WSOP.com is launching in Pennsylvania next Monday, July 12, 2021.
The announcement came via Twitter. "HUGE NEWS," @WSOP tweeted. "WSOP.com 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 http://WSOP.com poker client."
While something like this was expected, the turnaround time has been pretty short. Not only did the WSOP move fast to set this up after the 2018 Wire Act memo hit the circular filing cabinet, but the company managed to sit on the news right up until a week before launch.
The site had most of the work done a few months ago, just waiting to pull the trigger. The deal with 888 to use their software was signed months ago. As early as May this year, the WSOP announced that WSOP PA was in the digitally-shuffled cards.
However, given the effect the Wire Act could have on their entire U.S.-facing business, they wisely held off until the courts ruled on whether inter-state poker was going to be nixed.
The Department of Justice's failure to appeal the Wire Act memo ruling last month was the first domino. Which dominos it topples next will depend a little on specific state legislatures, voters, and regulators.
However, hopes are high that, with the Wire Act situation resolved, Pennsylvania will be looking to join Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey in the MSIGA contract. This would allow the states to share their player pools.
It is likely that Michigan will follow suit and join the shared player pool on a pretty short timeline.
For now, WSOP.com is moving ahead in both PA and MI without shared liquidity.
Launch pad Pennsylvania
WSOP.com is pulling out the usual stops for a new site launch. The site will match your first deposit up to $1,000 and there will be a bunch of welcome freerolls.
The new site will be using a brand new software. This is something of an admission about the quality of their previous build. Built originally for 888.com, the new program aims avoid the more ropey aspects of their old software.
The old software is likely to remain in place for NV and NJ players in the short run. But it seems unlikely that either 888 or the WSOP will balk at widening the scope of the contract should it work out well in PA and MI.
One of the biggest changes with the new software will be an increased variety of games. Omaha will become available, for example.
It will be interesting to see if WSOP.com has a better chance against PokerStarsPA, which continued to dominate the market after MGM launched their PA-facing site. With the WSOP coming up in a couple of months, there will be plenty of room to push the new site through various media channels.
Featured image source: Twitter
