PokerStars still in the starting blocks
It has been a momentous week for online poker in the United States, as Pennsylvania officially joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), allowing its poker players to share virtual tables with players in other states. Pennsylvania is the sixth member of MSIGA, following Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, and West Virginia.
Monday, April 28, was the first day of shared liquidity for the Keystone State, and that same day, both BetMGM (and its sister skin Borgata Poker) and WSOP Online expanded their player bases. BetMGM’s interstate network now connects Pennsylvania with Michigan and New Jersey, while WSOP Online covers those three states plus Nevada.
One major player is missing, though: PokerStars. In November 2019, PokerStars was the first operator to launch online poker in Pennsylvania, but so far, it has stayed on the shared liquidity sidelines in the Commonwealth. There is no word as to why it has not jumped in yet or when it will link its tables with its sites in Michigan and New Jersey.
likely getting all its ducks in a row before flipping the switch
PokerStars players probably shouldn’t worry, though. Stars is one of the biggest brands in online poker and is not known to sit things out. It is likely getting all its ducks in a row before flipping the switch and will just have to deal with any ramifications that come with being the last mover of Pennsylvania’s main poker names.
BetMGM, WSOP celebrate
In the meantime, both BetMGM and WSOP Online celebrated shared liquidity. BetMGM held a special freeroll Monday night for its players in the newly combined Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey. Dubbed the “Free-Note,” a take on its normal “C-Note” name, as the tourney usually costs $109 to enter, the event had a $30,000 prize pool, plus gave the winner a $5,000 Aria prize package, consisting of a $3,500 live tournament buy-in and $1,500 for travel and lodging.
WSOP Online announced itself as the first interstate poker network to add Pennsylvania by unveiling the 2025 WSOP Online bracelet schedule. In previous years, Pennsylvanians could participate in WSOP Online bracelet events, but separately from the rest of the crowd. Now, all 30 tournaments can be played by those seated at WSOP Online in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada.
Five of the online bracelet events will have live final tables in Las Vegas. And, for the first time, there will be an Online Gold Bracelet Leaderboard with over $30,000 in prizes.
BetRivers on the way?
While BetMGM, WSOP Online, and PokerStars are the only three interstate poker networks in the US’s limited online poker market, they may soon have additional competition. Though no timeline has been given (so maybe “soon” is a tad optimistic), Rush Street Interactive (RSI) said on Tuesday that it plans to launch BetRivers Poker in multiple states and combine their player pools.
BetRivers Poker, the US-based reincarnation of Phil Galfond’s Run It Once Poker, launched in Pennsylvania in late October 2024.
RSI was already known to be working toward a BetRivers Poker launch in Michigan and New Jersey, but again, no dates are known to the public.
Delaware Lottery went with RSI as its online gaming provider
The news of a future BetRivers interstate network likely bodes well for Delaware. Delaware’s three racinos each had branded online poker rooms for about a decade, using 888’s online poker platform and sharing liquidity with WSOP in Nevada and New Jersey. But at the beginning of 2024, the Delaware Lottery went with RSI as its online gaming provider, resulting in the shutdown of online poker in the state.
Delaware is too small to support online poker on its own, but RSI could very well connect it to the other states as it rolls out its poker network. Same goes for West Virginia, which has no poker rooms despite online poker being legal. With the now-larger interstate network, RSI (and maybe even BetMGM) could finally get the Mountain State on the online poker map.
