Nevada is preparing for the WSOP and anticipating the largest influx of online poker players in their industry’s one-year history.
The 2014 World Series of Poker could potentially revolutionize Nevada’s online poker industry, which is in dire need of a positive transformation. With this thrilling period ahead, all attention will be centered on the state in the upcoming weeks.
In the US legal online poker sphere, there is a great deal of activity. California and Pennsylvania are still contemplating joining New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada, as the battle at the federal level persists with unexpected twists and turns.
In this edition of the Nevada Online Poker Review, we’re bringing you up to speed with the latest developments related to Nevada and the broader struggle for legal online poker nationwide. We’ll kick things off with Tom Breitling from Ultimate Gaming’s first-year review of the online poker industry in Nevada.
UP’s Breitling blames regulations for slow start
When questioned about the sluggish commencement in the newly regulated markets in Nevada and New Jersey, those in authority have been quick to assign blame.
The initial blame (and rightly so) fell on issues with geolocation and payment processing, followed by a lack of awareness, a failure largely attributed to the service providers. Now, overregulation has been identified as a new issue. It’s an odd argument, considering the necessity of these regulations for geolocation and preventing underage gambling.
Tom Breitling, Chairman of Ultimate Poker, recently shared a video blog. In it, he stated that regulations introduce complexities that reduce the market size. He added that for every click a customer is asked to make during the e-commerce process, about 10-20% of customers are lost. In other words, every click loses 1 in 10 customers.
Breitling subsequently drew parallels between these new regulations for players and the TSA policies implemented at airports post 9/11. These were initially met with vocal opposition, but people eventually adapted to them.
Nevertheless, Breitling perceives a glimmer of hope, citing Amazon and Google as examples of companies that initially started slow but eventually evolved into massive corporations.
AGA sitting federal debate out
This week, the campaign for legalized online poker (and against certain attempts to ban online gambling) suffered a setback when the American Gaming Association (AGA) openly stepped back. They cited differences of opinion among its members as the reason for their withdrawal.
This decision may not be surprising for those of us familiar with the industry, but it was certainly unexpected for many.
Luckily, the AGA’s withdrawal doesn’t seem as significant as initially thought, given that the groups who favor online gambling regulation within the AGA are still financing the lobbying group, Coalition for Consumer Online Protection (C4COP). Even though the AGA is no longer taking sides, these groups have not shifted their stance.
Weekly Guaranteed Tournaments in Nevada
WSOP.com Sunday $15K Guaranteed
This past Sunday, WSOP.com had a strong showing of 105 players for its $15k Guaranteed, resulting in a total prize pool of $21,000.
This bodes well for the site as the WSOP is just around the corner. The Sunday tournaments during the WSOP are likely to break all previous records in terms of participation and prize money.
It would be intriguing to see if WSOP.com increases the guarantee on its Sunday tournaments during the WSOP. It’s possible that Caesars is holding off on determining a number until they’ve observed a week or two of results.
This is a glimpse of the final table payouts from the tournament that took place last week:
- Zentrain: $5,880.00, Mnbass1: $3,402.00, Waldo4: $1,953.00, Guypie: $1,533.00, TEEPS: $1,323.00, AK1688: $1,113.00, Brokefinger: $882.00, Allprowi: $588.00, Dicma: $441.00.
WSOP Main Event Satellite
This week’s WSOP Main Event satellite saw a slight overlay with 46 players registering for the $215 tournament. The player using the screen-name SuGaRaY71 emerged as the winner and will be joining more than 100 other online qualifiers in the 2014 WSOP Main Event.
- SuGaRaY71 secured a seat at the 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, worth $10,000.
The $10K Guarantee tournament at Ultimate Poker
In a recent development, both Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com surpassed the 100 player mark in their major Sunday tournaments for the first time in recent memory. Ultimate Poker’s $10k Sunday Guaranteed tournament saw participation from 101 players, falling short of the guarantee by approximately $800.
Here are the final table payout details:
- MattZman $2,500.68
- Upay4MyHJs $1,750.48
- TheOtherDave $1,200.30
- RedMike99 $900.20
- Wealthy360 $700.14
- DatDude $550.08
- GrnSmoothie $450.06
- PottyTrainMe $350.04
- Kristin $248.02
Traffic trends in Nevada
As we prepare for the 2014 World Series of Poker, online poker traffic in Nevada has remained relatively steady. According to data from www.pokerscout.com, WSOP.com has averaged around 100 cash-game players, and Ultimate Poker has seen a range of 50-60 players over the past few months.
These baseline figures will be quite crucial, particularly as traffic is predicted to rise substantially during the summer tournament series lasting more than six weeks. However, the more pressing issue to consider is whether traffic levels will revert to baseline or if Nevada’s poker sites will experience a prolonged surge from the WSOP due to increased awareness and novel player experiences.
The word on the street
“No Ticket”
Should you wish to participate in this year’s World Series of Poker events, it’s essential to authenticate your identity convincingly, with a passport sometimes not sufficing. A new policy has been introduced this year requiring players to verify their addresses. However, some foreign countries do not include address information on their passports or driver’s licenses.
Thus, the solution is as follows: Carry a utility or cell phone bill, or any other document that can confirm your address.
Otherwise this could happen:
