Best VPNs for online poker sites in 2025

1. NordVPN

   Overall best online poker VPN
   9.8
2. Surfshark VPN

   Unlimited connection VPN for online poker
   9.5
3. Proton VPN

   Security-oriented online poker VPN
   8.6

In the United States, online poker is heavily regulated, and many international poker sites are restricted or entirely unavailable for US players based on their location. Some states, like Nevada and New Jersey, allow online poker only on US-licensed platforms, while others, like Washington and Indiana, do not permit online poker at all.

To access online poker in restricted states or countries, you will need to use a robust VPN. With a VPN, you can obtain an IP address in a country where online poker is freely available and access the sites as if you were located there. Additionally, a VPN encrypts your traffic and masks your online activities from onlookers, including your ISP and the government. After testing around 20 VPNs, NordVPN, Surfshark, and Proton VPN stood out as the best online poker VPNs in 2025. All of these services offer robust encryption and excellent geo-unblocking capabilities, perfect for online gambling-related activities.

To reduce the chance of being detected, I recommend using VPN features like obfuscated or stealth servers, enabling a kill switch to prevent accidental IP leaks, and connecting to servers close to your geolocation for smooth connection speeds.

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Using a VPN may violate the poker site’s terms of service. Your account could be suspended or banned if the platform detects VPN use. Additionally, these sites often require identity verification, and if your documents don’t match the VPN location, you may face issues with account approval or cashouts. From a legal standpoint, playing on unauthorized poker sites can be risky depending on your state’s gambling laws. Ensure you know the online gambling regulations applicable to your current place of residence.

Best online poker VPNs in 2025

If you plan to use a VPN to play online poker in the US, ensure you choose a reliable VPN service. Such service should have strong encryption, fast connection speeds, and servers in countries where online poker is legal and accessible, such as Canada, Mexico, or the UK. To find the best VPNs that match these criteria perfectly, I tested around 20 services. Ultimately, I chose the top 5 online poker VPNs that ensure privacy and work well with gambling platforms:

Top 1. NordVPN – best VPN for online poker with fast global servers

NordVPN is the overall best VPN for online poker, due to its robust security features, extremely fast servers across the globe, and additional privacy advancements, such as obfuscation and double-hop.

What I liked

NordVPN operates a sizeable fleet of 7400+ servers in over 118 countries. On this list, there are over 2000 servers in the US, spread in 16 different locations, also covering the online poker legal states of Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware.

When performing my speed tests, I used several servers in the US and in neighboring countries where online poker is legal, such as Canada and Mexico, plus UK, where online poker is also legal. In the end, I got an average connection speed of 468Mbps with an 96% initial speed retention rate while using NordLynx protocol. This meant that my online poker gameplay was very smooth, as if without any VPN.

The NordVPN features that help staying undetected and anonymous on poker sites include Double VPN, Obfuscated servers, NordWhisper tunneling protocol, and Meshnet. The Double VPN feature router your traffic via two servers at the time for an extra layer of untraceability. I recommend choosing your middle point somewhere privacy-friendly, such as Iceland or Switzerland. The Obfuscated servers mask the VPN traffic to safeguard your profile from being banned on poker sites, while NordWhisper makes it easy to bypass censorship. Lastly, Meshnet allows you to safely share passwords between your devices, if you’d like to play poker with your account on multiple.

Currently, you can subscribe to NordVPN for $3.39/month. Every subscription comes with a 7-day free trial for Android devices and a 30-day money-back guarantee for all.

VPN weaknesses

NordVPN does not show a lot of weaknesses, but I found that its Onion over VPN servers weren’t in the best working order, and I wouldn’t recommend using them for online poker due to significant connection speed slowdown. Additionally, it’s priced a bit higher than other VPNs on my list, but I think the price is worth it, as you really get the best possible performance with this service.

Top 2. Surfshark – cheapest VPN for accessing poker sites in restricted regions

Surfshark is one of the most affordable premium VPNs that still delivers in all aspects of security, privacy, and unblocking capabilities, perfect for playing online poker in restricted states. Plus, with one subscription you can protect an unlimited number of devices.

What I liked

Overall, Surfshark owns around 3200+ servers in 100+ countries. While the number is significantly lower than with NordVPN and Proton VPN, Surfshark plays on the quality of the servers, rather than quantity. There are also servers in the US, including in online poker -friendly states of Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

I did my Surfshark speed tests using the speedy WireGuard tunneling protocol and used several servers in different states and neighboring countries. Ultimately, I got an average connection speed of 466Mbps with a 94% initial speed retention rate. This is more than enough for smooth online poker gameplay and any other online activities.

As for security and privacy features, Surfshark offers robust encryption, paired with modern tunneling protocols. But, besides that, the service also offers Camouflage mode, perfect for accessing online poker sites from restricted areas without anyone noticing. Additionally, there’s the NoBorders feature for accessing censored content and the CleanWeb feature to block annoying ads interrupting your poker gameplay. Lastly, you can use Surfshark’s split tunneling feature called Bypasser to smartly route your network traffic for the smoothest experience.

Right now, you can subscribe to Surfshark for only $2.19/month. If you’d like, you can test it out first during the 7-day free trial or extend the period of unpaid use with the 30-day money-back guarantee.

VPN weaknesses

It’s hard to identify any weaknesses with Surfshark, as it is such a well-rounded and powerful VPN. However, some might find it irritating that a lot of its extra features, such as the antivirus, webcam protection, and data security reports, cost extra. However, the extra features are not necessary for accessing online poker sites, wo it should be be an issue for you.

Top 3. Proton VPN – secure VPN for online poker with a free plan

Proton VPN is a great choice for online poker, especially if you’re looking for a security-oriented VPN and may not mind slightly slower connection speeds in exchange to advanced security and privacy features.

What I liked

Proton VPN operates a massive global fleet, consisting of 13000 servers in around 122 countries. Naturally, the network also covers USA with hundreds of servers in online poker-friendly states, including New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania.

When performing my Proton VPN speed tests, I chose to use the WireGuard tunneling protocol, as it is the speediest on the provider’s list. Naturally, I did the test on different servers, including some outside the US, like Mexico and Canada. In the end, I got an average of 428Mbps with an 88% initial speed retention rate. This is quite a bit slower than NordVPN and Surfshark, but more than enough for smooth online poker gaming. Plus, you can use the VPN Accelerator feature to boost faraway connection speeds.

First off, Proton VPN is based in Switzerland, a country that’s very serious about data privacy. Proton VPN also undergoes yearly third-party no-logs policy audits. Then, your traffic is always encrypted by military-grade AES-256 encryption, while a kill switch reliably safeguards your real IP address from accidental slips. As for additional features, the service has obfuscated and SecureCore servers that route your traffic through a privacy-friendly midpoint server. And, if you’re looking for complete anonymity, Proton VPN’s Tor over VPN servers are in good working order and provide just that.

Currently, you can subscribe to Proton VPN for $3.59/month. One subscription covers up to 10 simultaneous connections and you can cancel your subscription and get refunded during the 30-day money-back guarantee period.

VPN weaknesses

Proton VPN does not offer a free trial, supplying clients with a free version, instead. While the free version comes with unlimited bandwidth and no data caps, it only has 5 server locations and you cannot choose your preferred connection point – it is assigned to you each time you connect. Additionally, the free Proton VPN version lacks some of the advanced security features, so I do not recommend using it for online poker.

Top 4. TotalVPN – beginner-friendly VPN for online poker

TotalVPN is a good VPN choice if you’re looking for something truly affordable that’ll still allow you to access online poker sites from restricted locations, without compromising your privacy.

What I liked

TotalVPN operates a minimal fleet of 50 servers in 35 countries. While it does have servers in the US, they do not cover the online poker-legal states. Instead, I had great success accessing online poker sites using TotalVPN’s servers in Mexico, Canada, and the UK – countries where online gambling is perfectly legal.

TotalVPN offers WireGuard protocol for Android devices, so to make my speed tests fair, I used it to get my results. Since TotalVPN does not have servers in the US states where online poker is legal, I tested only the servers in Mexico, Canada, and the UK, where such sites are freely available. In the end, I got an average of 422Mbps connection speed and an 86% initial speed retention rate. All in all, this is slower than my top 3 VPN choices, but I could still play online poker without much lagging.

Although TotalVPN does not offer advanced features, it bases security and privacy on industry-standard AES-256 encryption, reliable tunneling protocols, and a responsive kill switch which terminates network connection if disruptions in VPN traffic occur. Additionally, my IP & DNS leak tests showed that TotalVPN keeps this data well-hidden in all situations. Lastly, TotalVPN is bundled with the Total Adblock ad & popup blocker, which efficiently prevents annoying ads from ruining your gameplay.

TotalVPN is very competitively priced at only $1.59/month. If you do not want to commit to a subscription straight away, you can test out the service during the 7-day free trial or extend the period of unpaid use with the 30-day money-back guarantee.

VPN weaknesses

TotalVPN does not offer some of the advanced security features like the other VPNs on my list. For instance, the service does not have obfuscation, which is usually very helpful in accessing heavy-guarded sites. Additionally, you won’t find things like double-hop or specialty servers with this provider, either. Lastly, the VPN does not have serv ers in online poker legal states, instead offering ones in online poker-friendly countries. That said, TotalVPN makes up for what it lacks with its incredibly cheap price.

Top 5. IPVanish – fast VPN for online poker with advanced customization

IPVanish is a robust VPN for online poker, that offers competitive prices, a user-friendly interface, and advanced security features, perfect for accessing gambling sites from restricted areas.

What I liked

IPVanish owns and operates a fleet of 2400 servers in 109 countries. A big part of the list is reserved to the US and you can find high-speed connection points in online poker friendly states, including New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania. Additionally, IPVanish also has servers in online poker countries, like Mexico, Canada, and the UK.

I was curious to find out how well IPVanish will perform during my speed tests, so I chose the WireGuard tunneling protocol and performed my tests with several servers in the US and neighboring countries. I got an average connection speed of 459Mbps with a 92% initial speed retention rate. This is almost as good as NordVPN and Surfshark, so you can expect a really smooth online poker gameplay while using IPVanish.

The provider offers several advanced security features, such as the OpenVPN scramble, which works similarly to obfuscation. Additionally, IPVanish has the split tunneling feature which allows you to route your online poker traffic via VPN connection, while your other activities are routed through regular connection for smooth operation. Additionally, you can expect robust IP & DNS leak protection measures with a kill switch always protecting you should VPN connection interruptions happen.

IPVanish is priced at a competitive $2.19/month with one subscription covering an unlimited number of devices. Similarly to my top choices, the provider also offers a 7-day free trial for you to test the service out and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you should find yourself dissatisfied with the service.

VPN weaknesses

Although IPVanish is a powerful and reliable VPN, some might find its US jurisdiction a slight problem. Because IPVanish is based in the US, it can technically share some of your information with the government if asked. However, that’s mainly being picky, as IPVanish has an active third-party verified no-logs policy which protects your privacy in all situations.

Compare the best VPNs for poker

How I tested and selected the best VPN to play online poker

To level the playing field, I did the same tests and researched the same information for all of the VPNs. First, I checked what sort of encryption they offer and chose only those with AES-256 or ChaCha20, which are generally considered to be the safest. Then, I researched the tunneling protocols and selected the VPNs that offer modern and secure ones, such as NordLynx, WireGuard, or OpenVPN.

After checking the basics, I overlooked the offered server lists, and pinpointed their availability in online poker-friendly states, such as Nevada and New Jersey, and countries, including Canada and Mexico. Then, I tested the connection speeds using the speedtest by Ookla tool.

To check for IP address safety, I performed a kill switch reliability test by manually terminating network connection and evaluating how well it reacted. Lastly, I looked for additional security and privacy features, such as obfuscation, stealth protocols, double hop, and IP, DNS & WebRTC leak protection measures.

States where online poker is legal

As of June 2025, online poker is legally regulated and operational in the following US states:

• Nevada
• New Jersey
• Michigan
• Pennsylvania

Additionally, Delaware, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have legalized online poker, but currently lack operational platforms due to pending regulatory developments.

The different legal status of online poker across US states is because of a mix of politics, economics, and values, which often determined state-wide decision-making in regards to online gambling.

While you can legally play online poker in 8 US states, other states either forbid or even criminalize the activity. Here’s a full list of states where you either cannot legally play online poker, the activity is criminalized, or unregulated:

• Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington (criminalized as a felony), Wisconsin, Wyoming

Access online poker across the US with NordVPN

How to play online poker in California

You cannot play legally regulated online poker in the state of California. This is because the state has not passed laws to legalize or regulate online poker, mainly because of a political gridlock between tribal casinos, card rooms, and lawmakers who do not agree on online poker structure. Previous attempts to legalize online sports betting through propositions like Proposition 27 in 2022 were overwhelmingly rejected by voters, with 82.28% voting against it.

Despite the political situation, you can still play online poker in California by using a VPN:

1. Get a reliable online poker VPN. I recommend NordVPN, now 76% off, as it offers truly robust privacy and security features.
2. Download the VPN and install it on your device.
3. Launch the app and log in with your account credentials.
4. Connect to a server in a state where online poker is legal, like Nevada, New Jersey, or Michigan.
5. Head to your preferred online poker site and access it in California.

Play online poker in California with NordVPN

How to play online poker in NY

As of June 2025, real-money online poker is not legal in the state of New York. While there have been legislative efforts, such as Senate Bill S2614 introduced in 2025, to legalize online poker, these bills have not yet passed into law.

For those wanting to play online poker in New York, using a VPN may be a viable option. First, download a robust VPN, like NordVPN, and install it on your device. Create an account and log in to the app with your credentials. Once the app is launched and you are logged in, connect to a server in a state where online poker is legal, like Nevada, New Jersey, or Michigan. Once you are connected to the server, head to your preferred online poker site, and you should be able to access it without any restrictions, as if you were actually located in a legal state.

For an extra security measure, I recommend clearing your browser cookies before entering your chosen site and enabling the kill switch feature on your VPN to prevent accidental IP slippage.

Play online poker in NY with NordVPN

How to play online poker in NJ

You can play online poker in New Jersey, as the activity was regulated and legalized back in 2013. To access online poker sites, you have to be physically located in the state of New Jersey and at least 21 years old.

If you’d like to access NJ online poker sites from outside the state or to secure your online gambling activities, I recommend using a robust VPN. First, choose your provider and download the app. I had the best success with NordVPN and can attest to its performance for online poker. Once you’ve downloaded the app, install it on your device, launch it, and connect to a server in New Jersey. This works both for accessing it from a different state and for encrypting your activities within it. Head to your selected online poker site, verify your age, and access the gambling with no further restrictions.

My recommendation for extra security when accessing NJ online poker sites from outside the state is to use obfuscated servers. Such servers are less likely to be identified as VPN traffic by gambling sites, meaning you have a much higher chance of tricking them into thinking you’re actually located in NJ.

Play on NJ online poker sites with NordVPN

How to play online poker in Texas

As of June 2025, you can not play online poker in Texas legally. The state of Texas prohibits all forms of online gambling, and attempts to legally regulate such activities have failed.

If you’d still like to play online poker in Texas, you can use a reliable VPN. However, to access online poker sites from Texas without any repercussions, select a robust VPN that will keep your online activities private. From my experience, the best VPN for that is NordVPN, as it offers multiple advanced privacy features. Once you select your provider, download the app, install it on your device, and launch it. Then, connect to a server in a state where online poker is legal, such as Nevada, or a different country, such as Mexico or Canada. Head to your preferred online poker site while connected to a VPN – now, you should be able to access the gambling platform as though you were located in the state or country corresponding to your chosen server.

Play online poker in Texas with NordVPN

Conclusion

Currently, online poker is legally available in 8 US states: Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, other US states either prohibit or criminalize the activity, as is the case with Washington. Unless you’re located in one of the legal states, you will not be able to access online poker platforms.

Luckily, there’s a solution, and you can still access online gambling sites in the restricted states with a VPN. A VPN can relocate your IP address to a state where online poker is legal, while also encrypting your traffic and making your online activities private and secure. During my testing, I found that NordVPN is the most reliable VPN for accessing online poker sites in restricted states, due to its robust security features and excellent geo-unblocking capabilities.

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FAQ

Can I use a VPN to play online poker?

Yes, you can use a VPN to access online poker sites. First, select a reliable VPN, then install it on your device and connect to a server in a US state where online poker is legal, such as Nevada or New Jersey. Alternatively, you can connect to another country, such as Canada, Mexico, or the UK. Head to your preferred gambling site while connected to the VPN – now you should be able to access the site as if located in a gambling-friendly location.

Can I play online poker in Ohio?

No, as of June 2025, you cannot legally play online poker in Ohio, as current laws prohibit unlicensed online gambling. However, several bills (HB 298 and SB 197) are currently under consideration to legalize online poker by 2026. Meanwhile, you can access gambling sites in Ohio by using a robust VPN, like NordVPN, and connecting to a server in a state where such activities are legally regulated, like Nevada or New Jersey.

Can I play online poker in Florida?

No, you cannot play online poker in Florida, as it is unregulated and the state prohibits unlicensed gambling. Currently, there is no active legislation, and the legalization of online poker in Florida is unlikely in the near future. To play online poker in Florida despite the restrictions, you can use a trustworthy VPN, such as NordVPN. Using a VPN, you can connect to a US state where online gambling is legal, such as Nevada or New Jersey, and access online poker sites as if you were located there.

Can I play online poker in Colorado?

No, you cannot play online poker in Colorado, as the state has not passed legislation to legalize it. Since there are no active bills, legalization is unlikely to happen soon. To access online poker sites in Colorado, you can use a robust VPN, like NordVPN, and connect to a server where online poker is legal, such as Michigan or Nevada. This should allow you to access your preferred online poker sites even if you’re located in Colorado.

How to play online poker in Australia?

To play restricted real-money online poker in Australia, you will have to use a VPN. First, select a reliable VPN, like NordVPN, and download the app. Install it, launch, and connect to a server in a country where real-money online poker is available, such as the UK, Canada, or Mexico. Now, you should be able to access online poker sites securely and privately, as if located in a country where it is legal.