Michigan players were allowed to play online poker for the first time in the early months of 2021. Since then, gambling sites and regulators have made far reaching attempts to bring interstate poker plays to the state. However, the first sign of real success would not come until December 2022 when PokerStars hinted at the introduction of shared pools for its players in Michigan and New Jersey.
In what appears to be a culmination of all the efforts, players in both states will enjoy merged pools from Jan. 1, 2023. This exciting project holds a lot of promise for both gamblers and brands in the state. Speaking about what players can expect with the recent development, the Managing Director of PokerStars US, Severin Rasset revealed that:
“Michigan and New Jersey joining forces is great news for our players in these two states, and poker, more generally, as it promises a better experience and even more value, all with the confidence provided by a trusted, licensed operator. Our community will experience more breadth and depth of games, more tournaments with bigger prizes to win, amped-up promotions, and more choice.”
In keeping with this promise, PokerStars Michigan launched two tournaments that will offer rewards based on shared liquidity. The first tournament requires a $100 buy-in and offers $100K guaranteed rewards while the second requires a $10 buy-in with $50K guaranteed. Players can register to both series starting from the 27th of December.
Many more massive tournaments will follow this development. But that’s only one side to the story. It is expected that there would be an increase of up to 50% in player traffic as well as better prospects of state expansion.
