On Monday Caesars Interactive will detail the impending launch of their WSOP.com online poker room, which will become the second licensed online poker room in the Nevada market.

The details will come via a media conference call where the company will layout the much-anticipated launch schedule as well as preview the software features the site will have. While I’m sure the Caesars Interactive bigwigs are looking forward to showing off their software (and letting the media compare it to Ultimate Poker’s 2nd Generation software) the real question the media wants answered is the launch date.

The conference call will include two familiar names to media members, Seth Palansky and Ty Stewart, who partake in the yearly World Series of Poker conference call, and also the recently announced WSOP.com head of Poker Bill Rini. Rini is a longtime player in the industry having worked for Party Poker and Full Tilt Poker in the past, but is likely best known for his insightful blog posts on the online poker industry at www.BillRini.com.

What to Expect from WSOP.com

WSOP.com will use 888’s online poker software (the same software found on the WSOP.co.uk website that operates in the UK) which should prevent the numerous hiccups Ultimate Poker experienced after launch, considering Ultimate Poker developed their own software, launching with an untested poker client.

WSOP.com will also be the most recognizable brand in the Nevada poker market, considering Pokerstars exclusion thanks to a “bad actor clause” passed earlier this year.

Another potential advantage is for Caesars to preregister players who might be visiting Nevada in the future at their numerous other properties across the US. These players will not be able to depositor play outside of Nevada, but Caesars will likely introduce some plan to have these accounts ready to go in advance of a Las Vegas trip.

The Current Market

WSOP.com is already months behind UltimatePoker.com, which launched back in April, but Ultimate Poker has been met with mixed reactions by online poker players, leaving the door open for other operators to quickly ascend to the top of the pack –which is precisely what WSOP.com is anticipating.

Since the launch of their Version 2.0 software and their “Color Up” VIP Rewards Program, Ultimate Poker traffic has been on an uptick, but the site’s traffic numbers are still from the full market potential.

Other Prospective Launches

In addition to Caesars, South Point Poker has also shown signs of launching their real-money client in the near future, while other license holders seem a little bit farther off –or perhaps they are just playing possum and are nearer to launch than we realize.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 15th, 2013 at 6:17 pm and is filed under Poker Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.