Caesars online poker plans to go live this summer in Nevada, the only U.S. state so far to offer legal Internet gambling, and will promote the nascent service to thousands of poker players at its World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament in Las Vegas starting May 29.
Caesars is among several gaming companies preparing to go live with online sites in the United States which could eventually generate billions of dollars in revenue for the casino industry and local governments. “We anticipate our arrival to be sometime this summer,” Seth Palansky, a spokesman for Caesars Interactive, told Reuters, adding the online service will operate under the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand name.
In 2012, total entries for all WSOP tournament offerings eclipsed 230,000. This year the event will run from May 29 through July 15. Parts of it will be televised by Walt Disney’s ESPN. Nevada, home to the Las Vegas strip, on April 30 became the first state where residents could legally play poker online for money when Station Casinos launched UltimatePoker.com.
Caesar’s Nevada poker website will operate using technology provided by 888 Holdings Plc. The two companies already operate World Series of Poker websites in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Internet betting was banned in the United States by Congress in 2006, but tax-hungry states like Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are now relaxing rules.
Like Ultimatepoker.com, Caesars online poker site will only allow betting by players located within Nevada’s state borders.
Story from Reuters
