Station Casinos and Ultimate Poker Open First Legal US Online Poker Site

Online poker was officially legalized in the state of Nevada in December of 2011 and since that date residents of the state have been patiently waiting for sites to go live. That day has finally arrive. UltimatePoker.com is now officially serving live online poker to residents of Nevada in conjunction with Station Casinos.

The story was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal early this morning, stating that UltimatePoker would go live at 9 a.m. PST with both limit and No-limit Texas Hold’em poker games. Cash games, sit-and-go tournaments, and multi-table tournaments are available starting with buy-ins ranging from pennies up to $100.

Tom Britling, the Chairman of Ultimate Poker, was quoted on Monday as saying “This is an important day for the gaming industry. We’re the first, not only in Nevada but in America, to offer real money poker in a regulated environment.”

Those wanting to play at UltimatePoker.com can create their real-money poker accounts starting today. They can then make deposits or make withdrawals at any of the 16 Station Casino locations in Southern Nevada.

If you are planning a trip to Nevada and would like to play online poker, you can also setup and account at the website, however you will not be able to deposit or play until you reach Nevada.

Technically, anyone playing at the site in the next couple of months will be glorified beta-testers as the site works out any kinks and provides reports to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The NGCB will receive and then review via public hearing a report on the site’s first 30 days of activity.

Expect a lot of promotion of the site in the next couple of months as the site tries to build a player base. Antonio Esfandiari was signed by the company a month ago to serve as a brand ambassador for the site and you will definitely see a lot of him in upcoming marketing campaigns.

Now we will start to get an idea of just how viable that intrastate online poker can be for Nevada. The success or failure of Ultimate Poker over the next few months will likely help to shape online poker not just in Nevada but in other states as well. Station Casinos won the race to get online first in Nevada. Who’s next?