Since the introduction of the Apple iPad online poker players have been waiting for the major poker sites to release an app that makes it possible to play poker for money on an iPad. Even though the iPad was launched a little less than a year ago (on the 3rd of April 2010 to be exact) we are still waiting for a major online poker room to create an app that makes real money poker play possible on the iPad.

Real Money Poker From the App Store

Pretty recently the European online gaming giant Bwin launched the first real money iPad poker app that is available for download from the Apple App Store. As of the time of writing this is still the only true money poker app available in the Apple Store.

Real Money iPad Poker Apps from Outside the App Store

Since Apple doesn’t want to be involved in anything related to online gambling that isn’t properly regulated there are a couple of new poker rooms popping up every now and again offering iPad friendly poker sites. One of the latest poker sites to launch an iPad poker app is SwitchPoker.com where you can play poker for real money on your iPad. Personally I wouldn’t trust a newly launched poker room that isn’t a part of any network as they are doomed to fail. I am 99% certain that this poker site will not be around in 2 years from now and that means your money isn’t safe here so my advice is to stay away from poker rooms like this one.

iPad Poker for Real Money in the US

As a US players it’s not always easy finding an online poker site can process your deposits even if online gambling is legal in your state. This means it will be even harder finding a US friendly poker room that works on an iPad. You won’t be finding any real cash poker apps in the Apple App Store anytime soon as online gambling isn’t even close to being regulated in the USA and that’s needed for Apple to start allowing real money poker apps in their store.

So at the moment US poker players will either have to wait for one of the online poker giants to offer an iPad app that isn’t downloaded via the App Store or you will have to resort to thrid party apps making it possible to access your computer via your iPad which makes it possible to play at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars from your iPad. For most poker players this is way too much work though and it’s a lot easier to just play from a regular computer until a better option comes out.