Will online poker survive all of the increasing regulations and restrictions?

zorro222_zorro222 · Jan 17, 2026

I think it will still be around but unless something changes in the next few years, there will be a lot less people playing unfortunately.

Gutshot Gus · Jan 18, 2026

The short answer is yes.
The long answer is that as technology evolves, online poker will too.
I think that the online HUD display is just the beginning of things to come.
It will get to the point where facetime will be a big part of the game where you can see and be seen by your opponents.
As the the money involved continues to increase, the exposure to a bigger audience/customer base will also.

Look at the online sports betting industry that is growing in ways that are hard to imagine.
Online poker is related to that and a lot of the sports betting crowd will also be online poker players.
You will see a lot of short fast action stuff that can be played on the go with a smart phone and the future is gonna be a very interesting time for online poker.

machinm19 · Jan 18, 2026

Online poker may survive through Cryptocurrency despite all the regulations but I highly doubt free speech will.

Forums such as this are highly dangerous for us UK residents to air our views already which is why I have no social media at all and very rarely post about no poker related topics.

We have the highest arrests in the world for online comments and I’ll probably be arrested for telling you.

Uncloggie · Jan 18, 2026

But what will all the poker bots do then ?

Igor Popadyk · Jan 18, 2026

eating offline and playing with friends, all prohibitions will lead to playing underground, and online is more and more like playing in a casino

R.Holynskyi · Jan 18, 2026

As long as poker can generate income for organisers, it will continue to operate. Another issue is that restrictions will be tightened and each country will lobby and promote its own websites. I think that over time, each country will have its own gambling providers, which will pay taxes to the budget of the country in which they operate. Other providers will simply be blocked.

burba · Jan 18, 2026

I see the problem: poker players are a minority in each country, so the government can regulate the game however it wants—most likely to make the most money.

ninocabral · Jan 18, 2026

I hope that online poker continues for a long time and never ends, more and more countries are banning it, I hope this doesn't happen in Brazil

infonazar · Jan 19, 2026

I think online poker will still be around in 10 or 20 years. I think the main players in this market will find ways to get around restrictions and minimize the cost of licenses, permits, and the like. I don't think poker will disappear, but it will partly go underground.

Oxinthewater · Jan 20, 2026

rei signo said:
AI will want to dominate; in poker, money is involved, and AI will take over. I hope people defend it, but I don't see how it's possible, and the greatest chance is that the technological scope of AI will dominate programming logic!

Possibly, there are many ways though, could be as simple as AI powered smart glasses becoming mainstream, but I don't want to derail the subject of the main thread. I just think that we're going into a period of such global change that regulation will be several steps behind far bigger trends.

rei signo · Jan 20, 2026

Oxinthewater said:
Possivelmente, existem muitas maneiras, podendo ser algo tão simples quanto a popularização dos óculos inteligentes com inteligência artificial, mas não quero desviar o assunto principal da discussão. Acredito apenas que estamos entrando em um período de mudanças globais tão drásticas que a regulamentação ficará muito atrás de tendências muito mais significativas.

That's about right, my friend, the fraud will be at least two steps ahead! A digression from the topic, but it gives you an idea of what will happen to our wonderful sport of the mind!

PHX · Jan 20, 2026

Poker will be around in next 10 years. Poker have survived many set backs and is still going strong so I don't think it will die. The popularity has been going in waves up then down then up again. We currently on back end of up tick so I expect a slight drop in next few years. Rooms and player will adapt to restriction and challenges.

valeski 28 · Jan 22, 2026

I really hope it will .since, due to regulations in my country,nowadays, I can only play on GG(ACR too but I have never tried cryptos yet) .However, I believe we will see more restricted countries in the near future.

kunkgreen · Jan 24, 2026

Not all regulation is bad... Certainly, too much of it is!

It's necessary to find a balance where both companies and users can adapt, just like all other already regulated markets.

Prohibition has never been and never will be the answer.

So I believe it will continue.

Excessive bureaucracy can indeed hinder the progress and growth of poker as a sport, but in some cases, regulation may fill the gap needed for growth.

Kasztor007 · Jan 24, 2026

I believe online poker will survive tighter regulations, but in a different form than in the past.
Regulation fragments player pools, which hurts traffic and game quality, but demand doesn’t disappear. Where players want to play, operators will always find a way whether through regulated markets, shared liquidity, crypto-based platforms, or private/club models.

Poker has already survived major shocks (Black Friday, segregated markets, HUD bans), and it keeps adapting.
In 10 years it may not be as open or easy as before, but online poker isn’t going anywhere.

Tadi · Jan 24, 2026

I hope it survives as I am a big fan of this game.

RENEY444 · Jan 24, 2026

I think the action will slowly dry up and die . Real time software , collusion, soft playing, and countless other schemes already make big stakes unsafe ; the programs will only get stronger . Smaller sngs and ring games , perhaps a bit less less mechanical , are bled dry by the rakes that only seem to increase .Good luck !

gabryyyel31 · Jan 25, 2026

I think America has to wait ~20 years until all the pre-internet politicians are dead and you have a new generation of people making decisions.
Gambling on the internet sounds strange and dangerous to Boomers, it seems completely normal to anyone under 40.

WrongUsername · Jan 26, 2026

online poker is already dead for years with all this bots.

Igor G · Jan 26, 2026

I think there will be fewer large-scale projects. Every country has its own rules, laws and licences. All of this will hinder the development and spread of online entertainment, particularly when it comes to gambling. Every country has its own tax system, and I think this will be the main obstacle, as not everyone wants to pay taxes.

LUKADONCICMVP · Jan 26, 2026

online poker is gone for 10+ years already.

Marcwantstowin · Jan 26, 2026

LUKADONCICMVP said:
online poker is gone for 10+ years already.

@LUKADONCICMVP

Are you referring to Black Friday or do you think that it has lost a lot over the last 10 years? Please explain to help other CC members.

Thank you

Marc

Ketoupitou · Jan 26, 2026

I wish because I am not strong for real life poker.

Toruk Makto · Jan 26, 2026

I believe so! Because online poker is already in the global DNA, it's very difficult to overturn something that worked so well over time and is only getting better and better!!

EarnDAStack · Jan 26, 2026

I'm not really at the forefront of what's hot and popular in the poker community but isn't online poker legal in more states than it ever has been? NY banning the sweepstakes model could be looked at as a set back but it could also mean it's setting up a new start for the framework of it being legalised in some context at the state level.

On a slightly darker note gambling is becoming more prevalent across our whole society, so to some extent poker is probably going to continue to grow just because of that, it's at least a way you can use skill to find situations where you have asymmetric returns instead of just gambling.

If things ever get really bad there is always live poker, but remember that the same AI people are saying will be used to end the game online can be used to defend it, humans can only simplify their game so much, when a user's "ability" to match GTO more than humanly possible get's flagged by the site's AI their money will get ceased and account shut down.

Hopefully online poker stays around for a long time.

EDS

Will online poker survive all of the increasing regulations and restrictions?

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