WSOP.com Sures UltimatePoker.com in The Regulated Nevada Poker Market 73f6c

Knock Knock Ultimate Poker……….Who’s there?  WSOP.com.  Launching in Nevada a full 3 ½ months after their sole competition, UltimatePoker.com, WSOP.com today sured UltimatePoker .com in their rolling 7-day average of online players.

With stats provided by PokerScout, over the last week WSOP has had a 7-day average of 129 players while Ultimate Poker trails with 123 players.  While the numbers are not significant at this point, poker players and industry watchers must ask, how much more market share will WSOP.com continue to take away from UltimatePoker.com?

Unlike the “old days” of online poker in the U.S. where players had a plethora of rooms to choose from, players in Nevada are only given two options.  You can bet that any serious online poker player in the Silver State has certainly taken each room for a test drive.

With the continued week over week growth WSOP has been experiencing, all indications lead us to believe that Nevada online poker players prefer the WSOP platform over Ultimate Poker.

Why are players choosing WSOP.com over UltimatePoker.com?

Of course every online poker player has preferences, and there is no doubt that many players in Nevada actually do prefer Ultimate Poker to WSOP, however, the numbers don’t lie.

If you’ve read the player reviews on the various forums or message boards, it becomes very clear that the WSOP.com software platform is perceived as far superior to that of its competitor.  And why wouldn’t it be">888 Poker), which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the years refining their software.

It should also be noted that WSOP.com is a Mac friendly client whereas UltimatePoker.com is not.  I sometimes scratch my head when I see new operators launch without a Mac client and wonder if they are mad at their money.  In this day and age, that’s the equivalent of launching a new line of cell phones but with a pullout antenna, and then expecting to compete for market share.  Operating any consumer platform in the U.S. market and not being Mac compatible is as good as writing your competitors a blank check.

Then take into the WSOP brand itself.  The massive leverage the poker site has operating under one of the most well known brands in poker gives the Caesar’s owned web property a distinct advantage.  Aside from perhaps Poker Stars, is there really any other brand that is going to march into Nevada and start cannibalizing WSOP.com?  I’d say doubtful.

While WSOP will face an entirely new breed of competition in New Jersey and other emerging markets, I think it’s clear to say that after suring Ultimate Poker in their 7-day average of players in Nevada; they will not be looking back in that state any time soon.

Jeremy Enke is an industry veteran most well known for his publications as well as his industry accomplishments. Jeremy also leads the community at Poker Listings.  Jeremy is a contributing author at 4flush.com and writes about news and commentary affecting both poker s and gambling operators.