In this column we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
ACR cancels PKOSS events, issues refunds
America’s Card Room (ACR) had a tough time with their Progressive Knockout Online Super Series. Technical issues prevented the Day 2s of three final events of the series to run out in the scheduled way. ACR contemplated postponing the final stages of the events, but ultimately decided to cancel them altogether.
Now, players will be made whole by cash and ticket refunds based on ICM. The $25 million guaranteed festival was highly anticipated and it’s a shame that this is how it ended. The way ACR handled the crisis was definitely good, but these things should really not happen in the first place. If it was merely technical issues or any kind of hacking attacks have not been confirmed.
So we listened and tried to make as many happy as possible out of shitty situation. All day 2 events will be cancelled and players paid out via chip chop. All remaining players will also get a free buy in to an event equal to the cancelled event @ACR_POKER
— Chris Moneymaker (@CMONEYMAKER) May 25, 2021
With all this in mind, the Winning Poker Network, home to ACR, PokerKing and Black Chip Poker just announced a new $350k guaranteed festival to start on 30th May. It’s a Micro Stakes festival including two series in one, the Freebuy Super Series (FBSS) and Nano Online Super Series (NOSS). All events are $5 and below and will run until 3rd July. Fingers crossed that this series will go smoothly.
U.S. Poker Updates
There is a lot of movement in U.S. poker. Many states are expanding their offerings and poker operators are competing for the attention of players.
888poker to grow in the U.S.
888poker had always been a go-to poker site for the U.S. market. They were the dominant brand at the WSOP, also powering WSOP.com and so starting to create a strong foothold in the competitive U.S. market. But since new states have started legalising online poker, 888poker was missing from the lists of operators that showed up.
Now, 888poker announced that they will drive heavy efforts in 2022 to gain back their original strength and become a big name in America. This will also mean operating with different brands and offering their platform when combining forces with land-based casinos.
888poker also signed a multi-year partnership extension with Caesars earlier this year, signaling that its collaboration will last until at least 2026. A big first sign that things are moving forward is the announcement of WSOP.com launching in Pennsylvania and Michigan this summer.
Entain secures 3-Year license extension in Nevada
The parent company of partypoker and a joint owner of BetMGM, Entain, has received a 3-year interactive gaming license extension in Nevada. In the Silver State, ‘Interactive Gaming’ refers to online betting and gaming, which is currently limited to internet poker. The fact that they hold the license in the state, however, does not mean that they are going to launch online poker just yet.
If Entain/partypoker decides to start offering online poker in Nevada, this can be pooled with New Jersey and Delaware and this would mean that Nevada can become a very attractive online poker state.
GGPoker beating PokerStars in global Cash Game traffic?
The big news will be when it actually does happen, but it’s been written on the horizon for a while now: GGPoker is about to beat PokerStars in cash game traffic. While it’s unlikely that PokerStars can be beaten on the tournament front any time soon, cash games have been a bit neglected by the industry leader. And now, for the first time in 15 years, a poker site is within 10% of PokerStars when it comes to real money cash game play.
And it’s not partypoker, it’s GGPoker. The rising star in the poker world is serious about making a mark, just think about the Guinness World Record they set for the biggest online tournament, and this could be an even bigger blow to PokerStars.
But Stars is already reacting by setting up some cash game promotions. $27,500 are up for grabs in daily cash game leaderboards in May and June 2021. This should increase traffic and create some distance to GGPoker – at least for a while.
BestPoker to shutdown
The iPoker network has announced that they will shut down their poker site BestPoker on 31st May 2021. BestPoker existed since 2005 and while it had a fairly quiet existence in the beginning, 2020 started whirling things up for the poker site. First they changed to the iPoker network from the GGPoker network in June 2020, then Entain bought Enlabs, and so iPoker. This month Entain decided to shut down BestPoker due to its Curacao offshore license and focus on the Russian market.
The BestPoker website will remain open after 1st June for an unknown time, so that players can withdraw their funds.
