DraftKings announced Tuesday that it has launched Electric Poker, its real money online poker platform, in a second state: Pennsylvania.
Electric Poker is a three-handed, lottery-style, winner-takes-all sit and go tournament that launched in Michigan on August 20. The game is now accessible through the lobby of DraftKings Casino PA.
The game plays three-handed with two minute blind levels and features a randomized prize that can be up to 10,000 times the buy in. To keep the games short, it also features Electric Mode — where after a set period of time, all players are forced all-in every hand until one player remains.
Players must be registered with the operator and be physically present in the state in order to play. DraftKings said Tuesday that it would quickly match players in games where they can select from buy-ins ranging from $1 to $25.
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“After positive feedback from our players in Michigan, we are thrilled to expand our Electric Poker offerings to our customers in Pennsylvania, delivering them a best-in-class online poker experience,” Jason March, Vice President of iGaming Marketing and Operations at DraftKings, said in a statement Tuesday.
With the addition of Electric Poker to their list of options, online poker players will now have access to five choices for regulated, real money, online poker in Pennsylvania:
- Electric Poker
- BetMGM Poker PA
- Borgata Poker PA
- PokerStars PA
- WSOP PA
A sixth platform, BetRivers Poker PA, has been through expanded soft launch testing and is expected to launch in Pennsylvania in the very near future.
The launch of Electric Poker comes at an inflection point for Pennsylvania online poker, as the state finally takes the steps needed to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA), a multi-state gaming compact that supports online poker.
Once Pennsylvania joins MSIGA, the aforementioned real money online poker operators will be able to combine their player pools with those in the other member states — Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
DraftKings Could Grab Big Slice of PA Poker Market
A move by DraftKings to launch online poker in Pennsylvania makes sense, considering it is the largest igaming state, in terms of population, with about 13 million residents,
Boston-based DraftKings runs one of the largest sportsbooks and online casinos in Pennsylvania. It launched an online sportsbook when the market debuted in November 2019, and followed up with online casino in May 2020. A standalone online casino app launched in July 2020.
Pennsylvania does not yet share liquidity with other states, but this is not expected to be an issue with Electric Poker since the platform — which functions as a three-handed jackpot style sit-and-go game with four buy-in levels ($1, $5, $10, and $25) — needs low liquidity.
Consequently, we expect DraftKings will take advantage of its size (in terms of sports betting and casino gaming). The operator could wind up sending many more players from its online sportsbook and casino to the virtual felt. It could soon grab a decent slice of market share from BetMGM, Borgata, PokerStars, and WSOP.
Games on Electric Poker will be fast and are expected to have a fair amount of casual poker players, especially considering the link to enter the poker site is in the lobby of DraftKings Casino PA — just as it is in Michigan, albeit through the lobby of DraftKings Casino MI.
Electric Poker Could Be Coming to More Jurisdictions
DraftKings did not mention launching Electric Poker in additional jurisdictions, but it very likely will do so. It could also launch the platform in Canada. Consider that DraftKings runs very popular online casinos and sportsbooks across the gaming landscape in North America.
Pennsylvania could be just the next in a line of jurisdictions where DraftKings Poker becomes available..
Last month, regulators in Connecticut disclosed that they were conducting a review of Electric Poker, and that if successful the platform would be allowed to advance to the soft launch stage. The Connecticut gaming regulator has confirmed that Electric Poker has not yet advanced to a soft launch phase.
DraftKings could launch Electric Poker in New Jersey and West Virginia. It could also offer the platform to players in the Canadian province of Ontario.
It’s also conceivable that DraftKings could bring Electric Poker to Delaware, but only if lawmakers who want to end Rush Street Interactive’s (RSI) monopoly on igaming in the state are ultimately successful.
Nevada isn’t an option for Electric Poker in its current form because unless it is removed from DraftKings’ online casino product, as online casino gaming isn’t available in the state.
