Legal Online Poker Rooms Thriving in the United States
Several bills which would legalize online poker and other forms of online gambling in the USA are currently languishing in the U.S. Congress.
One or more of those bills could become law soon.
Or maybe not so soon.
Or maybe never.
In the meantime, however, several online poker rooms are already operating from the USA and they claim to be legal.
And they are thriving.
The largest of these so-called legal Internet poker rooms is Pure Play (www.pureplay.com), which is based in San Francisco, California, USA.
Pure Play gets around U.S. laws that restrict online gambling by eliminating the risk factor of gambling.
So how does it work?
Pure Play is like a cheap country club.
Customers pay a $25 monthly membership fee to belong.
Once you're a member, you can play in free online poker tournaments which award cash prizes to winners.
Since no one who plays in the tournaments is risking any real money, the tourneys are technically not gambling, and therefore legal in the USA.
Or so goes the thinking.
It's a legal loophole big enough to drive a Mack truck through. The monies awarded to tournament winners are derived from the membership fees, plus revenue Pure Play earns from ads on the site.
The five-year-old site claims it has 2.4 million members.
In an interview with Gamling911.com, Pure Play founder, owner and CEO Jason Kellerman said he expects his site to continue in 2010 as the USA's dominant legal online poker room.
"Pure Play had a great year in 2009, furthering accelerating and strengthening our position as the largest U.S.-based poker site," Kellerman said. "Given the economy, people are more concerned than ever about the risk of losing money at gambling-based poker sites, and we've seen that in the financial results of those sites. The need for an online poker site with competitive thrills but no risk of losing money has only increased.
"In 2009, we became a true social gaming site, leveraging the power of social networks and the social aspects of poker with our unique model," he continued. "This is apparent in the product itself, which now includes user profiles, photos and avatars, skill levels, chat and other great community features. Very soon we will be launching tools that will enable our customers to create their own social network within Pure Play."
Pure Play's main competitor in the legal U.S. online poker room biz is Triple Jack (www.triplejack.com), based in Coral Springs, Florida, USA.
In second place, it's a distant second--Triple Jack founder, owner, president and CEO David Finkelstein says his site has about one-seventh the membership of Pure Play. (Triple Jack uses the same business model as Pure Play--clients pay a membership fee to join and then can play free tourneys that offer real money prizes. Plus the site runs advertising.)
In an interview with Gamblng911.com, Finkelstein said Triple Jack strives to be King of the Hill, despite its lag behind its chief competitor, by focusing on the social aspects of poker.
"Triple Jack has established itself as the No. 1 social poker game on the Internet," he said. "We have over 350,000 registered members and are growing at a pace of over 30,000 per month. Our players play with us for fun and entertainment, as well as to meet other people who enjoy the game.
"Our in-game social features, including charms and bombs, help our players interact with each other. Our user profiles and in-game medals help players get to know each other. We are the only poker game that is truly focused on embracing the social aspects of the game of poker.
"Every other online poker site wants you to play for money, not for fun," Finkelstein continued. "Yet the vast majority of people who play poker do it for the social engagement of playing a game and to meet people who also enjoy the game.
"Our game is ever-changing with our growing membership. Most poker sites out there are exactly the same as they were five years ago. Our game is constantly changing with new game features and new social features that enable our users to communicate and get to know each other."
Not all U.S.-based legal online poker rooms have been successful, however.
A site with the bizarre name of Zosoz, formerly at www.zosoz.com and based in Minnesota, went out of business last year and then was criminally investigated by police for failing to return players' membership fees.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
