cash to enter. Freerolls are special events set up specifically for people to play poker for free, but with a cash prize or satellite entry as the payout.

If you’re still learning how to play at offshore poker rooms, freerolls are a great starting point. The time required and relatively small prize keeps experienced players away, and they also remove the financial risk of paying to enter an MTT.

Poker Rakeback

Rakeback is very important if you’re playing at an offshore online US poker site and putting in high volume.

If you just play the odd tournament every month or two, you won’t really benefit from rakeback. But if you hit the digital felt regularly, the money back can really add up over time.

All the best offshore poker sites have a rakeback scheme in place. Sometimes, with sites like ACR, you’ll even have more than one option.

Poker Leaderboards

These are a common promotion at offshore poker sites rather than bonuses per se, but they’re still worth a mention because of the tremendous value they offer.

Leaderboards can last anywhere from an hour to 24 hours or even for weeks throughout a specific online series. They’re especially lucrative for medium- and high-volume players, almost acting like a second form of rakeback.

Some leaderboards are based on total amount of play while others reward the best results, so check out the T&Cs before you get stuck in.

How to Join an Offshore Poker Room

Signing up to the best offshore poker sites is a straightforward process which mirrors poker sites in the US.

Here’s how to play at offshore poker sites:

1 – Pick an offshore poker site

Check out our list of the best offshore poker sites and choose where you want to play. For example, CoinPoker.

2 – Download the software

Most of the time, you’ll need to download free poker software to play. Some offshore poker websites let you play in the browser, but it’s rare.

3 – Create an account

Sign up by providing your personal details, including a unique username for the tables. If you’re joining an anonymous offshore poker site, you might not require a username.

4 – Make a deposit

Most of the best offshore poker sites are big on crypto, so it’s worth considering a deposit in BTC or another top token. But you can also deposit with more traditional methods at most sites.

5 – Browse the lobby

Have a good rummage through the available game types, formats and stakes before you decide which one to enter. Look out for indicators like big guarantees and overlays.

6 – Join a table

Once you’ve found what you’re after, join the table or sign up to the tournament to get stuck into the action. From there, it’s all up to you!

Types of Offshore Poker Games

If a type of poker exists, you can find it in offshore poker.

Just like the majority of sites, offshore poker is dominated by Texas Hold’em, as it’s far and away the most popular version of the game. But the fun doesn’t end there. Omaha, zany formats, and casino poker are all on the cards as well.

Here are the main game types at the best offshore poker sites.

Texas Hold’em Poker

The easiest version to learn, the most popular format, and the game which launched poker into the mainstream.

Texas Hold’em cash games and tournaments run at all hours at the best offshore poker sites, giving you plenty of options at all stakes. The game is played with two face-down cards per player and up to five face-up community cards.

Omaha Poker

Omaha poker is similar to Hold’em in the general rules and betting rounds, but with a key difference: you receive four cards, not two, and you must use precisely two cards from your hand and three of the five community cards.

It’s more common to find Omaha in a pot limit format, which is important for the game because the percentages of you winning the pot can change drastically (and regularly) on each street.

Seven Card Stud Poker

Back in the day, Stud was the go-to game for poker fans. That might not be the case anymore, but you can still find it at the best offshore poker sites.

There are several variations of Stud, but Seven Card Stud is among the most popular. You can play it at offshore poker sites such as Black Chip Poker.

Other Poker Games

There are lots of other poker games like Razz, Mixed Games, or Open Face Chinese Poker. You’ll occasionally see them at offshore poker websites, but they’re not as common.

What is much more common is Hold’em and Omaha but with new, spicy ideas injected into them. Mystery bounties, hyper turbos, all-in tournaments – there’s all sorts of fun and novel stuff out there at offshore poker sites.

You’ll also see a lot of casino poker games at sites like Ignition, but it’s important to remember the huge differences between peer-to-peer or ‘normal’ poker and casino poker. In casino poker, you’re up against the house, and a lot of your skill edge will be in the bin.

Offshore Poker Formats

Even after you’ve chosen a type of poker game like Hold’em, there are still a whole bunch of versions available at the best offshore poker sites.

Here are your main choices of poker format.

Cash Games

Cash games are where you can play at offshore poker sites for real money in real time. A $5 chip is worth $5. If you bet and win, you can walk away after the double up. And if you lose, you’ve lost actual cash.

Cash games are appealing to those of you who like quick action without any constraints of playing for a certain amount of time. If you’re new, start at the low stakes until you get used to the flow of cash games.

Sit & Gos

A Sit & Go is a type of poker tournament which begins the moment it reaches a certain number of players. For a one-table Sit & Go, this could be six or nine players. But it could also be 27, 90, 180 or more players.

If you’re learning how to play at offshore poker sites, starting with Sit & Gos is a sensible poker strategy while you become familiar with tournament structures. They’re available at all stakes.

MTTs

MTT stands for multi-table tournament. That could mean anything from two tables to 1,000 and above.

Unlike Sit & Gos, MTTs have a set start time and don’t rely on a certain number of entrants. They’ll usually have a minimum number of players, but this is often quite low and rarely comes into play.

MTTs are where you can make the big bucks, like the WSOP Main Event or The Venom at ACR Poker with over $12.5 million guaranteed.

How to Choose the Best Offshore Poker Site

CoinPoker is one of our top picks, but perhaps there’s an offshore poker site which might work better for you. So, how can you figure out which ones are the best offshore online poker sites?

These are the key things to look for.

Is it Legal to Play at Offshore Poker Rooms?

Yes, it’s legal to sign up and play for real money at offshore poker sites from the US.

Laws in the US focus on the running of online poker games – not playing them. This means that the offshore poker sites are outside of the scope of US law, and that players are perfectly permitted to play.

The one exception is for residents located in Washington State, where it is illegal to play even at offshore online poker sites.

How We Rate the Best Offshore Poker Sites

Our experts put every offshore poker site through the same rigorous, objective tests before determining its ranking. Here are a few things we look for:

Offshore Poker Site Payment Methods

Some offshore poker sites have recently begun to take the crypto-only route, but others still have multiple options.

Here are the most common payment methods at offshore poker rooms.

Best Offshore Poker Sites – Final Verdict

There are tons of offshore online poker sites to choose from, and some of them deliver top-drawer tournaments and cash game tables which can easily compete with any poker room out there.

Here are the main things to remember about offshore poker sites:

FAQs

What’s the best offshore poker site?

CoinPoker is one of the best offshore poker sites currently available. It allows you to bet using cryptocurrency, which gets you 33% rakeback and instant withdrawals, and has a large pool of players with cash games and tournaments running round the clock.

What is an offshore poker site?

For US players, an offshore poker site is one which is located outside of the country. This means the poker room is not necessarily bound by the same rules and legislation as certain states in the US, which can be strict. Playing at an offshore poker site can prove to be a more flexible option for players.

Is it safe to play at offshore poker sites?

Yes, it’s safe to play at any of the best offshore poker sites. Although some players hear the words ‘offshore poker site’ and worry they’re doing something wrong, the onus is on the poker room rather than the player. Only players in Washington State cannot play at offshore poker sites.

Can I join offshore poker websites on mobile?

Many players now play poker on mobile, and so there’s no problem with joining an offshore poker website from your phone. If you’re having any difficulties, make sure you haven’t accidentally turned on your VPN, as it may appear that you’re logging in from a different country.

Are offshore poker sites legal in the US?

Offshore poker sites are ‘offshore’ because they’re not in the US, so by their very definition they cannot be held to the same individual state laws as local businesses. These sites openly accept players from the US. From a player’s perspective, there’s nothing wrong with playing at an offshore poker site. The exception is in Washington State, where it’s illegal.

Can offshore poker sites detect a VPN?

Some of the best offshore poker sites will have technology in place to stop the use of certain software. This is primarily focused on tools players use to gain an unfair advantage at the tables. But, in some cases, the offshore poker site may also detect the use of a VPN.

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