May 1.
That’s the target date for New Jersey’s entrance into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association and the start of online poker liquidity sharing between Nevada, Delaware, and the Garden State.
According to a press release issued by WSOP.com and 888poker, WSOP.com and 888 have submitted their new poker software to all three states for testing, and are hopeful that the linking of online poker players will begin on Tuesday, May 1.
The press release goes on to say:
“This shared-liquidity gives way for larger prize pools, better game selection, wider time zone coverage and expanded tournament offerings.”
“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 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.”
“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 Enforcement 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.”
Not surprisingly, poker players in all three states have been posing a lot of questions about the matter.
You’ve got questions; we’ve got answers
New accounts will be required in NV and DE
In order to pool players, two platforms (New Jersey and Delaware-Nevada) will need to be combined into one, and it appears 888 has decided to keep its New Jersey platform and migrate players from the Nevada-Delaware platform.
As such, Delaware and Nevada players will need to make new accounts once liquidity sharing begins.
“This transition will require Delaware and Nevada consumers to download the new poker client and create a new account to be able to participate,” the press release states. “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.”
NJ players will have to say goodbye to HUDs
The use of HUDs (heads-up displays that supply poker players with statistical information about themselves and their opponents) have been an often asked question by players since the rules regarding HUD use vary by state.
Specifically, HUDs are unaddressed in New Jersey but expressly prohibited in Nevada. In order to bring all three states into compliance, HUDs will be prohibited across the new network.
According to the WSOP.com website:
Unfortunately, HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) were an issue where there were no good solutions that would satisfy everyone. Nevada expressly prohibits them, and New Jersey has no specific policy. Continuing to prevent HUDs in Nevada and allowing them in New Jersey was deemed unfair to Nevada players, so the only option that would give a level playing field to all players was to prohibit them in both Nevada and New Jersey. Players can always review their hands in the client and request specific hand histories from Customer Support.
WSOP online bracelets available to some but not all players
WSOP online bracelet events will be exclusively available to New Jersey players on the WSOP.com website.
To clarify, players using the 888-branded online poker site in New Jersey, or playing on one of the 888-powered online poker sites in Delaware will not be able to participate in WSOP.com online bracelet events or satellites to WSOP events. Only players registered at WSOP.com branded sites will be able to participate in those events.
“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.”
There are four online bracelet events on the 2018 WSOP schedule:
- June 3, Event No. 10: $365 No-limit Hold’em
- June 22, Event No. 47: $565 Pot-limit Omaha 6-Handed
- June 29, Event No. 61: $1,000 No-limit Hold’em
- June 30, Event No. 63: $3,200 High Roller
What else you should and shouldn’t expect
Once WSOP.com-888 begin pooling players across the three states it will leap to the head of the online poker pack by a considerable margin.
At WSOP.com-888 players will find:
- More games
- The addition of new formats, like BLAST Poker (888’s version of ZOOM Poker)
- Bigger tournament guarantees (in-depth analysis can be found here)
You can also expect to see the other significant operators in New Jersey — PokerStars and partypoker — take a hit, with some of their players jumping ship to the larger WSOP.com-888 network.
That said, this won’t be a panacea. Don’t expect to see pre-Black Friday poker numbers.
Instead, expect to see traffic more than doubling, with extended peak traffic hours.
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