Michigan online poker players only have to wait a few more days to compete for WSOP Bracelets, Circuit rings, and satellites into this year’s live events as the site is scheduled to go live on Monday, March 28 at 10 a.m.
It joins PokerStars and BetMGM in the budding poker market that came alive last year and now puts WSOP in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada in the states. Like its sibling sites, WSOP in Michigan will run on 888poker’s platform.
I don’t know if I’m more excited for the WSOP this summer or WSOP Michigan. Fingers crossed that Michigan links up with other states by the end of the year 🤞! I’ve been waiting for this! https://t.co/bX90yMGhIM
— Joseph Cada (@JoeCada99) March 25, 2022
MSIGA bound?
It’s also another sign that Michigan will mostly likely become the fourth member to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), which allows poker sites to pool players together onto one platform. New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware have been MSIGA members since 2017.
So far, WSOP and its platform provider, 888poker, are the only online operators approved by regulators to take advantage of multi-state player liquidity. WSOP runs one site for players in both Nevada and New Jersey, while 888poker shares players between New Jersey and Delaware.
Michigan — along with Pennsylvania — restricts its poker sites to players located within their borders.
WSOP players in New Jersey and Nevada benefit from being part of a larger, singular network with more game selections and larger guaranteed prize pools, while WSOP players in Pennsylvania are stuck playing against each other.
But unlike Pennsylvania, Michigan has recently taken significant steps to join MSIGA.
In the last two weeks, a spokeswoman broke the news to CardsChat that the Michigan Gambling Control Board applied to join MSIGA. The MGCB also released a detailed document outlining the rules sites will need to comply with in order to accept players from MSIGA member states.
WSOP also opening shop in Ontario
The WSOP brand is also coming to Ontario when the Canadian provinces goes live with online gambling April 4. Unlike the WSOP sites in the states, the room will run on GGPoker’s software.
Unfortunately for Ontario poker players, officials decided to cut its residents off from the global poker market by limiting access to gambling sites to those located within its borders.
Ontario citizens can travel to neighboring provinces to access the global market since the Canadian government does not stop its residents from playing on poker sites.
WSOP will join 888poker on the first day, with BetMGM, Pokerstars, and others entering the market soon after.
