Great news for US poker players
Online poker has just received a major boost in the USA through an agreement reached between New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware to share online player pools.
This is fantastic news for online poker players, who will now have access to a much bigger variety of games as well as benefit from the increased traffic and much bigger prize pools.
Through that it also becomes possible for grinders and professional poker players, who had been pushed out of the country by Black Friday to countries such as Canada and Mexico, to move back to the US and make a living there.
Milestone for online poker and IGaming in the USA
The deal marks a milestone for online poker and iGaming in the USA.
From a business perspective, the three-state collaboration will give a much bigger incentive for online poker rooms and iGaming companies to invest and operate in this market as well as to expand their offers in case they are already active.
So it’s a win-win situation for poker players, online poker sites and the states itself as they are benefiting from the earned taxes.
“This agreement marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for online gaming”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said:
“Pooling players with Nevada and Delaware will enhance annual revenue growth, attract new consumers, and create opportunities for players and Internet gaming operators. This agreement marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for online gaming, and we look forward to working with our partners in Nevada and Delaware in this endeavor.”
New Jersey leads the way
The milestone was reached four years after New Jersey passed their iGaming regulation.
“New Jersey has been a pioneer in the development of authorized, regulated online gaming, which has been a budding success since its launch in late 2013”, says Christie.
But New Jersey is not only leading the way for online poker in the USA, it is also benefiting extremely from it.
Huge increase in iGaming Revenue in New Jersey
Since the launch in 2013 gaming revenues have been steadily increasing every year, amounting to a staggering 196.7 Million Dollar in 2016. The estimates of iGaming revenue for 2017 are $240 million, which equals another 22% increase.
For next year record numbers are expected and there will logically be a major boost with the multi-state agreement reached.
Profit of the iGaming companies is also on the rise showing a huge increase of 27.1 percent compared to last year.
New Online poker rooms expected to open up
It is also expected that the number of online poker sites and iGaming operators, currently 23, will increase heavily.
Poker sites and iGaming operators are already submitting products to get approval to operate in all three states:
“New Jersey stands prepared to approve a game offering for all three states as soon as an operator submits such a product for testing,” stated David Rebuck, Director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
It will be very interesting to see how the new market will develop.
One thing seems certain, this is not only a step into the right direction, but could mark the beginning of the return of online poker in the USA.
