<img src="http://www.liquidpoker.net/staff/Raidern/esfandiariultimatepoker.jpg" align="right" style="margin:5px; border:1px solid black;">Nevada-based Ultimate Poker is the first poker room to provide legal online poker in the US since the race to intrastate online gambling initiated nearly 2 years ago. The poker room dealt its first hand on Tuesday. Ultimate Poker is a subsidiary of Station Casinos LCC, which operates 16 casinos throughout Southern Nevada. The poker room is also the exclusive online gaming partner of the UFC.
“We’re proud to be the first company to deliver legal and secure real money online gaming to poker players,” UP chairman Tom Breitling said in a statement. “We’ve worked closely with state gaming regulators to demonstrate our unique and compelling poker platform that, above all, players know they can trust.”
Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari, a brand ambassador for Ultimate Poker, emphasized the fact that the service is legal: “This day has been a long time coming. Online poker in the United States is finally here and totally legit.”
So far, the site is offering limit Texas hold’em and no-limit Texas hold’em ring games ranging from $0.01-$0.02 to $10-$20, but other games are expected to be available later. The action is limited to Nevada's border right now, but recently the legislators in the state passed a bill that will permit Nevada to team up with other states and offer interstate online poker in the future.
Besides Nevada, online poker is also legal in Delaware and New Jersey, although these states are still working out a regulatory framework and should take some more months before they start an online poker scene. other states have also been showing an increasing interest in online poker since 2012.
|