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WSOP.com And PokerStarsNJ Setting Online Poker Records

old vinyl records

The dust is settling, and poker players in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware are settling into their seats.

It has been three weeks since New Jersey joined Nevada and Delaware in the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. The combined player pool is beginning to show its power.

The key stories from the last two weeks:

  • WSOP.com hosted the tournament with the largest prize pool in regulated U.S. poker history
  • PokerStarsNJ hosted the tournament with the most entries – even surpassing WSOP.com’s marquee event in the Coast to Coast Classic
  • Cash game traffic is soaring on WSOP.com and showing only a slight decline on PokerStarsNJ and partypokerNJ
  • Peak cash game traffic is showing a declining trend across the board

Now that you’ve been briefed let’s take a look back at the cash game and tournament trends for the two-week period ending May 20, 2018.

U.S. Regulated online poker operators

The major U.S. poker operators are:

Operator Network Provider Other Sites in the Network
WSOP.com 888 888poker
PokerStarsNJ PokerStars None
partypokerNJ partypoker Borgata Poker and PlayMGM-NJ

Pala Poker also operates in New Jersey on its own network. We do not include Pala Poker in this report because the traffic volume is low and doesn’t affect the latest online poker trends.

Major online poker tournaments summary

WSOP.com hosted the Coast 2 Coast Classic from May 11 – 20. Holding a big tournament series following the combining of player pools was a smart move by WSOP.com. It encouraged poker players that hadn’t done so to create their new accounts and get online.

The series came with over $1,000,000 in guarantees and included 32 events. All but one of the events made their guarantees. This is something even the most popular series over the recent past have failed to do.

The big story, though, is the Coast 2 Coast Main Event. Its $200,001 guarantee was the largest guarantee in regulated U.S. poker – by $1. What’s more impressive is that it shattered the historic guarantee by posting a massive prize pool of $245,642.

PokerStarsNJ and partypokerNJ both held their regular $45,000 and $40,000 guaranteed Sunday tournaments, respectively.

PokerStarsNJ switched things up by hosting a half-off version on Sunday, May 20. The tournament drew 583 entries for the largest tournament of the two week period.

WSOP.com met its guarantees for both weeks, while PokerStarsNJ and partypokerNJ did not meet them on May 13. Both sites rebounded and exceeded their guarantees on Sunday, May 20.

Tournament data for Sunday, May 13.

Tournament Entries Guarantee Prize Pool Overlay
WSOP $320 Coast 2 Coast Event #7 – $100,000 NLH 502 $100,000 $150,600 N/A
PokerStarsNJ $200 Sunday Special, $45,000 Guaranteed 216 $45,000 $38,200 $6,800
partypokerNJ $215 Sunday $40,000 Guaranteed NLH 175 $40,000 $35,000 $5,000

Tournament data for Sunday, May 20.

Tournament Entries Guarantee Prize Pool Difference
WSOP $500 Coast 2 Coast Event #29 – $200,001 NLH Main Event 526 $200,001 $245,642 $45,641
PokerStarsNJ $100 Half-Price Sunday Special, $45,000 Guaranteed 583 $45,000 $53,519 $8,519
partypokerNJ $215 Sunday $40,000 Guaranteed NLH 214 $40,000 $42,800 $2,800

Average cash game and peak traffic summary

Shared liquidity has only had a small impact on the cash game seven-day rolling average traffic numbers.

Before the merging of player pools, WSOP.com in Nevada and Delaware averaged 135 cash game players. New Jersey averaged 75 on the network. Since the launch, the combined number is 240. That number equals about 30 additional players on average logging into the site.

PokerStarsNJ and partypokerNJ have remained relatively flat post-liquidity with a seven-day rolling average of 85 and 50 cash game players, respectively. PokerStarsNJ posted a decline of about five players, while partypokerNJ posted a decrease of 10.

The big question at the beginning of the month was how a combined player pool on WSOP.com would affect PokerStarsNJ and partypokerNJ. Well, it seems like it is business as usual.

Peak traffic seems to be struggling a bit more than the average traffic numbers. There is a declining trend among all three operators following the merging of player pools.

WSOP.com’s negative trend line is most likely due to low peak numbers on May 18 and 19.

Nevada hosted Electric Daisy Carnival which historically draws players away from the tables. Additionally, the Las Vegas Knights were busy fighting for their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals. These events can easily explain the significant drop in peak traffic for those days.

Surprisingly, partypokerNJ had the best trend line of the bunch. Of course, it is a hollow victory with two outlier days for WSOP.com and two missing days of data for PokerStarsNJ.

Factors that will likely impact U.S. online poker in the coming weeks

In one week, crowds of poker players from around the world will descend on the Las Vegas desert for the 2018 World Series of Poker.

Four online bracelet events, online satellites, and the ability to play live and online at the same time will likely drive online traffic numbers higher for WSOP.com over the coming months.

Expect business as usual for PokerStarsNJ or partypokerNJ. It is unlikely for the sites to try and compete with WSOP.com during this time.

We will be reporting again on the U.S. online poker landscape on June 5.

The first online bracelet will be awarded to a combined player pool, and the WSOP will have a week’s worth tournaments under its belt.

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WSOP.com Traffic Soars During First Weekend Of Player Pooling

airplane taking off

Shared liquidity entered the New Jersey online poker market on May 1. WSOP.com and 888poker in New Jersey combined with four WSOP.com and 888poker sites in Nevada and Delaware to form one player pool.

The three-state, six-site online poker network is the first of its kind since Black Friday. For online poker players, it is the first hopeful sign of legalized online poker returning to the whole United States.

While it is too early to provide a thorough analysis of the impact of shared liquidity, the first week’s data from the combined player network is positive.

Average cash game and peak traffic

On Sunday, the combined network saw a seven-day rolling average of 200 cash game players. Pre-launch the numbers from Nevada and New Jersey combined into a seven-day rolling average of 200-210 players.

The current rolling average includes one day of data pre-launch which slightly lowers the average. That’s excellent news as the number of average cash game players will most likely continue to grow.

As with any launch, there were technical glitches, and Nevada and Delaware players were required to create and validate new accounts. Those issues most certainly affected the numbers at the beginning of the week.

Peak cash game traffic is showing a similar story. The first day after the launch of the combined network, peak cash game traffic was about 100 players fewer than the combined number for the same period the week prior.

The numbers continued stayed relatively flat until the weekend. The weekend tells a different story.

Saturday had a peak of 572 players and Sunday had 552. Compare that to the week prior where New Jersey posted peak numbers in the low 200’s, and it is fair to say peak traffic is benefitting from the new interstate network.

PokerStars and partypoker posted cash game traffic and peak traffic numbers in line with their previous week’s figures.

For now, it seems as if it is business as usual. Except that New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware players make for one bigger pool of players instead of two smaller ones.

Numbers from the Sunday main tournaments

Before the combined player pool, WSOP/888 in New Jersey offered a weekly guarantee of $40,000, and Nevada hosted a $20,000 guarantee.

In anticipation of a substantial turnout thanks to the combined player pool, WSOP/888 increased its weekly tournament guarantee above the combined guarantee of the two sites. The $100,000 guaranteed Sunday tournament is now the gold standard and will likely continue to grow.

The huge guarantee was not just wishful thinking. History shows players love to show up to play big tournaments with big guarantees. And show up they did. At the close of registration, the tournament counted 522 entries for a prize pool of $156,600.

It doesn’t appear that the combined player pool or huge guarantee negatively impacted the entries to PokerStars and partypoker Sunday majors.

Both sites met their guarantees which they have not done consistently over the past few months. PokerStars saw 251 entries and partypoker had 223 entries, which are in line with their regular weekly entry numbers.

What can online poker players expect going forward

It is reasonable to expect a continued positive trend in cash game traffic and tournament entries for WSOP/888. It’s an exciting time for legalized poker, and that excitement will attract more players. And more players means more excitement. And so on.

How the interstate player network will impact the other New Jersey online poker sites remains to be seen. The week one data is certainly showing positive signs, though.

That must be a big relief for PokerStars and partypoker and gives both sites more reason to look ahead to Pennsylvania joining the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association late this year or early next. Eric Hollreiser, Vice President, Corporate Communications for The Stars Group said as much in a statement to PokerScout.

“Shared liquidity in online poker has proven to be the most successful way to ensure player protections in a licensed market, promote competition and innovation among operators and creates a stronger economic market. We welcome the movement toward shared liquidity in the U.S just as we welcome the similar movement in Southern Europe. We expect to compete in the Pennsylvania online gaming market and believe that market would likewise benefit from the greater player pools when poker players are shared.”

Even with the technical hiccups and other challenges, week one of the new interstate online poker network was a success. Legalized online poker throughout the U.S. moved one step closer to becoming a reality.

The bottom line is the week one numbers are good – in fact, they are better than good. Even if they weren’t though, the importance of interstate play and larger player pools is really the story here. And it is a story worth celebrating.