WSOP Progress One Month after Real Money Launch

WSOP opened its online poker room in Nevada to the public on September 19, 2013.  One month has passed since the state’s second online poker room launched.  It created some competition that may have hurt its only competitor’s traffic, but it brought more players into the Nevada regulated online poker market. 

Nevada’s first regulated Omaha and Seven Card Stud games, combined with quality software, are contributing factors to the increase in the state’s online poker liquidity.  While the actual numbers are not significant, the percentage gain in overall Nevada online poker traffic is, according to stats provided by PokerScout. 

WSOP Changes since Launch

WSOP has made several changes since it launched for real money.  The biggest impact may have been adding Sprint as a geolocation provider. Sprint customers could not access WSOP when the site first went live due to the lack of an agreement between the two companies.  This has since been resolved.  Virgin Mobile, Sprint’s prepaid cellular service, was also added as a provider after the site launched for real money play.

New limits were added to Omaha High/Low and Seven Card Stud High/Low.  WSOP launched with just $.05/$.10 and $.10/$.20 limits for these games, but has since added tables as high as $10/$20.  Players will also find 6-Max Omaha High/Low tables.  These were not available when WSOP launched.

WSOP First Deposit Bonus

WSOP offered a 100% up to $400 first deposit bonus from the start.  WSOP did not originally advertise the bonus and some players may have missed out on it.  The deposit bonus is now offered to all new players and is openly advertised on the WSOP.com website.

WSOP Marketing

As noted in a story USPoker published after the WSOP launch, there was virtually no advertising for WSOP during its first week.  This has since changed.  WSOP is running commercials on local TV in Nevada.  These advertisements have been a hit with players.  WSOP also purchased billboard space along major thoroughfares in the state.  The company is even using a hotel tower at Rio for a massive banner advertisement.  The site has also purchased advertising on a number of poker related websites. 

Traffic

According to Pokerscout.com, the WSOP traffic has nearly doubled since September 19th.  Some of this traffic may have been at the expense of Ultimate Poker, where traffic has been in a slow decline.  There is no doubt that WSOP brought new players into the system.  

Room for Improvement for WSOP

According to player complaints, WSOP has some room for improvement.  The two biggest issues cited by players appear to be email support and the inability to deposit or withdraw cash at casino cages.  These issues have been mentioned numerous times in the WSOP Sponsored Forum at Two Plus Two.  WSOP is aware of these player complaints and it seems apparent that solutions are being worked out behind the scenes.  In the meantime, players can deposit using a prepaid Mastercard and checks issued by WSOP may be cashed at any Caesars Entertainment cashier cage. 

(Photo credit Boblauria.com)