- Tournament guarantees have steadily increased in response to strong player turnout.
- New events and a $22,000 cash game leaderboard have been added to attract all player types.
- Players have praised the platform’s improvements, design, and player-first features.
- The operator plans continued growth, with New Jersey expansion and rising traffic expected.
It has been three weeks since BetRivers Poker expanded to four states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, and Delaware — creating a four-state shared liquidity network, only the second operator to do so after WSOP Online.
Since its launch on June 10, BetRivers Poker has steadily refined its product. The operator has responded quickly to player demand, introducing new tournaments, boosting guarantees week over week, launching promotions, and rolling out frequent software updates.
“This is a big moment for us,” said Phil Galfond, the founder of Run It Once Poker and the architect behind the platform now powering BetRivers Poker, in a statement to pokerfuse. “Seeing players from Michigan, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware finally sharing tables is exciting — especially for those in West Virginia who are finally getting the poker platform they deserve, and those in Delaware who haven’t had a place to play for the past 18 months.”
Strong Start
Indeed, the tournament schedule has been upgraded consistently since launch. Guarantees across several key events have increased multiple times. The $10 Midnight Madness was first raised from $400 to $700 and is now set at $800. The flagship $100 Nightly Benjamin jumped from $4,000 to $5,000, and now sits at $6,000. Similarly, the $50 Nightly Classic has gone from $1,500 to $2,000 and now to $2,500.
Sunday events have seen a similar boost. The $100 Sunday Main Event now carries a $12,500 guarantee, while the $10 Mini Sunday Main Event remains at its recently increased $2,500 guarantee, up from the original $1,500.
The operator has also expanded its tournament offerings with new additions catering to a wide range of bankrolls. These include rarely seen micro-stakes events with buy-ins as low as 25 cents and $1. Among the recent additions are a $5 Royal Roast with a $250 guarantee, scheduled for the morning hours, and a $1 Nightly Dollar (Encore) with a $75 guarantee.
The early signs — from the community participation on Discord to the genuine excitement on social media — are exactly what we hoped for.
But perhaps the most notable new addition is the launch of a $200 Sunday High Roller, now the biggest buy-in tournament on the site, featuring a $12,500 guaranteed prize pool.
These guarantee increases have come in direct response to strong turnouts. The $100 Sunday Main Event is a prime example. On its first run post-expansion, on June 15, the tournament featured a $10,000 guarantee and attracted 144 entries, generating a prize pool of $13,320. Encouraged by that performance, BetRivers bumped the guarantee to $12,500 the following week. That tournament saw 165 entries, a 15% increase and once again comfortably cleared the guarantee, with a final prize pool of $15,262.50.
The trend continued on June 29, with the guarantee holding steady at $12,500. This time, the tournament drew 166 entries.
The $10 Mini Sunday Main Event has also shown steady growth. After opening with 357 entries on June 15, participation dipped slightly to 346 the next week, before climbing to 448 entries on June 29, its highest turnout yet.
- The best online poker software in the US with the lowest cash game rake.
- Generous 100% deposit match bonus up to $1000 ($250 in Delaware)
- Now live for players in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Delaware & West Virginia!
| Date | $100 Sunday Main Event Turnout | $10 Sunday Mini Main Turnout |
|---|---|---|
| June 15 | 144 | 357 |
| June 22 | 165 | 346 |
| June 29 | 166 | 448 |
Outside of tournaments, the operator has launched its first major cash game promotion since the expansion: a $22,000 leaderboard spread across low, mid, and high stakes. The top 20 players in each tier earn Poker Bonuses weekly, with low rakeback thresholds that reward volume.
The structure of this promotion, one of the only ones in the regulated US online poker market focused exclusively on cash games, reinforces the operator’s intent to support grinders, not just casual tournament players.
BetRivers Poker Earns Player Approval
“The early signs — from the community participation on Discord to the genuine excitement on social media — are exactly what we hoped for,” Galfond further told pokerfuse.
Indeed, early adopters on Discord have been vocal with feedback, much of it positive. One user, bobbyshmurda16, wrote, “They’ve made a lot of improvements since the initial launch. It had quite a few pretty simple issues off the bat but most of them have been resolved. Haven’t been on there in a while, but excited to see the tourney schedule drop.”
Another user, DavidKim, praised the clean interface and likened it to the look and feel of legacy platforms like Full Tilt Poker. Others pointed to features like the built-in HUD, which provides everyone with basic stats while preventing the use of third-party tools, as a smart middle ground.
One user with the screenname “crzytimes” joked that they were used to client crashes, cancelled tournaments, or being ignored by customer support and BetRivers Poker, by contrast, “needs to stop being awesome.”
That sense of surprise and satisfaction appears to be shared by those behind the scenes. Jason Senti, Head of Poker at Rush Street Interactive, called the shared liquidity launch a big milestone for the company.
“We’re thrilled to see players from four states sharing the same tables on BetRivers Poker,” Senti told pokerfuse. “This milestone brings to life a vision our team has held since the early days of Run It Once Poker. It reflects RSI’s continued investment in poker and our team’s relentless dedication to creating the industry’s best player experience. The early enthusiasm from players tells us we’re on the right path with our innovative features and player-first approach — and we believe this is just the start of something special.”
While many sites have found success by raising rake and reducing transparency, I’m proud we’re doing the opposite.
That vision is also shared by Galfond, who praised the early success of the platform he helped build. “It’s rewarding to see that a model built to give back to players is succeeding,” he said. “While many sites have found success by raising rake and reducing transparency, I’m proud we’re doing the opposite.”
For Galfond, the rollout is not just a technical achievement; it is personal. “As someone who’s always pushed for fairness, sustainability, and a player-first approach in poker, it means a lot to help bring that experience to more players,” Galfond further said.
Looking ahead, BetRivers Poker still has ground to cover before it can compete with giants like WSOP Online, PokerStars, and BetMGM Poker. But it is important to recognize the pace of progress. Just nine months ago, the poker platform had not even launched. Today, it is live in four states, with plans to add New Jersey before the end of the year.
Once that happens, its network could rival the scope of other multi-state operators. Additionally, as the poker calendar moves into the fall and winter months, typically the most active period for online poker, traffic is likely to trend upward.
For now, BetRivers is doing what it set out to do: building slowly, responding to demand, and avoiding the pitfalls of overpromising.
