With the addition of Pennsylvania to the existing shared liquidity pool of regulated states, the combined US player base for online regulated poker is now much bigger. BetRivers Poker – already live in Pennsylvania – is now preparing to expand into new territories.
In a short statement on April 29, it said, “Rush Street Interactive is preparing to launch BetRivers Poker in multiple states following Pennsylvania’s entry into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) and approval of shared player liquidity.”
PokerOrg spoke with BetRivers ambassador Phil Galfond about what the news means for the site and what players can expect in the near future.
What does Pennsylvania’s addition to the shared liquidity pool mean for BetRivers?
It’s exciting because we obviously started in Pennsylvania, as that's where BetRivers had the biggest footprint. Now that we've established a base there, we're preparing for a multi-state launch. It's exciting to multiply our player base and reach more of the US market.
Does this make you hopeful for a quicker, more streamlined path to country-wide regulation of online poker?
Looking ahead, I think it’s a small positive. I think the big win will be a major state like California, New York or Texas just adding a ton of player liquidity. Then, hopefully, other states can follow suit because online poker is such a liquidity-based game. Now that Pennsylvania's added, and we have a number of states, there can be some reasonably big tournaments and cash games can get pretty good.
I feel like the regulated market is so handcuffed compared to those who are willing to break regulations.
In a recent Run It Once Elite Q&A, you spoke about the pace of regulation being too slow. Is that the biggest roadblock online poker faces or is there something else going on behind the scenes?
I have an opinion, but I don't have much more visibility due to working with BetRivers. My opinion has been that it is a lobbyist thing; it is a money thing primarily. And poker, compared to sports betting or casino games, is not as lucrative. I think if all of the online gaming sites in the US had poker, there would be more lobbying, money, and power behind it. And I think that might be what knocks over the most meaningful domino.
It's funny, I want BetRivers to be the biggest online poker platform in the US – and we have a ways to go – and, at the same time, I want more competition because that's what I think leads to more liquidity.
'The whole mission is to make the online poker dream persist'
What effects do you think the expansion will have in regard to what you can offer your player base?
So, we launched in Pennsylvania with a program called Rakeback Revolution. Essentially, we wanted to reward our players in a more meaningful and transparent way than we felt our competitors were. It's part of a larger philosophy at BetRivers – to reward players more meaningfully and generously than elsewhere. For myself, as a poker player, the whole mission behind Run It Once, and then selling to BetRivers and working with them, is to make the online poker dream persist. And one of the ways to do that is with low rake or very high rewards.
The good news is that it went well for us in Pennsylvania. We feel like it worked. We're bringing that to the other states – when we enter them. I feel like we were limited in how much grassroots support that got because we were only in one state and it just wasn't meaningful to enough people. What I'm really hoping is, as we expand to more states, that those players realize what a good opportunity it is for poker and it picks up more steam that way.
Do you have a timeline for when players in other states can expect to play on BetRivers?
We're working hard on it and it will be very soon, at least in most of the states. We're aiming to, over time, launch poker in all of the states where BetRivers already has a presence. So, if you're in a state where there is a BetRivers Casino or Sportsbook, we're on our way there. It will be very soon.
Will fans be able to watch you stream again on BetRivers anytime soon?
I definitely plan to do more of it. I really enjoy streaming. More recently, I played some heads-up against Phil Hellmuth, which was somewhat fun, somewhat not fun. I wouldn't say very soon, not before the World Series, but after.
I think showing the site is really valuable because, in my opinion, it's one of our competitive advantages. The site was built beautifully; it feels really good to play on, and there are some unique features that make it really fun.
When we launched as Run It Once Poker – and this holds true with BetRivers – everybody assumed it was going to be super tough competition because of the training site and my brand is one of playing good poker. The games were not as tough as people thought.
I think a lot of regulars have not made the switch to BetRivers because there's more traffic elsewhere. So, the people that want to play eight tables of 200NL... we can't support that yet. And so we have a lot more recreational players than I think people would assume and one of the things I like about playing on the site is showing people that the game quality is really good.
