A very low margin of the US population is educated in the decryption of legal jargon, and we don’t claim to be professional advisors on the subject either. That is precisely what many ‘Sooners’ have been trying to do – to decipher Oklahoma’s online poker laws. When a legislative body fails to address an issue directly, it is left to the people who are governed by that administration to interpret the relative laws for themselves. That fact has left many people in the state wondering if there are indeed any online poker laws in Oklahoma, either permitting or prohibiting the activity for real money play.
The laws aren’t necessarily outdated, but lawmakers have yet to include the terms ‘online’ or ‘internet’ into their current gambling legislation. What the OK statutes fail to explicitly address is the legality of online poker games. The Sooner State may not be on a parallel plateau with Las Vegas, but for gambling enthusiasts, opportunities abound for Oklahomans. They offer a state-run lottery and a wide scale ‘charitable bingo’ market as well. There are also two “racinos” (pari-mutuel raceway parks that present limited casino-style gambling) in Oklahoma. There is a throng of gambling opportunities in Oklahoma available to residents, including more than 50 tribal casinos throughout the state, about half of which offer poker tournaments and/or cash games to their patrons.
