May 1 Marks The Start Of Tri-State Online Poker Liquidity

A shared player pool for Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware was finally launched by WSOP.com and 888Poker.

According to a press release, the new model derived from a liquidity sharing agreement between the states will be implemented by these networks starting May 1.

Bill Rini, the head of online poker at WSOP.com, stated that this massive cooperative effort was facilitated by elected leadership and regulatory authority.

Throughout this process, everyone has considered the end user. Consequently, we are confident that for the first time in a regulated environment, the United States will introduce a large-scale, multi-state offering next month. We believe this will significantly advance the industry.

Online Poker Report announced that New Jersey finally succumbed in October and joined Nevada and Delaware in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association (MSIGA).

This confirms it. The remarkable six-month turnaround was twice as fast as the original agreement between Nevada and Delaware. That agreement was signed in February 2014 and implemented in March 2015.

888, WSOP expanding

888Poker is the sole online poker operator across Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. It has a monopoly in Delaware, where it powers all three online sites within the state. It also operates WSOP.com online in Nevada and New Jersey. Additionally, it maintains its own branded site in New Jersey.

In the immediate future, 888 plans to merge traffic across various sites, which will almost double the traffic in Nevada and Delaware. The current numbers for cash games suggest that traffic in New Jersey will increase by more than double.

On average, the combined player pools and pre-established cash game traffic collectively will have at least 250 players, with over 500 players during peak traffic times.

The plan was to kick off before the World Series of Poker in late May. However, even with the delay, New Jersey players are now able to participate in online bracelet events for the 2018 WSOP. This privilege was previously only available to Nevada players, but this added allowance is expected to maintain high traffic during Nevada’s busy season.

888 and Caesars looking for new player numbers

888 and Caesars intend to attract more players from other NJ poker sites, re-engage those disillusioned by low player numbers, and lure new players by merging their player pools to offer larger tournaments and an increased number of cash games.

The diversity of time zones also extends peak hours in all locations, which could additionally boost cash game traffic.

What does a shared pool look like for players?

Regulations in New Jersey have simplified the decision-making process for WSOP.com regarding the location of servers within states. This is because NJ regulations mandate that gaming equipment must be physically situated in the state where the gameplay happens. As a result, WSOP and 888 plan to move the gameplay to NJ by May 1.

Thus, when players access their accounts, they will be connecting to servers located in New Jersey. While for New Jersey it’s essentially routine operations (software update), players in Nevada will have to set up a new account on the unified system.

Players in Delaware will also need to create an account and update their software. For players outside these states or outside the U.S., they will be required to repeat the identity verification process, as these are only stored in Nevada.

According to the FAQ from Online Poker Report, these players are required to set up new accounts and upload those documents again.

Essentially, this action shuts down the current account and transfers funds, tournament tickets, loyalty points, and responsible gaming limits, excluding hand histories and player notes.

While most players are able to keep their screen names, those from Nevada and Delaware must ensure their chosen names aren’t already in use by players from New Jersey. Should there be a conflict, the player with the longer history, more activity, and higher reward status will retain the shared screen name.

Managing the technicalities of change

Players have the opportunity to get ahead by pre-transferring with the WSOP.com client. This could potentially begin on April 23. This will ensure their accounts are ready and loaded for the launch day. The transfer process will take 72 hours.

People who plan ahead qualify for a chance to win a $10,000 Main Event seat. In addition, players receive a sign-up bonus, which matches 100 percent up to $1,000, along with several tournament tickets. A reload bonus is also available for those in NJ.

Logins may appear identical; however, players continue to log into clients in their existing market.

One noticeable alteration will be the absence of heads-up displays (HUD), an instrument utilized by poker players to produce on-screen data for creating poker player profiles.

WSOP.com and 888 will no longer permit them due to their prohibition in Nevada and the lack of stance in New Jersey. To prevent tracking software, hand history storage and mass downloading will not be accessible. However, players can still view the past 30 days of their history within the system using the in-client replayer.

WSOP online bracelet events can still be played by players in NV or NJ.

Currently, no other sites in New Jersey, such as Borgata and Pala Poker, have entries into the Nevada market.