The US online poker market is hoping for a big boost on May 1 when the state of New Jersey begins sharing liquidity with Nevada and Delaware.
This arrangement allows player in the three states to cross virtual state lines and play one another in head-to-heads and tournaments online and is a major shot in the arm for a segment of the US-facing online gambling industry that has failed to perform to expectations.
Gambling attorney Sarah Koch summed up the value of shared liquidity between states in an essay titled, Liquidity Pooling Critical to the Success of Online Poker, saying:
No matter how sophisticated the platform or how well-designed the user experience, the game will only be successful if there is a critical mass of players online at any given time. And poker rooms need a range of skill levels and buy-in levels. The best way to ensure 24/7 liquidity is to offer the game to a large number of players across time zones.
Koch’s point was clearly well-taken by gaming regulators in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware, as well as operators like Caesars Interactive, which signed on its affiliated brands WSOP.com and 888Poker.com.
For players in Nevada and Delaware, the opportunity to match wits against players in New Jersey adds a huge number of new competitors to what has been a very small pool of players. After all, New Jersey is the 11th most-populous US State while Nevada and Delaware rank 35th and 45th.
Players in Nevada and Delaware will have to download new software to participate in the interstate online poker pact. Currently, there’s no word on whether other states, like Pennsylvania, that are considering legalizing online gambling are also considering joining the liquidity share.