Following a successful trial run in Michigan beginning in August, leading US sportsbetting operator DraftKings has introduced its real-money jackpot-style poker game, Electric Poker, in Pennsylvania. The hyper-paced, three-handed No-Limit Hold’em tourneys, which offers jackpot multipliers ranging up to 10,000 times the buy-in, is now offered within Pennsylvania, as with Michigan, on a single-state basis.
DraftKings’ Electric Poker game can be found within the operator’s plentiful online casino offerings at the present time. Players can choose from one of four buy-in levels: $1, $5, $10, and $25. The maximum 10,000x multiplier occurs once every 1,000,000 games, meaning that with a top buy-in of $25, an Electric Poker tourney could pay out as much as $250,000.
Full rules and prize-distribution information are available via the FAQ page for Electric Poker that DraftKings has published. Players in other states can read the rules, but they cannot access the actual game, which is available via the DraftKings app.
Second trial run also in iPoker-regulated state
As with the Michigan trial run, DraftKings has also chosen its first expansion of the Electric Poker brand into another US state where online poker is authorized and available to the state’s residents. With Pennsylvania still a firewalled state, for at least a few more months, DraftKings’ Michigan and Pennsylvania Electric Poker players will remain separate for the time being.
There’s little reason, however, that a launch into New Jersey couldn’t also take place in the near future. New Jersey’s players could be pooled with those in Michigan immediately, since both states allow player pooling via the MSIGA (Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement) compact.
Bringing Electric Poker to the three other MSIGA states – Nevada, West Virginia, and Delaware – involves negotiating other technical hurdles. Nevada law specifically offers only online poker and not other forms of iGaming, and DraftKings currently categorizes Electric Poker among its other casino games, meaning some restructuring would have to occur. And in West Virginia and Delaware, other issues currently exist.
Nonetheless, DraftKings’ willingness to bring Electric Poker into a second state indicates the game has performed well enough to continue promoting.