Montana has had a long history with poker – and with much more detail than many would know. Even though the state is large and the population is spread out, players have taken to the game and continue to play despite the challenges the online poker industry has faced over the years. This special page is all about poker in Montana – it is designed to give you all the information you need about the game in your state so you are the most informed that you can be. Check out all the links to reviews, articles, and other fun facts about poker in Montana.
Online Poker in Montana
Online poker in Montana reached a high point in the mid-2000s when there were dozens of sites available to players, and many of those sites offered tournaments with huge prize pools. For players in a more remote state like Montana, online poker was even more popular as it meant people didn’t have to drive a distance just to find a game.
One other connection that Montana has to online poker is that the founders of Absolute Poker, one of the sites shut down by the Department of Justice in 2011, are from that state. The company is long gone now, but Montanans should know that some of their own were part of bringing online poker to its heights…and to some of its lows. Today, there is no online poker legislation in Montana, but with the introduction of legal sports betting, there is a glimmer of hope that poker could be brought back into the conversation.
Land Based Poker in Montana
Montana is a state full of poker enthusiasts, and having to drive to a facility to play cash games or tournaments does not seem to be a hindrance. Live poker continues to thrive in the state, with two dozen card rooms open for business. Some of these rooms are smaller than others, and many are card clubs run out of bars, but each gives players a chance to jump in a cash game (likely Limit or No-Limit Hold’em as these are by far the most popular) or small tournaments for those who want to dream about playing in the World Series of Poker.
Here is a list of all the poker rooms that are open in Montana along with their location:
Bar-S Lounge & Supper Club (Great Falls, MT)
Big Sky Poker Room (Whitefish, MT)
Bugz’s Bar & Casino (Billings, MT)
Cat’s Paw Card Room (Bozeman, MT)
Copper City Cards (Butte, MT)
Doc & Eddy’s Poker Room (Billings, MT)
Flamingo Lounge (Great Falls, MT)
Glacier Peaks Casino (Browning, MT)
Hi Ho Tavern (Great Falls, MT)
JR’s Lounge (Belgrade, MT)
Kalispell Hilton Poker Room (Kalispell, MT)
LaLa Corp (Bozeman, MT)
Located in Silver Canyon Casino (Kalispell, MT)
Located in Silver Canyon Casino (Kalispell, MT)
Northern Winz Hotel & Casino (Box Elder, MT)
Poker Room at the Hilton – Missoula (Missoula, MT)
Poker Zone @ The Loading Zone (Great Falls, MT)
Queen of Hearts Card Club (Billings, MT)
Red Door Lounge (Billings, MT)
Rodiron Poker Room (Sidney, MT)
Spades Card Room (Bozeman, MT)
The Poker Parlor at Gold Dust Casino (Billings, MT)
The Silver Slipper Poker Room (Missoula, MT)
The Sting Poker Room (Great Falls, MT)
Whiskey Creek Saloon & Casino (Livingston, MT)
Social Poker in Montana
If you are a poker player looking to play online, then one of the most popular options available to you these days is social poker. Built on top of the large social networks, companies like Zynga started offering free play poker games to anyone who wanted to play. These games are built on recognition as opposed to playing for cash prizes. Players can move their way through achievements and levels by playing and accumulating chips. However, if you are only interested in reaching the top tiers and playing with the best, you can also buy chip packages (for real money) that will allow you to bypass the early stages. Many players appreciate that option as the gameplay in the higher “stake” games is much better in general.
Sweepstakes Poker in Montana
Another business model around poker that has come to light in the last decade is sweepstakes poker. Sweepstakes laws in each state allow for certain types of games to be played as long as there is no buy-in required, and companies like Global Poker have entered the market with their products as a result. Global Poker offers you the chance to play for cash prizes in a tournament environment, and while it isn’t exactly the same as playing real money online poker, it is good enough to have thousands of players in these events. Check out our review of the site to get a full understanding of how their game works.
Poker Guides and Training
Even though online poker for real money isn’t an option currently in Montana, there is no reason to stop learning the game! There are loads of online poker apps that allow you to play for free against other players, and this is a great way to learn a new game or to improve your skills in Hold’em. We have a full set of Poker Game Guides that give you the basics on all the games from Razz to Stud, as well as some newer variants like Chinese Poker and Short Deck. These pages will give you enough information to then hit a free play table to get used to the gameplay. Who knows – maybe you will fall in love with a new poker game and want to give it a try for real money someday!
Online Poker in Montana FAQ
With online sports betting becoming legal in Montana, is online poker soon to follow?
We would like to believe so, but given what is happening with sports betting in the state currently, it could be a longshot. If you dig into the sports betting laws, you will see that while players are going to be able to bet form their phones and tablets, they will need to do so within the range of one of the licensed sports betting kiosks scattered across the state. This is not truly online betting, which means that online poker is not likely to be part of any upcoming discussions.
What about some of these offshore poker sites that still seem to be in business? Are they an option?
Even though the major poker sites were all shut down almost a decade ago, there were a few sites that managed to survive, and today they are still open to players from Montana. However, with no legal recourse for shutting down accounts, and the ways you can get money to and from the sites shrinking daily (many of them are Bitcoin-focused now), we don’t think these sites present a very safe option for Montana poker players. Stick to the social and sweepstakes sites for now.
