BetMGM, WSOP Add Pennsylvania Players To Interstate Pools, But PokerStars Still Waiting

It’s almost summer, and in Pennsylvania, the pool is open.

Just five days after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the agreement to add Pennsylvania to the list of states pooling online poker players across state lines, two major poker networks connected the Keystone State with other jurisdictions Monday — while a third major poker operator is proving slower to act.

As they announced they would last week, Pennsylvania sites BetMGM Poker and Borgata Poker lifted the virtual wall at 9 a.m. Monday and combined their players with Michigan and New Jersey. (BetMGM and Borgata are separate skins operating in the same network.)

Also on Monday, WSOP Online added Pennsylvania to a pool that includes Michigan, New Jersey, and Nevada.

But as of our publication time on Tuesday, PokerStars — which was the first site to pool its New Jersey and Michigan players — had not yet added Pennsylvania to that pool.

Casino Reports reached out to PokerStars PR on Monday for information and comment and did not receive a response.

Shapiro: ‘It’s common sense’

Pennsylvania is, by population, the largest state with legal online poker, and it therefore follows that it is the largest state to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).

By pooling players across state lines, Pennsylvania both enhances the online poker experience for players inside the state and does the same for players in other states. Because poker is a peer-to-peer game, larger player pools mean more tables running, richer tournament prize pools, and games filling faster.

In an interview with PokerGO conducted on the day he signed MSIGA last week, Shapiro spoke seemingly with an understanding of the impact of interstate liquidity for online poker players.

“What made me want to do it is, I think it’s common sense,” Shapiro said. “There’s a bunch of folks … out there, including 150,000 people right here in my state, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who love to play poker online. And I think they should be able to play poker online, not just with people from Pennsylvania, but they should be able to reach out and do it with people from other states, not have to wait as long for a game, and have games that are more vibrant, more competitive.”

Shapiro added, “It’s good for the Commonwealth taxpayers as well.”

Perfect timing for WSOP

The WSOP Online pooling across four states is particularly significant because the annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas begins in four weeks — on May 27 — and it will be accompanied by a series of WSOP Online Gold Bracelet events beginning May 31.

Players in all four pooled states will now be able to compete for the same online bracelets — not to mention play in online satellites to try to win seats for in-person WSOP tournaments.

“The addition of the Pennsylvania player pool to WSOP Online comes at the perfect time, and we’re ready to give avid poker players in the Keystone State the opportunity to raise the stakes on their poker play,” said Caesars Entertainment Vice President of Online Poker Danielle Barille in a press release. “This expansion enhances the experience for players by building even greater prize pools that are up for grabs all summer long as a part of our jam-packed WSOP Online schedule. We’re ready to see who earns our largest online prize pools ever once the first hands are dealt this summer.”

No timing yet for PokerStars

Meanwhile, PokerStars, the most heavily trafficked site in Pennsylvania, has not moved on combining its players with those in New Jersey and Michigan. Poker journalist Nick Jones posted on social media that Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) spokesperson Douglas Harbach said his agency will “continue to work with PokerStars but cannot give a timetable on them joining.”

In the most recent Pennsylvania gaming revenue report, PokerStars accounted for $1.33 million of the $2.56 million in total online poker revenue collected in the state.