According to reports, poker players in Michigan will soon be joining their peers from Nevada and New Jersey on the WSOP.com platform as part of an upcoming shared liquidity deal.
Nick Jones of Pokerfuse broke the story on Thursday and provided some details that online poker players in the Wolverine State will certainly like.
Joining the Party
As it stands, New Jersey and Nevada players compete on the same WSOP.com platform, whereas Michigan’s site is separate. During the World Series of Poker (WSOP) online bracelet series each summer, the bracelet events are separated between the two platforms. But it appears things might be a bit different this coming summer.
Per the Pokerfuse report, the media outlet became aware of an upcoming tristate shared liquidity deal “when the operator announced details of WSOP Online Circuit Series in all three states scheduled for May 11-22.”
In the Circuit series announcement, mention of a shared liquidity deal with Michigan and Nevada was made, although New Jersey wasn’t included. But given that NJ and NV already are already merged together on WSOP.com, it’s safe to assume the Garden State will be part of the arrangement.
In a second report, Jones shared some further details about what he’d learned in regards to the shared liquidity deal. One issue that was brought up is the software. The WSOP.com MI software (888poker) is newer and upgraded compared to the software in NV/NJ. As such, before Michigan joins in, WSOP.com will have to upgrade the software for the Nevada/New Jersey site.
According to Jones’ article, the upgrade and a shared player pool between the three states will be coming “potentially very soon,” although no specific date has been disclosed.
In 2022, the state of Michigan passed legislation permitting shared liquidity with other states that offer legal online poker. PokerStars was first to merge a player pool between MI and NJ, but WSOP.com still hasn’t done so, although that’s apparently about to change.
WSOP has not publicly announced a merged player pool arrangement with Michigan and any other state. But Pokerfuse anticipates this to occur “soon.” Assuming the report turns out to be correct, online poker players in the three aforementioned states should anticipate a bigger and better online bracelet series this summer.
The state of Michigan has over 10 million residents and a booming poker industry, making it an attractive addition to the shared WSOP.com site.