As expected, Ultimate Poker earned unanimous final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission for its online poker system on Thursday. Launched April 30th, Ultimate Poker was in its 90-day trial period and is still the lone operator of intrastate online poker in the state of Nevada.
“Not only was Ultimate Gaming the first company in field trial and the first to launch live play, but today we became the first to receive final approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board,” said Ultimate Poker CEO Tobin Prior. “The board set extensive regulatory requirements for online poker in the state, and we are thrilled that our product has met and exceeded these standards.”
“The technology worked,” added the company’s Chief Technology Officer Chris Derossi. “We are able to offer a safe and secure online poker experience for the first time in America.”
The early life of Ultimate Poker hasn’t been without its hiccups. Part of the site’s geolocation process involves triangulating a player’s mobile phone in order to be sure the player is within state borders. For a while, some mobile providers, most notably Verizon Wireless, did not allow Ultimate Poker to triangulate their customers’ cell signals, thus locking many players out. The majority of those problems have been resolved. Ultimate Poker also experienced a minor controversy when it was discovered that a company called iovation was involved in player identification services. That company’s CEO is Greg Pierson, former executive at UltimateBet and one of the main conspirator’s in the UB cheating scandal. Ultimate Poker has since cut ties with iovation.
Now that Ultimate Poker has its final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission, a new version of its software is expected to be released any day now. One of the knocks on Ultimate Poker is that its poker client is rather rudimentary, lacking many of the advanced features of more established sites. This was actually a strategic move on the part of Ultimate Poker, as the company opted for speed to market and a better shot at final approval over bells and whistles that could have the potential for problems.
No exact date has been set for the launch of Ultimate Poker 2.0, but Ultimate Poker’s Chief Marketing Officer Joe Versaci tweeted that its release is imminent, saying, “Really soon. Just a few things lft & then we’ll push it out. I’ll give u a day when I have it, but we’re counting in days.”
Also coming is Ultimate Poker’s new VIP program. According to information posted recently Ultimate Poker representative Scott “Scottyy” Yeates on Two Plus Two, there will be eight monthly VIP levels and two yearly levels. The monthly levels will be as follows:
Tier 1: White Chip
Tier 2: Red Chip
Tier 3: Green Chip
Tier 4: Black Chip
Tier 5: Purple Chip
Tier 6: Yellow Chip
Tier 7: Orange Chip
Tier 8: Cranberry Chip
No information was given about what the rake/point requirements will be to reach the levels after Red Chip, which can be achieved by raking just two dollars in a month.
The two annual tiers are Gold Plaque, achieved by raking $10,000, and Platinum Plaque, achieved by raking $100,000.
