According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), BetRivers is in the process of testing an online poker product that would launch in the state soon. It would be the fifth platform dedicated to poker in the Keystone State.
Pennsylvania online poker has fallen behind states such as Michigan and New Jersey because it is not part of the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).
BetRivers Poker, featuring some of the framework of Phil Galfand’s now-defunct RunItOnce Poker (RIO), will provide many of the features that RIO players enjoyed but at a much larger scale.
What BetRivers Poker launch would mean for PA poker players
Though well intentioned, RIO Poker could never achieve the growth it needed to compete in the online poker scene. As such, the team behind RIO never had the chance to act on all of the player-focused features it hoped to include in RIO.
With the backing of RSI, Phil Galfond and his team can integrate many of RIO’s best features–some never fully realized–into BetRivers Poker. Some of those features might include:
- Table aliases
- Dynamic avatars
- No HUDs allowed
- Auto-seating and fixed buy-ins
- Splash the Pot and other unique rewards systems
- StreamR rewards
- SNG Select
Back in 2022, Galfond told PlayPennslyvania that in the Rest of World (ROW) market RIO players enjoyed the Splash the Pot feature and the ability to create dynamic avatars. These player-focused features were at the core of the RIO product. PA poker players have good reason to believe Galfond and the BetRivers team will integrate many of those into the BetRivers Poker PA app.
BetRivers Poker would be fifth poker app in the state
BetRivers going live with a poker platform would be the fifth platform to launch in the state. The other four are:
- PokerStars
- BetMGM
- WSOP
- Borgata Poker
Each of these sites offer tournaments and cash games for players in the Keystone State.
PokerStars PA is the most popular operator of the four, generating $9.4 million in revenue through August, which accounts for 56.3% of market share.
Pennsylvania has a robust poker community. Should the Keystone State join MSIGA, Pennsylvania could quickly overtake Michigan and New Jersey for the No. 1 poker market.
BetRivers Poker, PGCB in “testing phase” of new product
There had been signs of BetRivers entering the poker field in Pennsylvania since 2022. Rush Street Interactive (RSI), BetRivers’ parent company, had purchased RunItOnce Poker, a site operated in Europe before RSI made the deal.
Pennsylvania players have had to wait for RSI to launch a poker platform for more than two years. Recent reporting has indicated that BetRivers Poker was in a soft launch phase, available to a small number of players by invite, but that assessment turned out to be premature.
PGCB Communications Director, Doug Harbach, confirmed with PlayPennsylvania that BetRivers is in the testing phase of its product. The PGCB is involved in this process, making sure proper protocols are set before any kind of launch phase can begin.
“I would not term it as a soft launch,” Harbach made clear to PlayPennsylvania.
The soft launch occurs after testing is complete and is open to Pennsylvania players. It lasts two to three days to “ensure to the PGCB that it is ready to be open 24/7,” Harbach explained.
Harbach also said a soft launch date has not been finalized, yet. So it remains unclear when BetRivers will go live with its poker product in the Keystone State.
No update on MSIGA bill
The addition of another poker platform would make Pennsylvania an attractive state to join MSIGA soon. Representative George Dunbar‘s bill in March would allow for that to happen.
Pennsylvania joining MSIGA would not only be good for the state but also for players, who could start establishing new rivals in other states. States that are part of MSIGA can compete against players in other markets. MSIGA states include:
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Delaware
- Nevada
- Delaware
- West Virginia
Joining the compact would also include a shared liquidity arrangement, which would boost the amount of prize money players can win.
However, since Dunbar introduced the bill back in March, there has been no movement. In June, Dunbar was targeting the end of 2024 for the state to join MSIGA. It appears that it’s a matter of when–and not if–Pennsylvania joins MSIGA. The timeline remains up-in-the-air, though.
Either way, Pennsylvania adding another poker platform in BetRivers is certainly positive for the market. And when the state is ready for MSIGA, poker will sure to be a booming vertical.
