PokerTribe.com – the online poker site run by the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma – has delayed its proposed real money launch until October due to licensing issues.
Earlier this year, we reported that the 800-member Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma had [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/oklahoma-tribe-launch-real-money-online-poker-site/”]got the green light[/geolink] to launch its online poker site, PokerTribe.com. Using software supplied by the Universal Entertainment Group, PokerTribe.com went live for play money games in May and was scheduled to launch its real money product this week.
The plan was to provide online poker for real money in all domestic and international jurisdictions in which online poker was legal and regulated. However, the tribe did not secure the gaming licenses it needs – or finalize deals with payment processors – in time for the intended launch date of August 1st. The real money launch has now been rescheduled for October 15th.
Tribe Still Optimistic for a Successful Launch
Despite the setback, a statement released by the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma gives the impression the tribe is still optimistic about its online ambitions. Tribal Chairman Bobby Walkup commented in the statement that the tribe is pleased with the progress it has made to date and that it will continue to develop relationships with licensing authorities and payment processors. He added:
We have completed each phase thoroughly and precisely. The final phase is the most important for a successful launch with the real money play, which is why we are rescheduling our launch date.
Without going into any details about which licensing authorities the tribe had made progress with, the statement indicated that PokerTribe´s banking partners
will include Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discovery. The statement also announced a much needed update to the site´s software – the play money platform available to all US poker players outside the state of Oklahoma.
Questions Remain over the Feasibility of PokerTribe
Even if the Iowa Tribe is successful in obtaining the licenses it needs to move ahead with a real money product, questions remain over the feasibility of PokerTribe.com. It is unlikely that the site will be able to operate in the regulated states of Delaware, New Jersey or Nevada due to each of the three US states insisting that game servers are located in their territories.
Industry observers believe that the site´s international target market is Canada and Europe. However, players from international jurisdictions are unlikely to leave their existing sites for one that has fairly basic functionality and unknown liquidity. There may be a period where the novelty of playing at PokerTribe attracts a handful of players, but – like the suggestion that player pools in New Jersey and the UK should be combined – the long-term prospects look bleak.
2016 History does not Bode Well for PokerTribe
Already this year there have been several high-profile poker site launches that have bombed. In January, BetCoin launched its Bitcoin multi player poker platform offering a 1BTC freeroll and 0% rake for a limited period. After an initial spell of interest, traffic to the site declined rapidly and BetCoin now struggles to attract more than 50 players a day to its poker platform.
In April, PokerGrant was going to revolutionize online poker by distributing shares in the company to players and affiliates. A couple of hundred players signed up for accounts but, according to the traffic monitoring site PokerScout, the site has only managed to retain about 40 cash game players. Not really enough to make a real money poker site feasible.
Maybe it will be different for PokerTribe.com; although it is difficult to see where the players will be coming from and, then, whether they will stay. I guess we will find out more in October, with either the launch of a real money online poker site – or another press release announcing another rescheduling of PokerTribe.com.
