ClubWPT Gold, the most recent addition to the sweepstakes poker space in the United States, has officially withdrawn from New Jersey. The withdrawal came in light of the bill signed on August 15 by Governor Phil Murphy that explicitly forbids the sweepstakes wagering model.
Following this decision, the operator also updated its FAQ section, informing players that they should place a redemption request for any Sweeps Coins they might still have on the site as soon as possible.
Only a couple of days later, however, that page was once more updated to inform the public that the operator was experiencing delays processing redemption requests from New Jersey players. There is no reason for panic, though, as ClubWPT Gold remains committed to finding a legal solution for all affected players.
Lobbying Efforts Fall Short
ClubWPT Gold has been one of the most aggressive sweepstakes poker sites, both in terms of its presence in the country and its bold (and often controversial) marketing campaigns. At the same time, the site, backed by one of the largest brands in all of poker, the World Poker Tour, has expressed a keen interest in doing things by the book.
When it comes to New Jersey online poker specifically, WPT President and CEO, Adam Pliska, appeared before the state legislators back in June to defend the sweepstakes model and lobby for regulation that would clear the air once and for all.
The WPT President suggested that certain caps and limits, to begin with, could help establish things and give the regulators time to observe the situation. However, his pleas fell on deaf ears as New Jersey already has a well-established framework for real money online gambling (including online poker), and there seems to be no interest in watering down the market with the addition of operators touting the sweepstakes model.
Sweepstakes Poker in NJ Done & Dusted
ClubWPT Gold was the last remaining sweepstakes poker site operating in the Garden State. With its exit, NJ players’ options are once again limited to state-licensed sites, such as PokerStars US, WSOP Online, BetMGM Poker, and Borgata Poker.
This is certainly a much better position than that of many players in the country living outside of the few states with regulated online poker in the US. On the other hand, sweepstakes poker sites offer a much wider player pool, resulting in significantly softer ring games and tournaments.
This is especially true for ClubWPT Gold, which, through its large-scale marketing campaigns, managed to build a massive and constantly-growing player pool. Many of the players on the site are fairly new to poker, and this is true even for some of the highest stakes games offered on the site.
It is clear that ClubWPT Gold has big plans for the US market, at least in those states that aren’t actively looking to get rid of sweepstakes poker. The operator’s tournament offering has gone from strength to strength recently, with a couple of series featuring massive overall guarantees of SC 14,000,000 each.
As for New Jersey players, they will have to remain on the outs, at least for the time being, as ClubWPT Gold continues to work on ensuring any remaining redemption requests are honored and processed as quickly as possible.
