WSOP.com combines NJ/NV/MI traffic, rebrands to WSOP Online
On the evening of Monday, May 27, 2024, regulated U.S. online poker site WSOP.com added Michigan players to its New Jersey and Nevada player pool. Now, players from all three states can access the same games and shared player liquidity on the WSOP platform. At the same time, WSOP.com has been rebranded as WSOP Online.
About the New Platform Launch
Though there had been speculation for months, solid plans for the consolidation of tri-state player traffic into one WSOP platform were only announced on Saturday, May 25. On that date, WSOP and Caesars (owner of the WSOP) revealed in a statement that they were upgrading their poker software and combining all three player pools.
The cross-border access required for players in multiple states to sit at the same virtual tables with each other is facilitated by the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. This interstate compact has been signed by Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and West Virginia, so internet poker organizations that transact in more than one of these states can apply for approval to share player liquidity among these jurisdictions.
The changeover required players from New Jersey and Nevada to download new software while those in Michigan saw a simple update applied to the existing software. New Jerseyites and Nevadans also had to register new accounts and were given the opportunity to pre-register, which will allow their preexisting balances and tournament tickets to be transferred over to the new poker room.
The New WSOP Online SoftwareArrangement Raises New Hopes for Operators, Players
Stakeholders involved in the new WSOP Online have expressed approval of recent developments and foresee a better experience for players in the future.
Vice President of Online Poker for Caesars Digital Danielle Barille opined:
This platform upgrade is long overdue and is a big win for our players. The best is yet to come for WSOP Online tournaments, and we’re thrilled to bring Michigan players into the fold with Nevada and New Jersey, resulting in a better experience, more value, and the biggest prize pools of the year.
On May 28, the Michigan Gaming Control Board announced that WSOP was approved for multi-state online poker. Executive Director of the MGCB Henry Williams said:
By offering seamless connectivity between players in Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada, the Board’s approval of Caesars’ platform establishes another opportunity for online poker collaboration and innovation. Michigan citizens can anticipate a safe, secure gaming environment…
Caesars cited the historical nature of the merger, noting that “WSOP becomes the first poker operator to pool liquidity across three U.S. jurisdictions.” This isn't exactly correct, though, as WSOP already had shared liquidity across Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware before the Delaware-regulated online poker rooms closed at the beginning of this year.
PokerStars already has a combined player pool consisting of its Michigan and New Jersey online enterprises, but it doesn't do business in Nevada, Delaware, or West Virginia, so it remains a two-state operation.
About the New Software
Michiganders already had access to the latest-generation iteration of the WSOP software, dubbed “Poker 8” by developer 888poker. However, New Jersey and Nevada residents were using an older version until the recent changes introduced them to the latest version of the poker client.
Therefore, players from those two states will see numerous features and games that they previously did not have access to. Perhaps the most notable are Progressive Knockouts, Mystery Bounty tournaments, and Multi-Flight MTTs. These innovations in tournament poker have proven popular over the past few years, and now NJ and NV WSOP Online customers can enjoy them too.
Blast lottery-style sit n' goes have also seen some changes. They're now three-player games as opposed to seating four as they did previously. This moves them in line with the industry standard and should help contests fill and thus run more quickly. Blasts also no longer force all participants all-in after a certain time has elapsed since the beginning of the game.
Another aspect to the poker site that will be welcome in these two states is a superior mobile client. It now supports multi-tabling up to four games at a time and also works in both portrait and landscape modes.
Along with new elements comes the elimination of certain old features. Stud and Stud/8 tables have been removed. Similarly, 9-handed cash games and sit n' goes are gone. All ring games are now 6-max while SNGs are present in 6-max and heads-up formats.
Problematic Transition for Many
Unfortunately, the move to the new WSOP platform was not without its issues. Some users complained of broken download links, geolocation errors, and the need to conduct account verification anew even if the process had been successfully completed in the past.
There were those who found the new poker client to be a resource hog. We saw quite a few reports of random crashes along with slowdowns when multi-tabling. Additionally, the consensus was that the default table theme was ugly and the text difficult to read.
Other criticisms centered around the absence of certain game formats. Some found the removal of full-ring cash games inexcusable on the grounds that nine-handed is the table size most prevalent in live poker and thus what recreational players wish to play. Fans of niche poker variants found their removal from the software lamentable especially given that the live WSOP series includes many different types of poker.
Some of these issues and complaints may be redressed by future software upgrades. We'll have to wait and see.
Bigger Tournament Series Now Running
It's no coincidence that this new shared-liquidity framework has gone live at the end of May just in time for the beginning of the 2024 World Series of Poker. There are online bracelet events this year, as there were last year, and the total number of bracelets to be awarded in the combined NJ/NV/MI poker room stands at 30. Last year, with just New Jersey and Nevada participating in shared liquidity, the number of bracelets distributed was just 20.
These WSOP online bracelet events are scheduled from June 1 to July 21. The buyins range from $215 up to $10,000. They include some of the new tournament formats that were previously not available at WSOP.com in New Jersey and Nevada, like Mystery Bounty and Multi-Day tourneys.
WSOP is also running an Online Circuit Series for the three states from May 30 to June 10. The WSOP Circuit is kind of like a little brother of the main WSOP series with smaller guarantees and buyins predominating on the schedule and winners receiving rings rather than bracelets. There are 12 ring events in the series, guarantees of nearly $1 million, and buyins ranging from $100 to $1,000.
As if this wasn't enough, WSOP Online has also opted to host a more traditional online poker series simultaneously with its bracelet and ring events. The WSOP Online Championship series starts June 2 and ends July 14. It contains 172 tournaments with more than $5 million in guaranteed prizes.
Tournament Lobby at WSOP OnlinePennsylvania Left Out of the Fun
No similar Online Championship Series has been revealed for WSOP's standalone operations in Pennsylvania. Neither has a new Online Circuit Series been announced for the Keystone State.
Pennsylvania did have its own WSOP Online Circuit Series earlier in May, but it had a paltry $360,000 in guaranteed prizes rather than the beefier $1 million up for grabs in the upcoming tri-state Online Circuit. Similarly, Pennsylvania will host WSOP bracelet events online this year, but there are only seven of them with no buyin higher than $600.
It's clear, when comparing the offerings of the new multi-state WSOP Online organization to those available in Pennsylvania, that combined player traffic supports more robust tournament schedules, larger buyins, and bigger guarantees. Pennsylvania regulated online poker risks being left behind if the state does not sign the MSIGA compact.
WSOP Online Not an Option for Most Americans
The fact that residents of New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada can play together in one player pool at the regulated WSOP Online cardroom is great news – for denizens of those three states. However, if you live in any of the other 47 states, this doesn't really help you much at all. Yet, there are still other places where you can play poker online.
You see, there are plenty of offshore poker rooms that serve the United States. Though they are unregulated by any of the 50 states, they are duly licensed in other parts of the world, and it's not illegal for you to play at them.
If big-money tournaments, like those hosted by WSOP Online, appeal to you, then you should check out ACR Poker. It often runs tournament series with multi-million dollar guarantees, like the Online Super Series. You can join up with our special ACR Poker promo code PRB10FREE to get a free $10 no deposit bonus. Then when you're ready, make your first deposit to get a 100% matching bonus up to $2,000. Click the button below to sign up:
To read up a bit on ACR first, you can consult this comprehensive ACRPoker review. For a rundown of other options for playing poker over the internet, check out this USA online poker guide.