Players Exploring Potential of Regulated iPoker in Pennsylvania

In October, Pennsylvania became the fourth US state to legalize online gambling, with the exciting news greeted with great excitement by poker players based in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware who can now expect the Keystone state to join their player sharing compact when its industry is eventually launched. At the same time, there has also been some more cautious reactions to the development, highlighted in a recent article posted by Matthew Clark on the USPoker website.
New Jersey online grinder Craig Rubinstein, for instance, welcomes the increased opportunity for players to expand their careers by gaining access to a greater volume of tournaments. This will include being able to enter a $10,000 guaranteed tournament every night of the week, and a $50,000 guaranteed event each Sunday.
Similarly, Pennsylvania pro Brian Frasca, says that while he prefers playing live poker, he also looks forward to being able to vary his choice between the live and online arena, especially when he wants to avoid long drives to certain tournaments. Elaborating further, Frasca explained:
“I have dedicated a lot of time during the past few years to work on my game. I’m excited to be able to test myself in today’s online poker world. Having the ability to play online will allow me to play many more hands and allow me to develop my game even further.”
Nevertheless, high stakes cash games do not feature prominently in the regulated sites currently operating in the US, meaning players such as the 2015 Main Event winner, Joe McKeehen, will continue travelling to live venues, such as Parx Casino in Pennsylvania to find the action he seeks. In addition, McKeehen indicated that he would continue playing on unregulated sites, which he described as bigger and better than any sites currently being offered in New Jersey.
“I think everything I’ve read so far is overhyping it but all we can do is wait and see anyway,” explains McKeehen.
Likewise, other pros based in nearby states said that they would take a wait-and-see approach before deciding to move to Pennsylvania. Satish Surapaneni, for instance, moved to New Jersey from New York in order to play online poker, with the 46-year-old now saying that Pennsylvania would be a better choice for him if the state’s online poker market manages to gather steam. As he subsequently explains:
“Philly is a great city. It’s still relatively up and coming and cheap. It’s better than Jersey in terms of what it has to offer. I think the fact that because Philly is such a huge city, for someone like me, it’s more attractive.”
Professional players will therefore be following with great interest developments currently taking place in Pennsylvania, before making any final decisions that will ultimately affect their chosen poker careers.