Delaware, Nevada to Combine Player Pools

Delaware, Nevada to Combine Player Pools

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

It’s been a long, hard, uphill struggle to legalise online poker in the United States post-Black Friday, but recently a few rays of hope have begun to shine through.

This week, not only were thousands of players told that they would finally be receiving their frozen Full Tilt balances, but there has also been a crucial step forward in state legislation.

Today, Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware and Gov. Brian Sandoval of Nevada signed a very important piece of paper. This piece of paper decreed that people from both the states of Delaware and Nevada will hereby be allowed to play online poker against each other – while in different states.

The potential consequences of this are huge. “An interstate compact between Nevada and Delaware is not unexpected, but is hugely significant for the future of iGaming in the US and carries with it massive implications for the future of iGaming,” said iGaming Expert and Editor of iGaming Business Magazine, Michael Caselli.

“Pooling player liquidity is the key to developing a robust poker industry, and the only way to do that effectively in the US is by states working together to allow their citizens to play together across state lines.”

“The impact this has on the industry is huge. It's another nail in the coffin of any proposed Federal legislation for online poker, but more importantly if the future includes the development of multiple interstate poker networks, then there is a new poker network war about to commence, which will dramatically alter the competitive strategies of both suppliers and operators in American iGaming.”

The technology is as yet undeveloped, and so it is too early to speculate on whether this decision will cause a domino effect. However, the governors involved are hopeful.

"We should be doing everything we can to make our gaming industry as competitive as it can be," said Brian Sandoval, the Republican governor representing Nevada.



Tags: Online Poker, Black Friday, Nevada, Delaware, Sandoval, Markell