Play poker online in New York — for free

New York has argued about poker in court more than most states. In 2012 a federal judge in Brooklyn threw out the conviction of a man who ran a poker game in a Staten Island warehouse, finding that poker is mostly a game of skill. The appeals court reinstated the conviction in 2013: the federal law leans on state law, and New York treats poker for money as gambling. Online poker for money is not licensed in the state either.

Free poker is a simpler story. Texas Hold’em in the Temple of Fortune is No-Limit, at five- or nine-seat tables with blinds of 50/100, 500/1,000 or 5,000/10,000. You get 15 seconds a move; the deck is shuffled on the server and your hole cards reach only your screen; opponents marked “AI” fill empty seats.

In New York, bingo for money is licensed: churches, veterans’ posts and volunteer fire companies run it under the state’s bingo licensing law, with the State Gaming Commission watching over it. The Hall of Seshat plays 75-ball bingo for debens only.

Pick an AUTO hall to let the numbers mark themselves, or a MANUAL hall where you mark them and press “BINGO!” before anyone else. Up to 40 players share a hall; the first line takes 30% of the pot and the first full card the rest.

In the Rotunda of Shai the European roulette wheel spins on a timer for the whole table — no spin button, the same ball for everyone, a single number paying 35 to 1. The Hall of Thoth deals blackjack from a six-deck shoe: the dealer stands on soft 17, a blackjack pays 3 to 2, and doubles and splits are allowed.

A roulette round takes about half a minute and a blackjack round up to a minute, so a few hands fit into a lunch break.

Three slot machines, each with its own rhythm: Sevens of Ra (three reels, five lines, small wins often), Book of Thoth (ten free spins with an expanding symbol, rare big wins) and Treasures of Horus (Hold & Win with MINI, MINOR, MAJOR and GRAND jackpots). Bets go from 100 to 50,000 debens, and over a long run each machine returns about 95%.

The jackpots are fixed multiples of your bet, not a shared pot, so they are equally fair at any stake.

Experience earned while a player had a New York city as home — at the tables, in the bingo halls, on the reels and on daily visits — decides the weekly top. A player’s name is listed only if they made their city visible in the profile.

New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Albany — cities appear below as players choose them. Across the state line, Pennsylvania has its own page, and the whole country is on the United States page.

1. Open the game in a browser on any device. No download; start as a guest.
2. Walk to the Temple of Fortune for poker, or to any other hall on the square.
3. Choose My city in your profile and find your New York city to play for it.

Save your character with an email and a password to keep your debens on every device and to open private poker tables for friends — see Play with friends.

New York’s constitution forbids gambling except where the state authorises it: the lottery, licensed casinos, horse racing, charity games and, since 2022, mobile sports betting. Online casino games and online poker for money are not authorised.

Online sweepstakes casinos are now banned outright. Chapter 605 of the Laws of 2025 (bill S5935-A), signed on December 5, 2025 and effective immediately, prohibits running or promoting an online game that imitates casino games and uses a dual-currency system in which a currency can be exchanged for a cash prize. Fines run from $10,000 to $100,000 per violation, and banks, payment processors and suppliers may not support such games.

Anubis City has no currency that turns into cash, no prizes, and no one pays to play — which is why, as we read it, a free social game sits outside both the gambling ban and the sweepstakes law. We are not lawyers, and nothing here is legal advice.