To mark the advent of the tri-state player pool between New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware, WSOP.com has unveiled a new online series called the Coast to Coast Classic that is guaranteeing $1 million in prize money to players in Nevada and New Jersey.
The shared tri-state player pool went live today.
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“It’s a monumental day for online poker in the United States,” said WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker Bill Rini. “This is truly a game-changer for players and we hope is the model blueprint for additional states to join the fray.”
32 events will be spread over the course of the 10-day series with every tournament having at least a five-figure guarantee, making it the first tournament series in history to serve a three-way player pool in the United States.
“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,” Rini told the Associated Press back in April.
The Coast to Coast Classic will have a headlining $500 buy-in main event (that is being held on May 20) with a $200,000 guarantee, along with a high roller re-Entry 6-max event playing out on the same day with a buy-in of $1000.
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A mix of No Limit Hold’em freezeouts, knock outs, and re-entry tournaments make up almost the entirety of the schedule with one PLO game playing out on Saturday May 19.
Players who enter at least three events in the new series will gain automatic entry into a freeroll that will award 20 seats to World Series of Poker Event #10 which is the first online bracelet event of the summer series. It marks the first time a WSOP online bracelet can be won outside the state of Nevada.
In addition to the Coast to Coast Classic, players can also enter four WSOP bracelets events online this summer as part of the main WSOP summer schedule.
- Event #10 $365 No-limit Hold’em on Sunday June 3
- Event #47 $565 Pot-limit Omaha 6-Handed on Friday June 22
- Event #61 $1,000 No-limit Hold’em on Friday June 29
- Event #63 $3,200 High Roller on Saturday June 30
An online companion series that usually runs in conjunction with the live World Series of Poker is still expected to run at the end of May.
Notably, the new Coast to Coast Classic series is not being run in the state of Delaware despite the new player pool.
How Did the Tri-State Shared Player Pool Come About?
The tri-state shared liquidity pool between New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware has been in the works for a good year, with Nevada and Delaware first sharing their player pools back in 2015.
“Pooling poker players from three states will be a significant regulatory step in the U.S., and is very exciting for our players and partners,” stated Yaniv Sherman, 888’s senior vice president. “[W]e anticipate that this will open up further opportunities in other states.”
All players in Nevada who have downloaded the new poker client (everyone needed to create a new account and screen name to take advantage of the new player pool) have been entered into a drawing for a WSOP Main Event seat in Las Vegas in the summer.
Although players in New Jersey have not needed to jump through the same hoops, there is still a sweetener of a $1000 reload bonus for all new qualifying players. Entry into seven WSOP Gold Bracelet freerolls are also up for grabs.
Notably, players across the shared player pool will not be able to use Heads Up Displays (HUDs). This is because of a restriction in Nevada gaming outlawing HUD use. Despite New Jersey having no similar restrictions, HUDs have now been prohibited in order to create a fair policy across the network.
The Coast to Coast Classic will run on WSOP.com for players in New Jersey and Nevada May 11 – May 20. The World Series of Poker in Las Vegas starts on May 29.
