Remember when you could stay home and lose all your money online instead of having to physically go somewhere to lose it? Well that golden age of online gambling could be making a comeback. Ultimate Gaming just launched the first legal real money poker site in the U.S. since 2006. The catch? You need a Nevada address to play.
The site, Ultimate Poker, is run by Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, who happen to also own the majority share of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is being used to promote the the new endeavor. The Ultimate Poker logo is being shown in UFC rings.
Ultimate Poker was made possible by a law passed in Nevada two months ago. Delaware and New Jersey have also taken steps towards legalizing online gambling, but Nevada and Ultimate Poker are the first on the scene. It won’t be the only game in town for long. 888, an online casino that hasn’t operated in the U.S. since 2006, will soon be launching a competitor. 888 was the first Internet company to get a gambling license in the U.S. since it was effectively outlawed in 2006.
In order to play on Ultimate Poker, users will need to have a Nevada mailing address, be 21 or older, and have a valid social security number. Whether other states jump on board with the return of online poker could depend largely on how Ultimate Poker and 888 do. If they manage to avoid the problems earlier sites had that led to online gaming being shut down in the U.S., maybe lawmakers will allow its return on a wider scale.
(via The Verge, image via maorix)
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