WSOP.com will probably be merging Nevada/Delaware and New Jersey player pools on May 1, 2018

[Dan Druff]

Press release sent out today:

LAS VEGAS (April 16, 2018) – WSOP.com and 888Poker have submitted for testing their new poker software to the regulatory bodies in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, with the goal of pooling players from all three U.S. states upon the anticipated approval by all jurisdictions – a major step for gaming operators in the U.S.

The linking of all three states is hopeful to go live on Tuesday, May 1 and would allow customers in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey to play poker against each other, if final approval is granted from all jurisdictions. This shared-liquidity* gives way for larger prize pools, better game selection, wider time zone coverage and expanded tournament offerings.

The process has demonstrated that different regulations administered by multiple regulatory bodies can work proactively together to provide entertainment in a safe and secure environment for consumers. The protection of players and game integrity drove this collaboration which serves to benefit the players, states and operators.

“This has been a huge collaborative effort from all involved and it is important to thank the elected leadership and regulatory authorities in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey for their dedication and diligence to help move online poker forward,” said WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini. “Everyone has had the end user in mind throughout this process, and as a result, we believe the United States for the first time in a regulated environment, will have a large-scale multi-state offering that will propel the industry forward as soon as next month.”

During this process of pooling players from different states, WSOP.com and 888Poker have made a number of upgrades to the software that will enhance the user experience and keep players engaged.

"The DGE has been happy to be part of this process, and to see it implemented so expeditiously after the signing of the agreement is a testament to all of the parties involved,” said Robert Moncrief Jr., Deputy Chief of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcements Technical Services Bureau. “We are pleased to see this long-sought multi-state poker agreement come to fruition. This will raise jackpots and provide even greater opportunities for play. It also paves the way for additional states to join and grow the regulated, legal online poker market.”

“The Delaware Lottery is very pleased to be able to offer Delaware’s online poker players this exciting opportunity to enhance their gaming experience,” said Vernon Kirk, director of the Delaware Lottery. “The Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement has proven to be a great vehicle for allowing its member states to take advantage of such cooperative efforts.

“The NGCB is pleased to be part of this collaborative effort between regulators, operators, and the platform manufacturer to achieve the common goal of providing a sound gaming experience for patrons across multiple jurisdictions while still meeting our individual jurisdictional requirements,” added Nevada Gaming Control Board chairwoman Becky Harris.

“Pooling poker players from three states will be a significant regulatory step in the US and is very exciting for our players and partners,” said Yaniv Sherman, 888 Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Development. “The guidance and coordination provided by the regulators in the three states has been instrumental to the potential success of shared liquidity. If approved, we anticipate that this will open up further opportunities in other states.”

The timing works well for WSOP.com as it would come ahead of the 49th annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, set to begin on May 29.

This transition will require Delaware and Nevada consumers to download the new poker client and create a new account to be able to participate. This also means the existing Delaware and Nevada poker software will cease to operate after this process takes effect. New Jersey players with an existing account will be able to play without delay.

Once the process is complete, New Jersey WSOP.com players will be able to compete for official WSOP gold bracelets from their home state for the very first time. The first opportunity to do so should be the Sunday, June 3 $365 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em official gold bracelet event (Event #10) being held in Las Vegas as part of the 49th WSOP.

888’s proprietary technology powers 888Poker and WSOP.com and operates in all three states. 888Poker operates exclusively in Delaware for the Delaware Lottery; 888Poker and WSOP.com offer poker to the New Jersey public; and in Nevada, WSOP.com is the exclusive operator using 888’s platform.

For the past three years, the Delaware Lottery’s poker platform has shared liquidity with WSOP.com in Nevada. Customers in Delaware will be major beneficiaries when added to the New Jersey pool, as they will see even larger game selection and number of players.

Further updates will be provided as matters dictate.

This may actually be what the site needs to finally break out of its ghost town status.

We shall see if this is enough to spur some decent activity. Certainly it can't hurt.

Of course, the management of WSOP.com has been piss poor, but that's another matter entirely.

[Gookieheimowitz]

Traffic will be good but I truly don't see it becoming huge until Pennsylvania joins in the fun. I would think it will help tournament players combining the three states . Maybe not . it is a start though towards more states entering the market .

[sah_24]

Will always be fail as without much larger population centers / federal ... this won't be changing anytime soon.

[JohnCommode]

While anything that moves the ball forward is welcome, the combined population of the three states is estimated to be 13 million. That makes this about 4% of the estimated US population of 330 million. With few signs of financial success so far, I wonder if the big states will lose interest, especially with the possibility of legalized sports betting out there.

[Dan Druff]

So it actually happened. We shall see if this makes much of a difference.

LAS VEGAS (May 1, 2018) – Shared Liquidity is here – the pooling of players from all U.S. states offering online poker – began today when WSOP.com, the World Series of Poker’s digital poker platform, began operating a combined service for players in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey.

Players will now find a wider variety of game selection, both in cash games and tournaments, with larger prize pools. Additionally, players in New Jersey will get their first opportunity to play for WSOP gold bracelets from the comfort of their own home.

“It’s a monumental day for online poker in the United States,” said WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini. “This is truly a game-changer for players and we hope is the model blueprint for additional states to join the fray.”

To celebrate the shared liquidity compact, WSOP.com has put together an exciting tournament series beginning May 11 to whet the appetite of players before the World Series of Poker officially gets underway.

Dubbed the “Coast to Coast Classic” the tournament series will feature more than $1,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools, including a U.S. regulated online poker cash record $200,001 guaranteed Main Event on Sunday, May 20.

The Coast to Coast Classic features 32 tournaments from May 11-20, with buy-ins ranging from $11 up to $1,000. Each tournament comes with a prize pool guarantee, ranging from $10,000 all the way up to $200,001. Typically three tournaments a day will be held, with a fourth added on Sundays (May 13 & May 20).

With players now located on both Eastern and Pacific time zones, it is important to be aware of the start times in each location. All tournaments in the Coast to Coast Classic begin at the top of the hour, usually at 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10pm Eastern. So for Nevada players, events will begin at 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7pm Pacific. The last day of the tournament series, May 20, features four events, including the big $500 buy-in, $200,001 guaranteed Main Event starting at 6pm ET/3pm PT.

As an added incentive, any participant that plays in three Coast to Coast Classic events receives a freeroll ticket into a 20 Seat Guarantee satellite for the $365 Online WSOP gold bracelet event, officially Event #10 on the 2018 WSOP summer schedule.

The combining of players allows customers in all three states to play against each other for the very first time, allowing for better game selection, larger prize pools, wider time zone coverage and expanded tournament offerings.

WSOP.com utilizes GeoComply and their dynamic geolocation technology for compliance across the tri-state pool. Play remains limited to those inside the borders of Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey. For those who did not previously register for a new account or did not pre-register, there is still a way to do join the action. Registration can be done via this link: http://www.wsop.com/ussl

Players will notice plenty to get excited about on the new WSOP.com, including:

· $15,000,000 worth of guarantees – From May through September, in WSOP.com’s biggest summer ever.
· $100,000 Sunday Tournaments – The $320 buy-in at 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT will be the largest weekly online poker tournament guarantee in the U.S., giving players a weekly go-to event to play.
· $250,000 Sunday Guarantees – Sunday features a plethora of tournaments combined to guarantee $250,000.
· Daily minimum $10,000 Guarantees – Each evening a poker tournament will be offered featuring at least a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool, with some up to $25,000 and even a $50,000 offering each month.
· Daily Freerolls into the $100k Weekly – Daily freeroll to win your seat in the weekly Sunday $100,000.
· Online Bracelet Freerolls – From May 1-14, enter the daily freeroll to win your seat into WSOP Event#10.
· 24/7 WSOP Satellites – From May 1 to July 13, players can win their way to the live WSOP in Las Vegas by participating in the myriad of satellite offerings.
· Blast Poker for All – Nevada and Delaware players get the ultimate Sit & Go experience, with the opportunity to play for a prize pool of up to 10,000 times original buy-in. Details here.

(Poker is a peer-to-peer game, and not a house-backed game, relying on an abundance of players to get meaningful poker games going. The term “shared-liquidity” is industry vernacular describing the method of previously segregated poker platforms combining to allow those previously segregated players access to the same shared pool).

For the first time ever, New Jersey poker players will be able to enter the official online WSOP gold bracelet events, alongside those participants in Nevada. The official online WSOP gold bracelet schedule is as follows:

· Sunday, June 3 – 3:30pm PT – $365 No-Limit Hold’em (unlimited re-entry; 1 day) – Event 10
· Friday, June 22 – 3:30pm PT -- $565 6-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha (unlimited re-entry; 1 day) – Event 47
· Friday, June 29 – 3:30pm PT -- $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em (unlimited re-entry; 1 day) – Event 61
· Saturday, June 30 – 3:30pm PT -- $3,200 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em; unlimited re-entry; 1 day Event 63


With all the positive changes in store, WSOP.com has also decided to improve its loyalty program, allowing Nevada and New Jersey players the opportunity to be part of the same club. The new and enhanced loyalty club will be called “Poker Rewards” and will allow players to achieve an incredible 32% rake back based on their participation. As a result of these changes, Total Rewards levels will be removed from Poker Rewards as to not confuse with offline Diamond and above levels.

An overview of the new Poker Rewards is as follows:

· Player (Monthly) – 0-199 APP’s ($0-$99 in rake) = 0% rake back
· Bronze (Monthly) – 200-749 APP’s ($100-$324 in rake) = 8% rake back
· Silver (Monthly) – 750-1,499 APP’s ($325-$749 in rake) = 20% rake back
· Elite (Monthly) – 1,500-19,999 APP’s ($750-$9,999 in rake) = 25% rake back
· Champions Club (Annual) – 20,000+ APP’s ($10,000+ in rake) = 32% rake back

*Promotions and tournaments subject to change. Players should refer to tournament lobby and promotions page for latest offerings.

The last part about the new rakeback program is confusing.

Does this mean they are doing away with Total Rewards status matching?

If so, that means yet another benefit loss for Diamond and Seven Stars cardholders.

[Dan Druff]

Seth Palansky has confirmed that WSOP.com status matching for Total Rewards has ended.

Sucks.

Yet another reason not to earn Diamond/Seven Stars anymore.

Apparently you still CAN earn Total Rewards tier credits for paying on there, though.