Earlier this month, false reports came out about Caesars Entertainment launching its real money, World Series of Poker-branded, Nevada online poker site before the start of the 44th Annual World Series of Poker. It was wishful thinking and did make some sense: what better time to launch a WSOP intrastate poker site than when thousands of poker players will be converging on Las Vegas for the actual, live WSOP? But alas, the rumors were not true.
Now, however, it does appear fairly likely that the site will be launching this summer. Now, we just want to warn you that this is still just a rumor, so don’t get overly excited and call your grandma just yet. Here is what we know: according to Two Plus Two poster “parisron,” the World Series of Poker dealers were told at orientation that the new online poker site will open for business “in July sometime, no exact date yet.” This information comes from a dealer friend of his that attended the orientation.
Giving further credence to this rumor were photos posted in the same Two Plus Two thread this morning from the halls of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, home of the World Series of Poker. The series of three pictures show various promotional signs and banners touting WSOP.com. The first seems to clearly indicate that the site will launch soon, as it reads, “GAME BACK ON(LINE). REAL MONEY ONLINE POKER COMING THIS SUMMER. SIGN UP TODAY IN THE LAMBADA ROOM.”
Another sign promotes a $100,000 freeroll on WSOP.com, the first event of the “WSOP.com Online Championships.” The third details the WSOP.com Online Championships schedule, which is slated to begin October 25th with the $100,000 freeroll and end with a two-day event November 4th and 5th (the same days as the World Series of Poker’s November Nine), called the “$100K Champions Freeroll.” It appears that there will be ten events in this series, counting the starting and ending freerolls, with a total of $500,000 in money added by the site.
WSOP.com does already exist, but only in a play money format in the United States. The current site uses software provided by 888 Holdings; the real money WSOP.com will likely use the same software, as Caesars Entertainment has a partnership with 888.
WSOP.com will be arguably the most highly anticipated real money online poker launch in the United States. Caesars is a gaming giant with loads of resources and marketing dollars and the World Series of Poker brand is recognized by poker players worldwide. What will be interesting to see is how the eventual launch will impact Ultimate Poker, which is to this point the only real money, intrastate online poker room in Nevada. The site went live a month ago and, despite some registration problems and a controversy surrounding its use of iovation for identity verification, its traffic grew steadily during its first week. Traffic peaked two weeks ago during the site’s millionth hand promotion and has since leveled off and stayed steady, with daily peak cash game player numbers generally in the 300’s.