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The US online poker market has seen momentum in recent months not experienced in years. After the explosion of sports betting across the country, the online poker industry lagged behind.

However, the Coronavirus pandemic brought many players back to the virtual poker felt for legal, regulated poker. Four states currently offer legal online poker. But where is the industry headed?

There have been some gains, offering opportunities at continued growth. Here’s a look at some states that might get on the bandwagon in the coming years.

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Where is online poker currently legal?

After Black Friday, the US online poker market became a state-by-state affair. Movement has been slow to grow the game, but there has been some movement

New Jersey

• PokerStars NJ 
• partypoker – includes the BorgataPoker and BetMGM skins
• WSOP.com
• 888poker

Nevada

• WSOP.com is the only operator.

Pennsylvania

• PokerStars PA – The only operator as of now.
• partypoker – Expected to launch in August 2020.
• WSOP.com – Expected to launch by fall 2020.

In 2019, two more states came on board. Michigan and West Virginia both are now in the licensing and regulatory process. WV may be a struggle to find a market without an interstate compact.

However, with almost 10 million people, Michigan could survive with its own “fenced-in” market. The state has about one million more residents than New Jersey.

Which states might legalize online poker next?

Predicting various state politics and legislative agendas is no easy task. But here are a few states that have at least shown some interest in legalizing online poker in recent years.

New York

After the Coronavirus pandemic, the state’s budget deficit will be difficult to overcome. New York already made legalization efforts in 2016, 2017, and 2019, but online poker bills ultimately stalled.

Similar efforts to legalize mobile sports betting also went nowhere. New York has legalized sports betting at upstate casinos, but that’s all so far

Now facing economic turmoil, sports betting and online gaming could provide some much-needed state revenue. NY’s neighbors New Jersey and Pennsylvania already offer all forms of online gaming, including poker.

The Empire State seems a likely domino to eventually fall. Adding a major state like New York or California could provide a major splash for the industry.

California

With sports betting efforts failing in 2020, California will be a struggle. It seems a shame as the state has numerous card rooms and casino poker rooms.

That includes major live tournament series at properties like the Gardens, Commerce Casino, and the Bicycle Club. Reaching agreements among the state’s card rooms, tribal casinos, and horse industry has been a struggle.

“Before sports betting became a possibility, legalization of online poker was a hot topic,” OnlinePokerReport.com notes. “Here too, the standoff was largely between the tribes and the cardrooms who all felt they should have the authority to offer the game.”

The good news is that legislators at least keep trying. If sports betting is eventually pushed through, it seems likely online poker iGaming may follow.

Connecticut

During the pandemic, this state’s casinos already have made some noise about offering online gaming. For poker, that might not mean much because of the state’s population of only 3.6 million.

In June, 22 counties located around the state’s two casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, sought an executive order to allow online gaming.

Gov. Ned Lamont (D) nixed that idea, however, and said this was a “significant policy decision.” He believed an effort toward expanded gambling would require the full legislative process.

The casinos already offer free-to-play casino games, however. It’s also believed that Lamont and other state officials favor adding sports betting and legalizing online gaming.

Florida

Online sports betting and gaming still seem a long way away in the Sunshine State. The legislature seemed to be considering online sports betting, but the session ended in March without any agreement.

There are numerous obstacles in the state. Voters also approved Amendment 3 in 2018. That made any expansion of gambling come to a statewide vote.

The Seminole tribe’s exclusive compact with the state would also have to be renegotiated. Recent plans in the legislature called for allowing the tribe to add craps and roulette at its casinos.

The tribe would also have exclusive rights to online sports betting. In turn, the tribe would pay $500 million in the first year of the agreement. That could move to about $700 million in annual payments in subsequent years.

Reports say the Seminoles are also seeking online gaming as part of a deal. Getting any deal done would be difficult, and there’s no certainty poker would be in the mix.

However, legislators aren’t giving up hope.

“Certainly, if something was done that everyone could agree upon, I would not be against a special session, if we could finally get this behind us,” House Speaker José Oliva told the Miami Herald in March. “But if not, there’s a lot of details we can work out for future Legislatures. There’s a lot of work we can do now, for them.”

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Virginia

This state has made some moves in recent years that might give online poker players hope. Efforts began with legalizing historical horse racing (HHRs) games in 2018.

These slot-like games were meant to help the state’s horse racing industry. In March, the state also approved online lottery sales, adding five casinos, and sports betting (including online).

Online poker and casino gaming hasn’t been included. But as the state’s first casinos are constructed, there could be hope for even more expansion. Virginia seems headed toward more casino gaming and poker might eventually be part of that.

Ohio

The Buckeye State is in a unique situation. Neighbors Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan have all now legalized online gaming, sports betting, and poker. Indiana has also legalized online sports betting

In the spring, the state was moving toward adding online and mobile sports betting. That has stalled with competing bills in the House and Senate. The Coronavirus pandemic has hampered efforts as well.

It remains to be seen if the issue gets resolved this summer. However, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) supports sports betting. That might bode well for an eventual expansion to poker.

Kentucky

Rep. Adam Koenig (R) made efforts to pass bills legalizing sports betting and online poker in 2019. That fizzled however, and he introduced another bill in 2020.

With a pension system facing a $40 billion shortfall in recent years, Gov. and former Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) believes gaming could help.

“The solution is not to cut legally promised benefits, but to create a new and dedicated stream of revenue solely for pensions that does not raise any Kentuckians’ taxes,” Beshear wrote to legislators in November 2018. “The answer is simple – expanded gaming including casino, fantasy sports, and sports gaming, as well as preparing for the eventual legalization of online poker.”

It will be interesting to see if the state gets a bill across the finish line in 2020 or 2021.

Other possibilities

Beyond these there are a few states that might be worth watching. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) has been working to renegotiate state tribal gaming compacts.

The issue is sticky and involves a federal complaint by three tribes. Could an agreement include some type of online gaming?

That may be a long way off but who knows what might develop. The state already has a thriving casino industry, including a nice live poker scene.

Louisiana may also be a possibility. Oklahoma casinos have raided many of Louisiana’s Texas customers over the last two decades.

Adding online gaming might offer a way to jump ahead with an option not available in Oklahoma. The state is already making moves to offer live and online sports betting.

Wire Act remains an obstacle to online poker

Even if a couple of these go through with online poker legislation, that would be a win for the industry. Large population states like California, New York, or Florida could be an even bigger momentum builder.

Smaller states, like West Virginia, may require interstate compacts to survive. That remains in doubt however, as the gaming industry and Department of Justice battle it out in federal appeals court.

As of June 2020, the DOJ argued in court that the Wire Act applied to more than just sports betting.

The gaming industry, led by the New Hampshire lottery, won the first round in court, but the DOJ appealed. Expanding interstate compacts remains in a cloud until the issue is resolved.

WSOP.com currently operates the only shared liquidity market between Nevada and New Jersey. 888poker, WSOP software partner, also contributes on its own platform in New Jersey and Delaware.

The site is also expected to launch in Pennsylvania in the coming months. That offers the possibility of even larger player pools for events like the WSOP Online bracelet series that’s currently underway.

In the meantime, many players will be hoping their own states get on board.

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With World Poker Tour live events currently on hold, that’s meant more time for online poker for Tony Dunst. The Las Vegas-based poker pro and WPT commentator turned that free time into a World Series of Poker Online bracelet on Tuesday.

Dunst, 35, took down Event 21: $777 No Limit Hold’em Six Handed at WSOP.com for $168,342. The win adds a second bracelet to his poker career.

“It was sweet because I just had all the chips going into the final table,” he told USPoker. “It just went smoothly.’”

That’s the kind of run any poker player would dream of – lots of chips for a shot at a bracelet. The score has now vaulted him among the Top 10 in the Online Bracelet Leaderboard.

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Summer away from live tournament poker and WPT events

With major tournament poker shut down, Dunst faced a bit of a double whammy. His duties for the WPT have been curtailed and he’s had fewer opportunities to play live poker.

The WSOP Online offered a respite from that with some nice results. Tuesday’s event featured 1,361 entries and a prize pool of $952,700.

“In a way, we’re very lucky in poker that we can pivot the online side,” he says. “The WPT has been able to pivot to do things with international sites and the US-based sites can run major series. I’ve got to think that a lot of other people during this period are just going stir crazy.”

Dunst also scored a third-place finish in the first event of the series for $57,881. His first bracelet came in 2016 in a $1,000 NLHE event for $339,254. He also scored a runner-up finish in 2019 and now has $1.3 million in WSOP winnings.

No stranger to online poker, Dunst has no thoughts of diminishing a bracelet won via laptop. Working through fields of more than a thousand entries is no easy task.

“I came up online, so winning a huge tournament is actually very meaningful to me,” he says. “I never really had a big online score even prior to this series. My online results have always lagged behind, so in a lot of ways this was always something that I wanted to get done.”

Online poker commentating and hitting the court

While his regular WPT duties may have been disrupted, Dunst has lent his voice to some online event analysis. The WPT teamed up with Budweiser in May for a celebrity charity event. He served as an analyst for the streaming event.

During the pandemic, the WPT partnered with partypoker for some major international online events with Dunst offering commentary. That continues in July with the WPT World Online Championships. 

Dunst has also been working with the tour’s sweepstakes poker and training sites as well – ClubWPT and LearnWPT.

Beyond the current series at WSOP.com, Dunst currently has no plans on playing outside the country. That includes the WSOP Online at GGPoker or the WPT partypoker series.

“It’s just not really a great time to be traveling so I’m not looking to get to an international destination where I could legally play,” he says.

When not on the virtual felt, the tennis court has been a regular stop for Dunst this summer. The time away from live poker has also helped work on a game he’s always wanted to get better at.

“I never took the game seriously and told myself one day I would,” he says. “I grew up playing tennis but never pushed myself to play it very seriously. So that’s what I’ve been doing lately.”

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From high school home games to poker success and TV commentary

The road to television and poker success started in high school for Dunst, who grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. Home games with friends in high school led to online poker success at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

He began playing live events as well in the mid-2000s, and left college in 2006. Dunst launched a full-time poker career and enjoyed the global travel that came with it.

A few years later, his college theater studies helped when the WPT began looking for another voice on the show. As a successful online pro, Dunst was brought on board in 2010 to host the Raw Deal segment.

Adding the view of the modern player, Dunst represented players well-versed in the game after seeing thousands of hands online. He added his own tour title at the WPT-Caribbean in 2013 for $145,000.

When Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton retired from the commentary booth in 2017, Dunst took over those duties with Vince Van Patten.

Dunst’s online skills have now served him well on television and in major tournaments. He has more than $3.8 million in live tournament winnings. A few more big runs may find him battling for the WSOP Online player of the series.

Through 21 events, only three tournaments have fallen short of a six-figure winner’s payout. Dunst has been pleased with the success of the series so far. He hopes that momentum carries over to more states legalizing online poker.

“The numbers are excellent,” he says. “We’re seeing that in all forms whether it’s the bracelet events or subscription sites like ClubWPT or other legalized states. There’s a really strong demand for online poker in the United States.”

For complete information about the WSOP Online including facts, schedules, and Twitch streams, click here.

Photos courtesy WPT

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After winning two back-to-back World Series of Poker Main Event bracelets, poker legend Doyle Brunson wrote a book that forever changed the game. He self-published and released “How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker” in 1979.

Today that book is known as Super System and paved the way for continued strategy shifts within poker. At the time, Brunson was criticized by fellow players for the book’s release.

Players were angry that he was “giving away” the game’s secrets. Super System, however, proved a launching point for more deep analysis of the strategy behind the game.

Since the book’s release, the game has continued to evolve and new strategies continue to emerge. Here’s a look at 10 strategy shifts since the WSOP’s debut.

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1 – Aggressive play pays off

In the 1998 movie Rounders, Mike McDermott, played by Matt Damon, defines his style as tight but aggressive. He explains this style to his professor in the famous scene in a New York City bar. Tight and Aggressive (TAG) was the “advanced” style for the time. 

2 – Strategy book boom

Strategy guides were around before the “Moneymaker boom,” but the thirst for knowledge exploded in 2003. More people began taking an interest in the game.

At the time, Two Plus Two Publishing was considered the go-to catalog for strategy books. The company was founded in 1998 by poker player and statistician Mason Malmuth.

Also post-Moneymaker, D&B Poker Publishing was founded by Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs. Both companies continue publishing a seemingly never-ending list of books to help players with various aspects of their games.

3 – Small ball poker

One of those books was called Harrington on Hold’em. This ended up being a three-part tournament book series written by 1995 WSOP Main Event Champion Dan Harrington. The idea of small-ball poker and counting blinds to change one’s style of tournament play was mind bending at the time. 

Small ball poker is generally opening up the range of hands you play to see more flops in a cost-effective way. By lowering raise sizes, a player can get to the flop cheaper.

Before this style went into effect a general raise was considered three to five times the opening bet.

4 – YouTube poker

YouTube emerged in 2005 and changed the world, including the poker universe. Players began making online videos and promoted online training sites.

Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu was an early proponent of this teaching style. He helped expand the idea of loosening ranges of players through small ball style.

5 – The Jamie Gold-en rule

For many years, players openly discussed hands to get into players’ heads and change the outcome of the game. In 2006, Jamie Gold won the Main Event and used his style of gab throughout the tournament.

The following year the WSOP enforced a rule, dubbed as the “Jamie Gold Rule.” Players were no longer allowed to talk about hands in multi-way situations. This created a style change for many players. This issue is still debated and here’s a look at the actual rule:

WSOP Rule: Section VI Poker Rules 115 (A) (B)

Participants may not:

1. Disclose contents of live or folded hands.
2. Advise or criticize play at any time.

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6 – Rise of the LAG

When online poker exploded, players quickly figured out how to take advantage of TAG (Tight and Aggressive) players. Players began three-betting and continuation betting much more than in the past.

These attempts to counter small ball become known as “loose-aggressive style,” aka LAG. Three-betting is when a player reraises, generally in position, after a player raised already. This showed real strength because players rarely reraised unless they “had it.” 

Players also began making more continuation bets. In Harrington on Hold’em Volume 2, the author goes more in depth on the subject.

When a player raises preflop and has the action to open post-flop, he bets out to continue showing strength. The bet is made even if a player misses the flop. 

7 – Super-LAG brings even more aggression

As new names emerge as regular winners at the tables, new strategies also emerged in the mid-2000s. Players like Gus Hansen and Tom Dwan were taking advantage of LAG players in a more super-aggressive style.

In his 2008 book Every Hand Revealed, Hansen discusses his super-aggro style. Hansen and Dwan were known to make loose four- and five-bets to combat the three-bet style that had taken over normal play. This aggression could play big dividends.

8 – What the HUD?

In the 2010s, online players began taking advantage of poker tracking software called HUDs (Heads-Up Displays). HUDs allowed players to keep track of hands played against certain players to rate their statistics and styles of play.

Players were now able to see how frequently someone was C-betting or three-betting, along with other stats. This allowed players to also find weaknesses in their own game and balance their playing styles. 

Currently, sites such as WSOP.com, partypoker, and Global Poker have banned the use of HUDs. There remains been plenty of debate on the topic. 

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9 – GTO or no?

With all this data consumed in software, artificial intelligence (AI) has deciphered a lot of information in a short period of time. This data has been used to help create what’s called a Game Theory Optimal (GTO) style.

This allows a player to make his style unexploitable by balancing all aspects of his game. GTO is not a new concept. American quantitative analyst Bill Chen expressed his advanced game thoughts in 2006 in a book called The Mathematics of Poker.

Since then, the style has grown in popularity. This strategy takes into account concepts like probabilities, opponent ranges, and opponent modeling.

10 – Meta psychology

Poker tournament lengths have grown over the last 20 years. Other than the WSOP Main Event, it was rare to see a live tournament run for multiple days.

It’s now not uncommon for larger buy-in tournaments to last four days or more. Players realize live poker can be mentally and physically demanding.

A player’s mind is running at high speeds and strategically processing information for hours and hours. Books like Barry Carter’s Mental Game of Poker and Dr. Patricia Cardner’s Positive Poker help modern players with focus.

Players now make positive lifestyle changes to increase their abilities to perform at the highest levels. This includes better diets, exercise, and more.

What’s next for poker strategy? 

The game of poker certainly continues to change. New theories are introduced and then adapted to, and online poker is a big part of that. Staying current on ideas and playing styles gives a player an edge.

Studying, playing, and continual analysis tends to be the best track record for proven success in the game. Poker training apps have also helped players work on their skills.

As Daniel Negreanu once noted about his efforts at improvement:

“All I did was eat, sleep, and breathe tournament poker – and the results showed that.”

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With the Caesars-Eldorado merger officially finalized, Atlantic City casinos will once again experience changes as the new company takes control.

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The partypoker PKO Series (Progressive Knockout) is set for July 26 – Aug. 2 with more than $150,000 guaranteed. Fans of bounty-style poker will be in luck with nine events on the schedule.

Most of the nine events are in the $109 to $320 range with a few events as low as $20. However, players can jump in the $75,000 guaranteed Phase Tournament for as little as $35.

There are also daily satellites for Phase 1 starting at $5 with about one of eight winning $35 entries. Players will also find $45 daily satellites into Phase 2.

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What’s in store for players in a partypker PKO? 

PKOs are a type of knockout tournament. When a player takes out an opponent, that player cashes in 50% of the opponent’s bounty. Those funds go right in the player’s own account.

The other 50% of that opponent’s bounty is added to the bounty on the winning player’s head. That bounty can keep growing larger for even more knockouts.

PKO, and bounty tournaments in general, add some extra fun to a tournament series. 

“PKO tournaments are fun because they add a unique dynamic late in the game,” New Jersey online regular Pierre Deissler says. “Sometimes a player’s bounty may be worth more than a pay jump in the prize pool.”

How does a Phase Tournament work?

Phase Tournaments have become a popular part of partypoker US tournament series. The site runs Phase 1 tournaments each night for $35.

Remaining players, usually about 10% of the field, carry their chip stacks over to Phase 2. 

The second step is the $320 buy-in Phase 2 Main Event, set for Aug. 2 with a $75,000 guarantee. Players can also buy-in directly for Phase 2 on Aug 2.

Here’s a look at the complete PKO Series schedule.

partypoker US PKO Series 2020

Partypoker adds NJ daily tournaments, July promotions

Partypoker US also recently announced some new tournament offerings. On July 17, the site invited players to a test run of newly launched PKO tournaments for a $20 buy in.

The initial PKO tournament had over 1,500 entries with a $25,000 prize pool. 

The success of that event led to another new daily tournament. Partypoker has hosted a daily $5,000 guaranteed PKO event since July 18. The new $109 tournament runs every night at 8 p.m. 

Throughout July, partypoker is also offering multipliers for all grinders. Players will earn 2x iRPs when registered in tournaments or playing cash games.

Players must opt-in through the promos listed on the partypoker client to be eligible.  

Partypoker US Network continues gaining traction

The PKO Series is just the latest festival for partypoker in New Jersey. The operators has run several series during the Coronavirus pandemic and seen some nice momentum.

In New Jersey, partypoker also includes the BorgataPoker.com and BetMGM skins. The network is coming off a successful series partnering with the World Poker Tour.

A $400 championship event generated a prize pool of more than $300,000. NJ online pro David Coleman took down $56,586 for first place.

Coleman also received a trophy and $11,000 package to play in the WPT Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. 

New also broke recently that the operator may be launching in Pennsylvania by August. Players in the Keystone State can probably expect some of what the site has been offering in NJ.

partypoker has been ramping up its software in preparation for a launch in PA. Players have been offered a software upgrade, which allows for new table settings and playing PKO events.

There should be more to report on partypoker US Network in the coming weeks.

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