DraftKings’ Peer-To-Peer ‘Electric Poker’ Game Goes Interstate

DraftKings is not an online poker site, per se, but it does offer one peer-to-peer online poker game. And as of last Wednesday, that game is no longer ring-fenced within the single states where it’s available.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) formally shared the news Monday afternoon that, five days earlier, DraftKings had launched its “Electric Poker” game as a multi-state product, allowing players in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to pool together and compete against each other. All of the states involved had previously opted into the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, which allows for such shared liquidity.

Now when players make their way to the Electric Poker lobby within the DraftKings Casino app, they’re greeted with the message across the top of the screen, “Electric Poker players in MI, NJ, and PA now have combined player pools.”

This was possible after what the MGCB called “a thorough review,” which “determined that DraftKings meets all regulatory requirements to conduct multi-state internet poker.”

Other online poker sites, including WSOP Online, BetMGM Poker, and PokerStars Exclusively on FanDuel, already permit interstate pooling. The PokerStars/FanDuel product was the most recent to make the move, and it provided an immediate uptick in revenue.

Poker skill meets casino luck

Electric Poker is a similar game to PokerStars’ “Spin & Gos” and WSOP’s “Blast Poker,” in that it’s a three-handed competition played in a hyper-turbo format with the prize pool determined by a slot-style spin. Most often, the Electric Poker prize pool is either two times or three times the buy-in, but occasionally players get lucky and can play for four, five, 10, 100, 1,000, or 10,000 times their stake.

At launch in 2024, the buy-in levels were $1, $5, $10, and $25. A $50 price point has since been added.

At any prize spin 4x or below, the games are winner-take-all. At 5x and 10x, the top two spots get paid, and at 100x and above, everybody wins something.

The games feature two-minute levels and hefty blinds relative to the starting chip stacks, meaning there’s minimal room to maneuver. Also, somewhere between six and 12 minutes into the game depending on the prize pool size, the game goes into “Electric Mode” and everyone is automatically all-in every hand.

So, there is a degree of decision making, and no-limit hold’em skill can offer an advantage, but there’s also considerably more luck influencing the outcome than in a traditional, deep-stacked game.

Games begin whenever three players buy in at the same price level. Now that Electric Poker welcomes players from all three states to the same virtual tables, customers will undoubtedly find that the games fill faster, with less waiting around for opponents to show up.