Nevada and Delaware first entered into a shared liquidity agreement in 2014, which was designed to enlarge their respective online poker markets by increasing the size of player pools and offering bigger prizes to players across both states.
New Jersey joined the agreement in October 2017, with then Governor Chris Christie quoted as saying: “This agreement marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for online gaming, and we look forward to working with our partners in Nevada and Delaware in this endeavour.”
These sentiments were echoed by New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement head David Rebuck, who told Associated Press: "This will raise jackpots and provide even greater opportunities for play.
"It also paves the way for additional states to join and grow the regulated, legal online poker market."
Indeed, one of the first potential candidates to join this agreement may be New Jersey’s neighbour Pennsylvania, which legalised online poker and casino gaming in October 2017.
A cornerstone of this shared roll out is an online gaming platform that has been vetted and approved by each jurisdiction.
Under the terms of the agreement, accrued revenues are taxed based on the jurisdiction where the player resides, with gaming regulators from all states included in the agreement able to access and regulate the mutually-used servers housing the platforms.
Nevada Gaming Control Board chairwoman Becky Harris said that Nevada "is pleased to be part of this collaborative effort between regulators, operators, and the platform manufacturer to achieve the common goal of providing a sound gaming experience for patrons across multiple jurisdictions while still meeting our individual jurisdictional requirements."
Commercial poker sites WSOP.com & 888Poker.com, both operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment, are reportedly planning to go live with tri-state operations from this initial launch date, with regulatory approval from all three states expected over the next few weeks.
Speaking about the roll-out, Bill Rini, WSOP.com's head of online poker said: "This has been a huge collaborative effort from all involved and it is important to thank the elected leadership and regulatory authorities in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey for their dedication and diligence to help move online poker forward."
