Michigan has entered the chat

With the World Series of Poker about to begin in Las Vegas, Caesars Entertainment has announced that at long last, WSOP.com online poker players in Michigan can play at the same tables as their counterparts in Nevada and New Jersey. With the interstate expansion, WSOP.com has also been rebranded to WSOP Online.

a better experience, more value, and the biggest prize pools of the year”

“This platform upgrade is long overdue and is a big win for our players,” said Danielle Barille, Vice President of Online Poker at Caesars Digital, in Friday’s press release. “The best is yet to come for WSOP Online tournaments, and we’re thrilled to bring Michigan players into the fold with Nevada and New Jersey, resulting in a better experience, more value, and the biggest prize pools of the year.”

Nevada and New Jersey players are required to install the new WSOP Online app starting Monday and create a new online poker account. No need to fret, though, as all balances, rewards, and tournament tickets will be transferred over from their previous WSOP.com accounts. Michigan has already been using the software, which is based on 888poker’s “Poker 8” platform.

Loads of online bracelet events

Players transitioning from WSOP.com to WSOP Online will get to enjoy new features, including Mystery Bounty tournaments and other game varieties that weren’t available previously, four-tabling on the mobile app, and multi-flight re-entry tournaments.

The shared liquidity also means that Michigan players will no longer need to have their own World Series of Poker online bracelet event schedule. They will now compete in the same events as players in Nevada and New Jersey. There are 30 online bracelet events on tap this summer, beginning June 1.

There will be five high roller online bracelet events, with price points of $3,200 (two), $5,300 (two), and $10,000 (one). Each of them will play out their six-handed final tables live in Las Vegas. The tournaments that begin June 18 and June 29 will shift to Las Vegas on July 14, the ones on July 10 and July 11 will have their final tables on July 15, and the July 13 online event will contest its final table on July 17.

Replacing Delaware…sort of

The World Series of Poker has hyped the union of Michigan, Nevada, and New Jersey as the first time a poker operator has pooled liquidity across three US jurisdictions. This is technically true, but just technically. For years, Nevada and New Jersey players also shared tables with players in Delaware. The technicality is that Delaware online poker was not on the WSOP brand, but rather three separately-branded sites linked to racinos.

Delaware players were left on the outside looking in

The three Delaware sites used 888’s software just like WSOP.com and were able to share liquidity with Nevada and Delaware. The most glaring exception to this was when it came to WSOP online bracelet events. Delaware players were left on the outside looking in, as they were not on the WSOP-branded platform. And now, because the state switched to Rush Street Interactive as its online gaming provider in December 2023, the poker sites had to shut down while they wait for their new platform to rev up (Phil Galfond’s Run It Once, bought by RSI in March 2022). Once they are back, they won’t be on the WSOP Online network.

That leaves Pennsylvania as the one state with a WSOP-branded online poker site that is not part of the interstate shared liquidity. The Keystone State has yet to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) and thus is ring-fenced from the other states.

West Virginia is also part of MSIGA, but it does not have any online poker rooms.