Friday, December 20, 2024

DraftKings Just Launched Real Money Online Poker in Michigan — and its Called Electric Poker

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DraftKings Just Launched Real Money Online Poker in Michigan -- and its Called Electric Poker

Sports betting and casino giant DraftKings has launched a true player-vs-player online poker game called Electric Poker in Michigan. It could go down as one of the most important developments in US online poker in the last decade.

Players with an existing DraftKings Casino Michigan account can find the game in the casino lobby, on desktop or on mobile. Michigan online poker players who don’t yet have a DraftKings account can sign up today.

By signing up through our link, you can claim a special Play $1, Get $100 Casino Credits instant bonus. At the time of writing, that $100 casino credits bonus can be used to play Electric Poker — something that could change soon. So players should jump at this while the offer is there. Just deposit $1 and play a $1 game to get the $100 bonus.

And right now, we’re guessing these games are going to be very soft.

DraftKings Electric Poker: Key Details

  • True player-vs-player online poker game available today at DraftKings Casino Michigan.
  • Electric Poker is a three-handed, winner-takes-all sit and go tournament.
  • Plays like Spin and Go and Blast Poker, with random prize chosen at the start.
  • “Electric Mode” forces all-in after 3 to 6 blind levels.
  • Buy-ins of $1, $5, $10 and $25.
  • Available on desktop and mobile, with four-table multi-tabling supported.
  • Top 10,000 multiplier means a top prize of $250,000.

Don’t be put off by the fact that Electric Poker is in the casino lobby. This is not a casino game where you play against the house: it is a true real money online poker game, where you will play against two other real opponents and compete for a real money cash prize.

Electric Poker is a lottery or “jackpot” sit and go game, like PokerStars Spin and Go or WSOP’s Blast — a three-handed, winner-takes-all online poker tournament where the winning prize is randomized at the start of the tournament.

These have become one of the most popular formats of poker online because they are fast, fun, great for mobile play, and offer a chance of winning a big prize. But they are also competitive — smart players can win a profit long-term playing these games.

DraftKings’ take on the format looks like a great edition. There’s a good spread of buy-ins, the rake is reasonable, the multipliers look good, the payouts are well spread and the software appears to be very slick. You can multi-table up to four tables — even on mobile! — and there’s a hand history replayer.

And in the early days, DraftKings’ game is likely to be extremely soft as casino and sports players try it out for the first time.

Real Money Online Poker at DraftKings Casino Michigan!

  • Electric Poker is live at DK Casino
  • True player-vs-player jackpot game like Spin and Go or BLAST
  • Three-handed sit and go tournament with prizes up to $250,000
  • Insane new player offer: Deposit, play $1 on Electric Poker, get instant $100 bonus with 1x playthrough! Bonus can be used on Electric Poker.
Play Electric Poker today »

Bet With Your Head, Not Over It. Must be 21 or over and in Michigan to play. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call the MDHHS Gambling Disorder Help-line at 1-800-270-7117 or visit the MDHHS website.

How to Play Electric Poker

You can find Electric Poker in the DraftKings casino lobby on both desktop and mobile. There are four buy-in levels: $1, $5, $10 and $25. Once you buy-in, you’ll be seated at a table against two other real opponents.

DraftKings Electric PokerA random prize will then be chosen. Just under 50% of the time, you’ll be competing for 2x the buy-in; around one third of the time, it will be 3x the buy-in. But sometimes, that prize can be a lot higher: 4x, 5x, 10x – all the way up to 10,000x the prize pool (this occurs 0.0001% of the time, or 1 in a million games).

You then play a fast-structure sit-and go to compete for that prize. For multipliers up to 4x, its winner-takes-all, but at higher multipliers, second place and sometimes third place also get a consolation prize.

Games don’t last long. Blinds go up every 2 minutes. And the Electric Poker twist is that after just a few blind levels, you go into Electric Mode — where all players are forced all-in every hand until just one player remains.

This idea has been seen before in lottery sit and gos, though no other Michigan online poker operator currently implements it. It does mean less online poker play for your money, but the advantage is that ensures games have a maximum play time — six minutes for low prize pool games, going up to 12 minutes for the highest multiplier games (plus any time for the “all in” portion to play out).

DraftKings Electric Poker Multiplier & Probability

Prize Pool Multiplier Probability 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
2x 47.78% 100%
3x 35.9956% 100%
4x 11.1133% 100%
5x 4.60% 80% 20%
10x 0.50% 75% 25%
100x 0.01% 70% 25% 5%
1000x 0.001% 70% 20% 10%
10,000x 0.0001% 70% 20% 10%

This payout table equates to an effective rake of 7% — that is, 93% of the buy-in goes towards these prizes paid back to players over time, and 7% goes to DraftKings as a fee for operating the games.

This is pretty competitive for the Michigan online poker market, where all other regulated online poker sites offer a similar game type. The rake sits between 6% and 10% across the regulated operators.

Maxing the Sign-up Bonus for DraftKings Casino at Electric Poker Games

As mentioned, Michigan players who sign up through us can get a $100 bonus that can be played on Electric Poker. Here’s how it works.

  • If you’re located in Michigan, aged 21+, and don’t have a DraftKings Casino account, you are eliglble.
  • Click this link to sign up
  • Make a deposit — it can be the minimum. No signup or bonus code needed.
  • Place a $1 wager in the casino — this can be playing an Electric Poker casino game.
  • You get $100 in casino credits that last a week.
  • Uses these to play as much Electric Poker as you want.
  • Any winnings are cash — no play through requirements!

This is an incredibly good bonus for online poker, and it could well change in the future (to exclude Electric Poker from casino credits). And as the games are likely to be extremely soft in the first weeks, this looks like one of the best deals we’ve seen for Michigan online poker players.

What this Means for US Online Poker

This is just a small step for DraftKings into real money online poker. It’s just one game, in one state, tucked away in their online casino lobby.

But this looks like the first step in what could be a major push by the operator into US online poker. It seems likely the operator will bring this game to other states, and that it will also expand its poker offerings.

“We understand that there are other poker variants and features you may be interested in and this is just the beginning,” DraftKings stated. “At DraftKings our customers are the core of what we do and we are excited about the possibility of bringing you a variety of options in the future.”

This could be just a trial; and if that trial fails, Electric Poker might disappear as quickly as it came. But the level of investment from DraftKings suggests a long-term outlook: It has built its own poker platform, launched a learning center, built a fully-fledged online poker app into its software. This is not a quick bolt-on of a third-party platform.

DraftKings is active with its online casino in every US online poker state excluding Nevada. It means a launch in New Jersey and Pennsylvania is likely. Combining Electric Poker liquidity between NJ and MI via MSIGA could be on the cards. Connecticut and West Virginia could even be in play.

This is the biggest brand in US igaming making a major move into US online poker. Players in Michigan can try the game today and get in on the ground floor of what could be a major shift in the landscape for safe, regulated real money online poker in the United States.

DraftKings in US Online Poker States

DK Casino DK Sports Electric Poker
Connecticut ✔️ ✔️
Delaware ✔️
New Jersey ✔️ ✔️
Nevada
Michigan ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Pennsylvania ✔️ ✔️
West Virginia ✔️ ✔️

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