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All forms of gambling, with two minor exceptions, are prohibited in Georgia,
and the state certainly does punish those severely who test this. The only forms
of gambling allowed in Georgia are state endorsed lotteries and raffles for
charities.

This means you won’t find any live Texas holdem poker action in Georgia at
all, at least not with money involved, and of course this also extends to online
play. Not all hope is lost though, so read on if you want to hear some of our
thoughts in respect to how you can still play poker while living in the Peach
State.

Georgia Gambling

All casinos, sports betting, horse betting and any type of gambling where
money is wagered on an outcome is banned in Georgia. They certainly have the
same hard line stance as some other conservative states in the US.

Once again this simply results in lost tax revenue for the state as those who
wish to gamble will find other ways or head interstate, or even internationally,
to get their gaming fix. This is a real shame for the state as they seem to have
seen the light in relation to lottery which is now regulated and operated
resulting in hundreds and thousands of dollars for education infrastructure,
preschool tuition and college scholarships.

This is a direct reflection of the good that can come from running a
regulated industry, even with the negative social impacts that sometimes come
from increased gaming options in a localised area. The approach of allowing
those who wish to gamble to do so, while directing profit to important areas
such as education and health is a fantastic middle ground that usually satisfies
all parties.

Some states have found this middle ground though which is a good thing, but
given Georgia’s overall approach it doesn’t seem likely that this will be found
here anytime soon beyond the existing lottery games. Thankfully there are a lot
of easy options for you which we’ll go into more detail on below.

Texas Holdem Cruise

If you live near the east coast you can take a river cruise on the Emerald
Princess to get your gaming fill. This cruise ship heads out three miles from
the coastal city of Brunswick into international waters where state laws don’t
apply and gambling is legal.

Aboard this ship you can play slots, blackjack, video poker, blackjack,
craps, roulette, casino stud poker, bingo, triple time poker, and most important
Texas holdem poker. Mainly cash games are offered here across 6 tables and
you’ll find $2 / $2 no limit Texas holdem with a minimum buy in of $50 and a
maximum of $300.

Every so often they also run a tournament and your best bet is to call ahead
to check on this. The minimum age to gamble is 18 and if you want to drink
alcohol you’ll need to be 21. The ship sails on Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm
until 12am, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 4pm and 7pm to 1am, and on Sunday
from 1pm to 6pm. A ticket costs $10. These are winter hours with more trips
being run in the summer.

Atlanta Poker Club

If you want to play Texas holdem poker locally in and around Atlanta, you can
find some decent action through the Atlanta Poker Club. This club runs a series
of poker games at restaurants and bars around the greater Atlanta area.

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All tournaments are free to enter with prizes being awarded in the form of
food and drink vouchers, trophies, memberships, and sometimes even cash. On top
of this, when you do well in a tournament you’re awarded points and are
competing against all players on the overall Atlanta Poker Club leader board.

From this you can win more prizes and gain entry into larger tournaments
where decent money is up for grabs. The important thing in relation to this club
is that no money changes hands. Bars and restaurants pay the club to run events,
while earning increased revenue from players who come to play poker and have
some drinks and food in their establishment at the same time. While this isn’t
real poker as you would find in a casino, it’s a good option if you’d like to
play Texas holdem poker legally and for fun in Atlanta.

Traveling out of State

Your final option in relation to playing poker in the state of Georgia is to
get in your car, or catch a plane, to another state. Obviously, your best bet
would be to drive south into Florida which has a huge Texas holdem poker scene
and a room that offers tournaments and cash games in pretty much every town.

Just over the border to the south in Jacksonville you’ll find a huge number
of rooms including the massive BestBet which boasts over 70 tables and a huge
number of games at all stake levels. Jacksonville is just a 1 hour flight from
Atlanta, or a five hour drive, and if you live in the southern part of Georgia
it may only be a short drive. Creek Entertainment in Gretna is also a good
option, just outside of Tallahassee.

Online Holdem

If you want to play poker online in Georgia, you also won’t be able to do so
in a legal poker room. The state has no specific laws in relation to online
play, except in respect to operating an online gambling business. This means you
simply cannot play online poker in Georgia, unless you breach terms and
conditions of certain sites and enter the legal grey area in respect to state
law.

If you wish to play slots, blackjack, roulette, craps, or other games at
online casinos you can do so at several sites that allow US players. This once
again is a legal grey area as technically you probably shouldn’t be doing so.
It’s highly unlikely that the state would come down on you though as they try to
go after the suppliers as opposed to the players. Proceed with caution if you
attempt to play at online casinos out of Georgia and we certainly aren’t
recommending it.

If poker is your passion and you want to become a professional or
semi-professional player, then you should probably leave Georgia and relocate to
Florida or California. That is, unless you think you could tough it out and live
in Las Vegas. If so, then Vegas is the best place to be to find the softest
possible tables and have access to the best tournaments.

If you don’t want to leave Georgia and are established there then you’ll need
to travel to Florida or Mississippi, or take a cruise ship out into
international waters. That’s the only way you’ll be able to play poker regularly
enough to make decent money, ride out the variance in the game, and classify
yourself as semi-professional. That will take a lot of effort and you’ll spend a
lot of time travelling, so you really need to decide whether it’s worth it or
not.

Future Laws

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Laws in Georgia are unlikely to change soon and we all now know that at the
federal level online poker won’t be making a comeback for a long time. As such,
it’s just not a viable option to wait it out and see what happens in the state.

Once again, the law is rife with hypocrisy in respect to allowing lottery and
not any other gambling, but that’s just life. We can only hope that poker builds
in popularity in the state and some of the conservative draconian laws and
lawmakers begin to see the light.

Usually money wins out at the end of the day and if the lawmakers and
politicians can see a significant amount of revenue being lost to neighbouring
states then we may see changes in the future. But probably not for a few
generations.

In the meantime, check out BestBet in Jacksonville; it really is one of the
better poker rooms in the United States.

Conclusion

Unless you want to take the chance to play Texas holdem online in an
unlicensed poker room, your only options in Georgia are to travel out of state
or take a gambling boat trip off the coast. If playing poker is important to you
let your local and state politicians know how you feel.

Editor’s Note: The Borgata poker room reopened on Wed., Oct. 21. The 30 tables are limited to a maximum of seven players each. For more information, click here.

Live Casino Poker Room

Live poker rooms at Atlantic City casinos are still closed. And nearly three months have passed since land-based properties reopened.

At this point, there is no timeline for when Atlantic City’s five poker rooms will reopen. Basically, the COVID-19 closure announcements made back in March still apply to poker rooms.

This makes it 159 days and counting since poker rooms in Atlantic City were open to the public.

When the Borgatareopened to the public on July 26, ropes were set up to prevent players from entering the 85-table poker room.

And when customers try to call Harrah’s Resort, they get a recording dating back to March 16. This would be the date the poker room with 40 tables closed at 6 p.m.

Golden Nugget AC’swebsite continues to use this message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Poker Room is closed until further notice.”

For now, no AC casino has any update on a timeline for restarting poker play.

Are poker games available in Atlantic City?

Different variations of poker are still being offered at Atlantic City casinos, even if the poker rooms themselves are closed. The games include:

• Pai Gow Poker
• Let It Ride
• Three Card Poker

Of course, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has safety protocols in place. It prevents the possibility of all the seats being filled.

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Besides the 25% capacity limit on the gaming floors, Pai Gow tables are limited to three players at a time. The same rule applies to blackjack.

Other poker games can have up to four players. And plexiglass partitions must be set up at all table games, including poker.

The poker situation is similar in other jurisdictions. Pennsylvania’s poker rooms remain closed even as casinos reopen. In August, Play Pennsylvania learned that the World Series of Poker Room at Harrah’s Philadelphia is permanently closed.

In Las Vegas, some poker rooms are open but must follow Nevada’s COVID-19 protocols.

Besides impacting the players, the scenario in AC is eliminating jobs, even if it’s only temporary.

But these coronavirus restrictions regarding gameplay and number of players are likely the underlying reason Atlantic City poker rooms remain shut.

Atlantic City poker rooms closed, but online poker is always open

New Jersey poker players do have another option, and this one doesn’t have COVID-19 restrictions.

There are seven legal NJ poker apps. They are:

• Pala Poker

And since Atlantic City casinos closed in March, the NJ online poker industry has recorded some pretty impressive numbers.

August NJ poker revenue came in at $3,035,033, which is down nearly 63% from July’s $4,818,561. Still, both numbers are a significant increase from February’s $1.8 million when land-based casinos (and live poker rooms) were fully operational.

Las Vegas Poker Rooms Tournaments

These days, those popular WSOP tournaments are an online thing.

Atlanta Poker Rooms

It doesn’t match the excitement of playing in a live poker room, but the alternative — no poker at all — would be far worse.

And with the word “temporary” being used when referencing closed AC poker rooms, there is still hope that operating hours will change.