World Series of Poker to launch real-money site in Nevada
The World Series of Poker website will become the second real-money site in the state when it launches at 9:19 a.m. PST on Sept. 19. Nevada residents and those visiting the state over the age of 21 will be eligible to play on the site.
Ultimate Poker was the first online poker site to launch for real-money play in Nevada. It dealt the first licensed and regulated hand of online poker in the state on April 30. Nevada is currently the only U.S. state to have real-money online poker rooms operating. The state does not authorize the operation of other online casino games.
New Jersey and Delaware are in the process of issuing licenses to operate the full suite of casino games within their states.
Caesars had hoped to launch the site during this summer's WSOP, but the licensing process for Caesars and software provider 888 Technologies took longer than expected, Caesars CEO Mitch Garber said.
The WSOP poker room will be a downloadable client available to both PC and Mac users. A mobile version will not be available at launch. Players will have access to multiple online deposit and withdrawal methods, including e-Checks, credit and debit cards and paper checks. Players will not be able to make deposits and withdrawals at Caesars' brick-and-mortar properties.
The site will offer no-limit and fixed-limit Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud and Stud Hi/Lo and will feature cash games, Sit & Go's and multi-table tournaments. The WSOP, which has been in existence since 1970, also plans to offer online satellites to its live events around the world, beginning with satellites to WSOP Europe events at the first launch.
"The online launch marks an important movement in the World Series of Poker," WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said during a conference call. "We know that there are more Chris Moneymakers out there, and WSOP.com is going to find them."
One of the site's flagship promotions will be the WSOP Online Championships, a series of nine tournaments with $500,000 in added money. Nine online players will win the opportunity to participate in the inaugural "Online Nine," which will be played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas along with the WSOP Main Event final table on Nov. 4-5.
"The Online Championships are a series of tournaments we created with two goals: To provide value to our players and to integrate what we've already done with the World Series of Poker," said Caesars senior vice president and general manager of online poker Geoff Stewart.
The site will also feature a loyalty program called the "Action Club," which will feature four monthly and two annual tiers. All players who contribute rake will be awarded points to be used for tournament buy-ins as well as for Total Rewards credits at any of Caesars' land-based properties. There are currently over 43 million members in Caesars' Total Rewards database, according to Garber.
The WSOP opened its first real-money online poker site in the U.K. in 2009.