WSOP Nevada is #1 in US Regulated Online Poker
The World Series of Poker has driven significant virtual traffic to the WSOP Internet poker site in Nevada. A 50% cash game increase in traffic is currently showing more than 150 players sitting down to the cyber poker tables at any one time at that site over any 7 day period. That is good enough to rank the website as the busiest in the three state regulated online poker industry in the United States. The other significant Vegas online poker portal, Ultimate Poker, has generally been unaffected by the influx of new players to the WSOP website. The Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is the physical home to the land based WSOP tourney schedule, and the casino wisely created a special Grinder Room to cater specifically to online poker action. WSOP also set up special cash game speed and mini tournaments set to run during scheduled break times of the World Series of Poker events. You can learn more about this poker site in our WSOP poker site review.
Despite a population just 32.6% the size of New Jersey, Nevada is presently home to 64.2% of all cash game traffic delivered by US-based and regulated online poker rooms. Obviously, players attending the WSOP from around the world are on hand in Nevada, and it appears that they brought their laptops and tablets with them. As global online poker traffic has slumped, WSOP.com Nevada has grown exponentially. It will be interesting to watch through July and August to see if this spike in traffic can be maintained after the largest brick-and-mortar poker tournament in the world has ended.
Nevada Weekend Online Poker Tournament Wrap-up for June 13 – 15
While there are three companies offering Internet poker through Nevada regulated websites, there are only two that register on gambling’s radar. And both of those site operators, WSOP and UP, offer scheduled Vegas online poker tournaments every weekend. On top of the six regularly scheduled weekend poker tournaments, WSOP.com delivered some of the largest individual payouts the young US online gambling market has ever seen. That is due to the conclusion of the WSOP.com Online Championships (WSOPOC). The WSOP site saw 964 contestants battling it out for 149 prizes, totaling a memorable $235,105. One of those events required a $215 buy-in, delivering a 2014 WSOP Main Event seat worth $10,000.
Winning the WSOPOC Main Event was Las Vegas online poker player Peaches. For his first-place finish he pulled down a cool $48,000. The WSOPOC Main Event attracted 571 entrants with 155 rebuys. This created a prize pool of $137,200. However, $200,000 was guaranteed, meaning a very generous overlay of $62,800 for the poker players who entered that online tournament. Also at WSOP, LuckSackGMZ (CindrllaMan) was the winner of a $10,000 entry into the 2014 WSOP Main Event.$1,895.25 was won by _Underscore_ in the Sunday $3000 guaranteed, and the Sunday $55 freezeout was taken down by NioNio, along with $1,069.50 in first-place prize money. WWOLF88 won $999 and first prize in the $33 reentry $3,000 Saturday guarantee.
Over at UP, 276 poker hopefuls bluffed, check-raised and went all in hoping to catch some of the $27,866 in prize money awarded in four weekend tournaments. The Friday $2,000 nightly delivered $1,000 to m1a1tank19k, a frequent money winner at the Ultimate Poker website. The Chase the Dream Sunday event had 148 entrants buying in for $25 to create a prize pool of just $3,698.52. This created an incredible overlay of $11,301.48. First and second place each received $5,000 apiece, with those spots going to 4BETFOLD and commatoast. The Sunday $10,000 guarantee at UP was won by MattZman, along with $2,900. Sunday night’s $2,000 nightly R&A saw BobbyM reign victorious, claiming $1,146.59 in first-place prize money.