- “Ultimate Gaming will continue to focus on improving its online poker product and overall customer experience in Nevada,” Ultimate Gaming Chairman Tom Breitling said in a statement to pokerfuse late last week.
- Speculation on the future of Ultimate Gaming began to surface as fallout from the company’s decision to withdraw from the New Jersey market became public.
- Breitling did leave the door open for the possibility that Ultimate Gaming will contend for a share of emerging markets. “We will continue to evaluate opportunities in all commercially viable jurisdictions,” he stated.
Following the closure of its operations in New Jersey, Ultimate Gaming has confirmed its commitment to continue serving the Nevada online poker market.
“Ultimate Gaming will continue to focus on improving its online poker product and overall customer experience in Nevada,” Ultimate Gaming Chairman Tom Breitling said in a statement to pokerfuse late last week.
Sources close to the situation indicate that the company will be releasing version 3 of its online poker client—which includes iOS and mobile support—in the near future.
“We will also continue to conduct live events at Station Casinos and Peppermill properties,” Breitling continued.
Speculation on the future of Ultimate Gaming began to surface as fallout from the company’s decision to withdraw from the New Jersey market became public. In addition to expected cuts in its New Jersey office, the company parted ways with key employees in its Poker Operations, Product Management and Marketing departments at its home base in Nevada.
The company also parted ways with one of its top sponsored Pros, Jason Somerville. The host of the popular webcast “RunItUp” confirmed rumors of the separation during his live stream on Sunday.
Breitling did leave the door open for the possibility that Ultimate Gaming will contend for a share of emerging markets. “We will continue to evaluate opportunities in all commercially viable jurisdictions,” he stated.
With California expected to legalize online gaming in the upcoming legislative session, the need for online poker software by some of the tribal interests and cardrooms in the state could present an opportunity for Ultimate Poker to expand. Ultimate Poker also presents an attractive option because of its potential for cross-border liquidity sharing with those states interested in combining player pools with operators in Nevada. Nevada currently has an agreement to pool its players with Delaware, and we can expect the first shared player pool to be live possibly by the end of this year.
However, because California will likely be “poker only,” unless other states like Pennsylvania, New York or Illinois pass online gaming legislation in the near future, it could be a while before Ultimate Casino resurfaces.
