Nevada was the first state to legalize online poker in the U.S after the Black Friday fiasco. There were numerous concerns over the legalization of online poker in Nevada but after huge debates and protests, Nevada passed legislation in 2013 that allowed gambling companies to once again launch online poker websites.
The first company that received a license in 2013 was Ultimate Poker and it is hard to believe that one year has already gone by. Ultimatepoker.com completed its first anniversary on the 30th of April and became the first ever online poker website that allowed real money transactions.
When Ultimate Poker launched their was both positive and negative player feedback. Players were happy that they could once again play online poker in Nevada but yet had numerous complaints about Ultimatepoker’s website design, efficiency and overall player experience.
Ultimate Poker was quick to address these issues by collecting player feedback directly from the website as well as via popular poker forums. The company has done its best to make changes to make the overall online poker playing experience a lot more exciting. The results over the past year have been positive for Ultimate Poker and Nevada.
Nevada has also legalized two more online poker websites who provide stiff competition to Ultimate Poker. All three websites combined have brought the silver state a total of $926,000 during the month of March 2014. Ultimate Poker has operated longer than the other two online poker websites and together has been responsible for generating close to $10 million during a period of 11 months.
A.G. Burnett, who is the Nevada State Gaming Control Board Chairman was happy with the initial revenue derived during the past year from online poker. Burnett said he was proud of all three websites and recognized the significant contribution that they have generated towards the economy of Nevada. He stated that the legalization of online poker in Nevada has in no way affected the performance of land based casinos. Burnett expects the revenue from online poker websites to increase significantly during the next 12 months as Nevada looks to promote interstate poker.
Earlier this year, Delaware and Nevada entered into an agreement to promote interstate poker and both states are working on the software and regulations that need to be designed to facilitate interstate poker. This collaboration will result in higher revenue and online poker companies such as Ultimate Poker are sure to increase their profit margins during the coming months.
