Nevada and Delaware Launch Interstate Online Poker

9 years ago
Nevada and Delaware Launch Interstate Online Poker
20:02
25 Mar

At long last, regulated online poker in the U.S. took a step toward the future when Delaware and Nevada soft launched a regime that shares player pools.

The interstate compact has been a long time coming considering that the Multi State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) brokered between the two states took place 13 months ago. Hopes of launching the shared liquidity scheme were delayed by technical issues that have apparently finally been resolved.

Delaware will likely benefit the most from the collaboration, as The First State's online poker action was quite lackluster to say the least. Averaging less than a dozen cash players, Delaware online poker players likely found other things to do rather than join games that were hard to come by. The pooling of players with Nevada is expected to revive online poker among Delawareans.

Nevada's intrastate scheme saw WSOP.com typically hosting tables for 150 ring game players following the exit of Ultimate Poker in November. Real Gaming, the only other current poker site in Nevada, has only a couple handfuls of loyal players who will not be part of the interstate action.

Language in the MSIGA calls for poker sites to hold licenses in both partner states, which excludes Real Gaming. 888 Holdings powers all of the gaming sites in Delaware offered by Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs and Delaware Park, as well as partnering with WSOP.com in Nevada.

888 is planning to launch a new site in Nevada, as is the Treasure Island casino. Both will join WSOP.com in forming a network within the Silver State that will include Delaware.

Some Delaware players received notice to change their screen names if those monikers have already been put to use at WSOP.com. Unfortunately, Delaware players will be excluded from promotions related to the World Series of Poker.

After the 2011 DoJ ruling that permitted states to enact online poker and gambling legislation, it was envisioned by many that a day would one day arrive in which regulated states could share players. That day is finally here, albeit in two states on the lower end of population totals.

Hopefully, New Jersey and more states with larger populations such as Pennsylvania, Illinois and New York will follow suit and sign on to the MSIGA in the not-too-distant future. But states other than NJ are still a long ways away, as they have yet to join the online gambling party.


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Charles is a Chicago native and long time poker player who dusted off his journalism degree and began writing about poker following the events of Black Friday in 2011. He has written for a number of leading poker websites, offering his insights and expertise on subjects ranging from online poker leg...Read more

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