By TheNuts - Dec 20, 2023
BetMGM Online Poker Network In The US
It looks like there will be a third interstate
online poker network in the US shortly. Even if it's not nearly as thrilling as more states joining the small number of states that have allowed online poker, it's still progress. Competition is beneficial. Without much debate, BetMGM stated during an investor presentation on Monday that pooled liquidity between the states where its poker rooms are located is "imminent."
This implies that online poker players in New Jersey and Michigan will have another choice for cross-border play in the near future—exactly when that is, we do not know. BetMGM operates one brand in Michigan and three in New Jersey: partypoker, Borgata Poker, and BetMGM. Players on all four platforms will be able to sit at the same tables following the network launch.
Regarding the competition, WSOP shares traffic across New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware, while PokerStars also has a network spanning from New Jersey to Michigan. Regretfully, residents of Delaware will soon be removed from the WSOP network. The three non-WSOP-branded poker rooms in Delaware and other WSOP sites run on the 888 platform; however, the state is moving its contractual provider to Rush Street Interactive. Therefore, the Delaware locations won't be connected to the interstate network since they will shortly run on different software.
At some point, Michigan will probably be included in WSOP's network of states. There is an online poker room there, but it is incompatible with the other states on the network since it runs a more recent version of 888's software dubbed "Poker 8."
Pennsylvania, one of the biggest poker markets in the US, is home to online poker rooms like BetMGM, WSOP, and PokerStars. However, because Pennsylvania has not ratified the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) to share liquidity with other states, it is effectively an online poker island.
Although it's unclear if it would ever want to, BetMGM may also expand its network to include West Virginia and Nevada. It already operates an online casino in West Virginia and has a license in Nevada, but neither state has much population (Nevada is ranked 33rd in the US, while West Virginia is ranked 40th), so there hasn't been a desire to grow. However, an interstate network reduces the risk because any newly launched online poker establishment will already have a player base.