WSOP.COM went live on Thursday the 19th of September, joining Ultimate Poker as the only legal, regulated poker sites in America. In this post, I'll give a brief review of both sites and a brief summary of the current state of online poker in America.
As of this writing, there are only two Legal Sites in America-- both of Nevada- Ultimate Poker, run by Station Casinos with a close alliance with UFC and WSOP.com, run by Caesars Entertainment, which owns the WSOP brand.
Ultimate Poker went live April 30th and has developed a solid base of regulars that play the site. It exclusively offers Texas Holdem in both cash and tournament versions. Average daily volume of players-- 150.
WSOP.com offers Holdem, Omaha and Stud poker. Average daily traffic is 75 (http://www.pokerscout.com/) at present and climbing steadily as Caesars is now beginning to ramp up advertising for this site.
Neither site at present has enough traffic for poker players to grind out a living. As other states come online (New Jersey on November 26th), the player pool will expand and offer a better experience to all.
Both sites have positive and negative points.
Ultimate Poker has superior customer service and has answered every complaint and suggestion thrown its way by players. However, their software lacks many of the usual bells and whistles poker players have come to expect such as waiting lists, the ability to take notes, among other features.
WSOP.com has far superior software, but trails UP in base numbers, as it charges higher rake by 11% and has an inferior VIP program.
All in all, these two sites are on a learning curve--- both have a presence in the 2+2 forums and interact with players on various issues to get up to speed. Both have opportunities to improve-- UP must improve its software and WSOP.com has experienced complaints with customer service.
Bottom line--- legal online poker in America is in its infancy, but improving by the day.
http://www.wsop.com/
http://www.ultimatepoker.com/
As of this writing, there are only two Legal Sites in America-- both of Nevada- Ultimate Poker, run by Station Casinos with a close alliance with UFC and WSOP.com, run by Caesars Entertainment, which owns the WSOP brand.
Ultimate Poker went live April 30th and has developed a solid base of regulars that play the site. It exclusively offers Texas Holdem in both cash and tournament versions. Average daily volume of players-- 150.
WSOP.com offers Holdem, Omaha and Stud poker. Average daily traffic is 75 (http://www.pokerscout.com/) at present and climbing steadily as Caesars is now beginning to ramp up advertising for this site.
Neither site at present has enough traffic for poker players to grind out a living. As other states come online (New Jersey on November 26th), the player pool will expand and offer a better experience to all.
Both sites have positive and negative points.
Ultimate Poker has superior customer service and has answered every complaint and suggestion thrown its way by players. However, their software lacks many of the usual bells and whistles poker players have come to expect such as waiting lists, the ability to take notes, among other features.
WSOP.com has far superior software, but trails UP in base numbers, as it charges higher rake by 11% and has an inferior VIP program.
All in all, these two sites are on a learning curve--- both have a presence in the 2+2 forums and interact with players on various issues to get up to speed. Both have opportunities to improve-- UP must improve its software and WSOP.com has experienced complaints with customer service.
Bottom line--- legal online poker in America is in its infancy, but improving by the day.
http://www.wsop.com/
http://www.ultimatepoker.com/
