IS GLOBAL POKER LEGAL?

Of course! Global Poker is a social poker site that offers its players a thrilling poker experience. Ring games, tournaments, and other poker and casino-style social games are available to players residing in the United States (excluding outlying Territories and the State of Washington) and Canada (excluding Quebec) (Permitted Jurisdictions).

WHO IS GLOBAL POKER?

Global Poker is operated by VGW GP Limited. Promotional Play (involving sweepstakes promotions) is sponsored by VGW Games Limited.

Both VGW GP Limited and VGW Games Limited are subsidiaries of VGW Holdings Limited, a public company incorporated in Australia in 2010.

WHAT ARE “SWEEPSTAKES”?

Sweepstakes are trade promotions. They promote the sale of products through free prize giveaways and have been used around the world for decades.

DO OTHER COMPANIES USE SWEEPSTAKES?

Many companies worldwide use sweepstakes to promote and sell their products. McDonalds, Publishers Clearing House (PCH) Reader’s Digest, Pepsi and Proctor & Gamble are examples of companies that regularly use widely known and often global sweepstakes promotions.

Sweepstakes promotions have been running for decades in the US and other countries around the world.

IS GLOBAL POKER THE ONLY GAMING COMPANY TO OFFER SWEEPSTAKES PRIZES?

Not at all. There have been and still are many gaming companies offering sweepstakes with prizes, such as Ruby Seven Studios and GameHouse.

HOW CAN I PLAY ON GLOBAL POKER?

We’re glad you asked! There are two ways you can play – ‘Standard Play’ and ‘Promotional Play’.

Standard Play

In Standard Play:

  • games are played using a virtual currency called “Gold Coins”
  • players can accumulate Gold Coins
  • Gold Coins cannot be transferred, traded or redeemed for anything of value.

Like many other social gaming operators, Global Poker uses a play-for-fun “freemium” model where you can:

  • play with Gold Coins obtained free
  • opt to extend or enhance your gaming experience by buying more Gold Coins.

Promotional Play

Promotional Play involves a sweepstakes promotion where entry is via free entry tokens called Sweeps Coins.

Good news – Sweeps Coins are ALWAYS free of charge! You can get free Sweeps Coins in any of the following ways:

  • on registration of your Global Poker account
  • as part of the Daily Login bonus
  • as a free bonus when you buy certain Gold Coin packages
  • through mailed in requests.

Sweeps Coins can NEVER be purchased.

Sweeps Coins won from Promotional Play are redeemable for gift cards and cash (you must, of course, meet the requirements in our Terms and Conditions and Sweeps Rules).

I AM CURRENTLY OUTSIDE THE PERMITTED JURISDICTIONS. CAN I STILL PLAY GAMES ON GLOBAL POKER’S WEBSITE?

We understand how much fun you can have playing Global Poker’s games but you can’t play outside of the Permitted Jurisdiction. You have to be a legal resident of and physically located in a Permitted Jurisdiction to access and play games on www.globalpoker.com (“GP Website”).

Please don’t try to play if you are outside of the Permitted Jurisdictions! If you do, we may have to take serious action including voiding any Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins in your account and deactivating your Global Poker account. We want you to continue enjoying our games, so please make sure you follow this simple rule.

If you are from a Permitted Jurisdiction but are travelling outside of it, the same will apply so please wait until you return before playing on the GP Website.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEGAL RESIDENT OF A PERMITTED JURISDICTION?

To qualify as a ‘legal resident’ of a Permitted Jurisdiction, you must be able to show that you actually live, and have a current residential address, in a Permitted Jurisdiction.

HOW DOES GLOBAL POKER DETERMINE IF I’M A LEGAL RESIDENT OF AND / OR PHYSICALLY LOCATED IN A PERMITTED JURISDICTION?

We may ask you for proof such as:

  • a valid identification document (e.g. passport or driver’s license)
  • proof of residential address (e.g. recent bank statement, utility bill or lease agreement)
  • proof of travel (e.g. flight itinerary)
  • additional information and/or documents.

We often conduct random checks and investigations to make sure that players are doing the right thing (which we know you are!).

WHEN IS VERIFICATION REQUIRED?

You will need to verify who you are and where you live the first time you ask to redeem your Sweeps Coins for prizes but you can certainly go through the verification process sooner if you want to.

This is to ensure that:

  • you are eligible to claim prizes (including meeting the legal resident requirement)
  • prizes are sent to you and no one else.

The verification requirement usually only applies to your first Sweeps Coins prize redemption but we may also ask for verification or additional verification:

  • when your purchase and/or prize redemption levels reach certain thresholds
  • if we think that additional verification checks are needed.

If you want your prize to be paid to a joint bank account, all account holders (not just you) must go through the verification process.

WHAT SORT OF DOCUMENTS DO I NEED FOR MY ACCOUNT TO BECOME VERIFIED?

You will need to provide the following:

  • A valid primary ID (with photo), which can be any of the following:

    • passport
    • driver’s license
    • national/state ID
    • other government issued ID, aside from the ones mentioned above (Veteran’s ID, etc.).

  • A supporting document under your name as proof of address, which can be any of the following:

    • utility bill (electricity, telco, water, etc.) not older than 3 months
    • notarized agreement form for lease (nothing hand-written)
    • bank statements
    • medical insurance
    • driver’s license (provided that the address on the license is current) – this can be provided for both identification and ‘proof of address’ purposes.

  • ‘Source of wealth’ or ‘source of funds’ documents, such as a pay slip or bank statement.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOLD COINS AND SWEEPS COINS?

Gold Coins are the virtual social gaming currency used in Standard Play on Global Poker’s gaming platform.

Sweeps Coins are free entry tokens used in Promotional Play to participate in Global Poker’s sweepstakes promotion.

It is easy to switch between Standard Play and Promotional Play on the Global Poker platform.

WHAT IS “SC”?

“SC” is an abbreviation for Sweeps Coins, which are free sweepstakes entry tokens used to participate in Promotional Play on Global Poker’s platforms.

CAN GLOBAL POKER’S SWEEPSTAKES MODEL APPLY TO OTHER GAMING PRODUCTS?

Yes, it can apply to any game of chance. Many of these are offered at our sister sites Chumba Casino and Luckyland Slots

HOW RANDOM IS THE CARD SHUFFLE USED BY GLOBAL POKER?

The random number generator (RNG) used by Global Poker utilises a Mersenne Twister with background cycling.

iTechLabs certified the RNG on 15 February 2017 and 22 April 2021, certifying that:

  • it uses a well known algorithm to generate random numbers
  • number sequences are unpredictable, non-repeatable and uniformly distributed
  • the numbers generated have passed Marsaglia’s “diehard” tests for statistical randomness.

HOW DO I DEPOSIT MONEY INTO MY GLOBAL POKER ACCOUNT?

You CANNOT deposit money into your Global Poker Account. This is because Global Poker:

  • does not provide real money gaming where participants can deposit money and use it to play games
  • is a social poker site which allows participants to engage in Standard Play using Gold Coins that are either:
    • obtained for free after setting up an account
    • purchased by players to extend or enhance their gaming experience.

To enjoy the fun just set up an account, claim free Gold Coins and hit the tables!

ARE THERE PURCHASE LIMITS ON GLOBAL POKER?

Global Poker may apply purchase limits to any player account. Purchase limits can usually be increased by completing account verification.

WHAT IS A SOURCE OF FUNDS CHECK?

A source of funds check allows us to confirm that funds used to purchase Gold Coins on our platform come from a legitimate source and as such allows us to tell clean money from dirty money.

Learn more about source of funds checks here.