What are the best Bitcoin poker sites for iPhone or Android?

Good question, there are a couple of Bitcoin poker sites that we would recommend depending on whether you are living in the United States or elsewhere.

NITROGEN (USA POKER) - WWW.NITROGENSPORTS.EU

• Play real-money bitcoin poker in the United States.
• Nitrogen mobile poker is compatible with any Windows Phone, Android or iPhone device.
• Supports both Texas Hold'em and Omaha cash games on smartphones.
• Freeroll, Sit N Go and Multi-Table tournaments on iOS/Android.

BETCOIN MOBILE (U.S. FRIENDLY) - CLOSED

• Play Texas Hold'em No Limit or Omaha Pot Limit mobile poker
• Welcomes real-money poker players in the United States.
• To play on your phone you need to download the free Puffin browser that supports flash games.
• Compete in both Sit & Go or Scheduled Bitcoin poker tournaments.
• Web Versions available for Android, iPhone or iPad.
• Rake capped at 2.5%.
• BetCoin Poker will match your first deposit to 1BTC.
• Daily freerolls and tournaments on iOS, Android, Linux, Mac or PC
• Flash based games so they can only be played using the free Puffin browser on phones or tablets.
• BetCoin is the highest traffic bitcoin poker room as it is part of the Winning Poker network.

LUCKY FLOP (CLOSED)

• Texas Hold'em, Omaha and 7 Card Stud ring games.
• United States real money players accepted. Low traffic.
• Instant Play browser app works on iPhone, Android, iPad or Windows Phone Lumia.
• Tournament options include Freerolls, Sit & Go's and Multi-Table Tournaments.
• Play anonymously from anywhere in the world. No personal details required to sign-up and play.

MBIT MOBILE (U.S.A.) - (NO LONGER OFFERS POKER)

• mBit is a medium traffic bitcoin poker room and casino.
• United States real money players are welcome to join.
• Play from your desktop or any mobile device (iOS, Android and Windows Phone compatible).
• Texas Hold'em No Limit or Omaha Pot Limit cash games available.
• Play scheduled, buy-in or freeroll tournaments on your smartphone.
• No install necessary. Start playing instantly from your Safari or Chrome browser.

SWITCH POKER (CLOSED)
Switch Poker DOES NOT accept real-money players in the U.S. Their software is compatible with any iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. You can play Texas Hold'em ring games on your desktop or mobile device and fund your account with Bitcoin, Skrill, Visa, Mastercard etc. Switch also offers multi-tabling on up to 5 tables but they lacks tournaments. Relatively low player traffic.


SEALS WITH CLUBS (UPDATE: NOW CLOSED)
Seals With Clubs are currently only one mobile Bitcoin site that caters for players in the United States. Seals with Clubs offer tournament games, multi-tabling and No Limit Holdem jackpots. Unfortunately they only have an Android client at present so iOS gamers are out of luck for now. The good news is Carbon Poker now offer an iPhone compatible app that is available to U.S. players. Visit our poker page for full details.

 

Forbes ran this interesting article recently about the number of new United States online poker rooms that are accepting Bitcoin. The basic gist is that because Bitcoin isn't strictly a legal currency and users don't use the U.S. banking system, it is perfectly legal for United States citizens to use it to play online/mobile poker. Basically new poker rooms that only use peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions are doing nothing wrong and are working within the current legal framework. The big question is how long will authorities allow this loophole to exist? Considering states like New Jersey are starting legalized online gambling, Bitcoin will hopefully not be required by U.S. citizens for much longer.

It should also be noted that US poker players who couldn't be bothered using Bitcoin can use a U.S. friendly poker site like www.Bovada.lv who still accept Visa/Mastercard and other conventional deposit and withdrawal options. Their Texas Hold'em app works on Google Android and Apple iOS smartphones and tablets.

 

It's been a pretty bad few weeks for Bitcoin. First the Japan based Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange has been forced to close after being hacked and losing $460 million worth of the virtual currency. Now it is being reported by The Guardian that another Bitcoin bank called Flexcoin has also shut after hackers stole 896 units of the virtual currency.

I'm wondering how this has affected online gamblers who were considering using Bitcoin, particularly those based in the United States who do not want to use conventional banking methods?

 

The one thing that makes me nervous about Bitcoin gambling is that transactions are not reversible. If a Bitcoin poker site decides that it doesn't want to let you withdraw your money, you have no recourse. At least with Visa or PayPal you could report the operator and their accounts would be frozen. If you do your research first and play at a reputable Bitcoin poker room this shouldn't be a problem.

 

Apple will be integrating their own NFC payment system in the new iPhone 6 but I don't think that is the reason there are no Bitcoin poker apps in the iTunes App Store. The simple answer is none of the major poker rooms like PartyPoker, bwin, 888 or Pokerstars currently accept Bitcoin as a method of payment.

 

At the moment the major poker sites like PokerStars and PartyPoker don't need to gamble with Bitcoin to attract players. Some of the smaller and up and coming poker sites may be tempted to give the virtual currency a try in order to increase their marketshare.

 

WinPoker appear to be the latest online and mobile poker site to process the digital currency. WinPoker do not charge any payment processing costs so bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are free. They currently advertise that their software is compatible with iPad.

 

Seals With Clubs have shut-down citing security breaches with their current software. The Seals With Clubs app was not iOS compatible so it should not affect too many players on this forum.

 

Yes, players are able to cashout but only for a limited period of time. According to a message on their site, all activity on the Seals With Clubs website will ease on the 5th May 2105. After that date it will no longer be possible to withdraw funds.

 

BetOnline who operate a US friendly online poker site now process Bitcoin for both player deposit and withdrawals. At the moment their poker client is only available for Mac/PC.

 

The Bitcoin only gambling site BetCoin now have an online poker client that can be played on any iOS or Android device. The Bitcoin poker room offers both Omaha and Texas Hold'em ring games.

 

Because BetCoin poker software is flash-based. By default any smartphone running iOS or Android OS will not run flash games or videos. The Puffin browser is flash compatible but unfortunately it is only free to use at certain times of the day. You'll need to upgrade to the pro version if you want to play flash poker 24/7.

The other option if you play bitcoin poker at mBit as their software that has been developed using HTML5 making it compatible with gaming on Chrome and Safari browsers.