WSOP Prepares For The Worst, Hopes For The Best With Nine Online Bracelet Events

History

Nevada was the first state to pass an online gambling bill, accomplishing the feat way back in the summer of 2011. It was also the first state with a state licensed online gaming site in the United States, when the now defunct Ultimate Poker launched on April 30, 2013.

On September 19, 2013, Ultimate Poker was joined by Caesars, when the company launched WSOP.com, the country's second licensed real-money online poker site.

On February 19, 2014, South Point Casino's Real Gaming became the third online poker site in the state.

The state's licensed online poker rooms dropped back to two when Ultimate Poker closed its doors on November 14, 2014.

Major players

With the exit of Ultimate Poker (which benefitted from a first-mover advantage), Nevada's online poker industry is ruled by WSOP.com, with Real Gaming little more than also-ran in the market, with negligible traffic.

On top of controlling over 99% of the state's online poker traffic, WSOP.com 's clout in Nevada is even stronger thanks to 888 (Caesars and WSOP.com's iGaming partner) contemplating launching their own online poker platform in Nevada, as well as 888 having partnerships in place with several other potential online poker operators in Nevada, including TI.

Even  more importantly, Caesars partnership with 888 gives them another leg up on any potential competitors thanks to the interstate agreement the state has with Delaware, where the only operator happens to be 888.

In addition to 888 and TI, and despite WSOP.com's seeming stranglehold, several other online poker operators have been rumored to be considering entering the market:

AcePlay, a social poker product run by American Casino & Entertainment Properties, the parent company of Stratosphere Casino;

HDPoker, another online poker platform that morphed into a social poker game. HDPoker was built from scratch by Siena Hotel Spa & Casino.

However, with the current economic conditions, WSOP.com's monopoly, and the state's low liquidity ceiling, future launches seem unlikely without additional states legalizing online poker coupled with a willingness to partner with Nevada.

What does the future hold?

The future of Nevada's online poker industry is still unwritten.

Beyond their in-state industry, the state will likely battle it out with New Jersey to be the regulatory hub for online poker and online casino markets in the U.S., if and when more states come online.

With no room for another online poker operator, Nevada might also look to expand beyond online poker, and allow their operators to launch online casino games, if state lawmakers and regulators want to take (what seems to be) the likely next step.

As has been the case over the past several years, California is an underdog to pass an online poker bill, but that doesn't mean the topic won't be front and center over the course of 2016.