Years ago, partypoker was a go-to site in the United States for online poker gaming. This was of course pre-UIGEA, when online poker was played across the nation and quite popular among the game’s fans. Fast forward to today, and partypoker does not exist in the US and online poker is not doing so hot. Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada have offered the option for years with little success and Pennsylvania has just started offering the gaming option. Now, Roar Digital has plans to bring partypoker back to the entire nation and claims it will be the national US poker brand.
Let’s Get Started
Roar Digital has plans to start in New Jersey, relaunching party via GVC. They will then launch the brand in Pennsylvania, though it will be in the next quarter. Adam Greenblatt, the CEO of Roar Digital, spoke with OnlinePokerReport, stating that before the UIGEA, the partypoker brand was the biggest network in the United States.
The company has conducted research and found there is still residual value in the poker brand and that want to capitalize on it. The long-term plan is to be the market leader in the US via the poker sector. Due to current Wire Act issues, the platform will start out on a state by state basis.
However, the main goal is to create shared liquidity among states. Pennsylvania could be joining the multi-state poker alliance and this would lead to four state being able to share player pools. According to Greenblat, Pennsylvania has the ability to become a market leader, outperforming New Jersey. PA has seen great traffic streams during recent online tournament gaming.
Here Come Improvements
For party to be relevant and to appeal to players, improvements have been made to the platform. The upgrade in New Jersey includes changes that came to other markets last year, involving an overhaul of the mobile component.
Right now, the product is being tested by regulators in New Jersey. The changes, like introducing portrait mode, were introduced to enhance the mobile experience of players. Once the testing phase is completed, the product will relaunch. According to Greenblat, this should be in the next few weeks.
On top of this information, the CEO announced that the MGM/GVC joint venture is not looking at Nevada as a priority. Sports betting launching in other states is being considered lower on the scale of what needs to be done for right now.
BetMGM will be live in eleven states by the end of the year and will help the company to move forward in 2020. There is a need within the company to do well, after last week saw reports showing a loss of $32 million from last year.
It will be interesting to see partypoker going live in Pennsylvania as well as relaunching in New Jersey. Does the brand have the ability to overtake other brands like PokerStars and WSOP/888?
