New Jersey is one of the top states to be if you’re a poker player, whether you play online or live.
If you don’t live in Atlantic City or have no means of travel to AC, online poker will be your best option if you’re looking for legal games within the Garden State. Or, you can cross over the border to Philadelphia where you’ll find popular card rooms such as Parx and Rivers Casino.
What Are The Best New Jersey Online Poker Sites?
Where to Play Live Poker in New Jersey
The live poker scene in New Jersey isn’t as booming as it once was. Atlantic City has just three poker rooms, and if you’re expecting a little nostalgia hoping to fleece some tourists or bluff Johnny Chan at the Trump Taj Mahal, one of the most iconic poker rooms in the country, you’ll be disappointed. The “Taj” not only doesn’t have a poker room anymore, the casino no longer exists.
But there are still three solid places to play poker in Atlantic City, most notably the Borgata, an MGM Resorts property that has played host to numerous major tournaments over the years including World Poker Tour events.
Borgata has 52 poker tables, making it one of the biggest card rooms in the northeast. It is also the only place in Atlantic City at this time that has both cash games and daily tournaments. Additionally, Borgata is the only legal poker room in the state that is open 24/7.
The two other rooms in Atlantic City — both open 11 a.m.-6 a.m. — are the Tropicana and Harrah’s, a Caesars Entertainment hotel casino. These two casinos each have 10 poker tables and only offer cash games, mostly of the low-stakes variety.
Poker Returns to Borgata Post-COVID
Where to Play Online Poker in New Jersey
If you aren’t satisfied with the live poker options in New Jersey, or just hate playing live poker in general, the Garden State is one of just five US states with legal online poker sites in operation (Nevada, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Michigan being the others).
The sites are operated by some of the most reputable online poker companies in the world, including PokerStars, BetMGM, WSOP.com, 888poker, Partypoker, and Borgata.
You can even compete for World Series of Poker bracelets without getting on a plane and traveling to Las Vegas. Each summer, WSOP.com in New Jersey hosts an online bracelet series, giving players in the northeast an opportunity to win the most coveted piece of jewelry in poker straight from the comfort of their own homes.
Legal online poker first launched in the state back in 2013 and has been thriving ever since. Revenue across the sites has been steady and fairly consistent, with 2022 proving to be another strong year for the internet poker industry in New Jersey.
New Jersey 2022 Online Poker Revenue Breakdown