- Pennsylvania will not be part of the interstate compacts that states like New Jersey and Nevada are part of.
- This will be the third online poker option in Pennsylvania’s regulated poker market.
HARRISBURG, Penn. - The World Series of Poker online poker website is soon to be available to online gamblers in Pennsylvania.
While Pennsylvania has had online poker for almost three years (the first regulated poker website opened in November of 2019), it has only had one regulated option for most of that time.
Pokerstars, one of the biggest poker brands in the world, was that website, and until April 2021, was the only option for Pennsylvania’s poker players who wanted to play in the newly regulated market.
In April, BetMGM and Borgata’s partnership paid off with entry into the Pennsylvania market, and in July, the market will see a third competitor, the WSOP.
HUGE NEWS: https://t.co/k6cF9BfdmO is coming soon to PA 😍 🚨 The #1 poker site in the nation will be launching on July 12. Expect the best sign up offer, the largest guarantees, and new a new and improved https://t.co/k6cF9BfdmO poker client. pic.twitter.com/tlky8SsyZB
— WSOP (@WSOP) July 5, 2021
The WSOP brand is currently operating as an extension of Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment, in partnership with 888 Holdings.
The WSOP And Interstate Compacts
Pennsylvania’s WSOP operated website will not be part of the larger WSOP network - at least, not for the moment.
Normally, the WSOP operates with several states that have legalized poker in a large pool, governed by interstate compacts.
Only Pennsylvania and Michigan have legalized online poker without utilizing interstate compacts.
Since they currently do not have anything that would allow the WSOP to pool players in Pennsylvania with players in states like New Jersey and Nevada, who are currently subject to these interstate compacts, Pennsylvania will be sectioned off from the rest of online poker for now.
Basically, most states with legal poker allow players in that state to gamble online across state lines with other states that have regulated online poker
Pennsylvania is not one of those states, and that means the online poker world in Pennsylvania will be its own unique instance. Much of this conversation relies on the current federal government interpretation of the Wire Act, which prohibits interstate gambling in some forms.
The government has gone back and forth on what forms of gambling are permitted, and what ones are not.
Currently, many states have asked the government for a specific ruling on what the Wire Act does and does not cover, and such a ruling could allow Pennsylvania to join the already existing interstate compacts.
For now, however, Pennsylvania’s online gambling enthusiasts will have to be content with a third online poker brand being added to a formerly singular market.