Ultimate Gaming’s online poker gamble in the Silver State didn’t strike gold. After making history as the first legal US based online poker website since the Department of Justice paved the way for such possibilities in December of 2011, Ultimate Poker is shutting its virtual doors. The site had been in existence roughly 19 months. On April 30, 2013 the first legal, state regulated online hand of “real money” poker in the United States was dealt at the Ultimate Gaming website. Nevada was quick to legalize online poker after the DOJ ruling, and along with the state’s WSOP online poker site, Ultimate Poker shared roughly 50% of virtual poker traffic in the state until the last few months.  There are additional US online poker rooms available to Nevada players, but they are not based in the United States.

UP Closure to Spell Added Profits for WSOP Brand?

This will no doubt be a positive announcement for WSOP in the short term. It remains to be seen if this is a sign of things to come, or merely an unfortunate and temporary blip on the US online gambling radar screen. Tom Breitling is the Chairman of Ultimate Gaming, and he said that the site was receiving just around 50 cash players at any one time on a seven-day average. With an extensive ad campaign, poker tournaments that did not attract enough attention to cover cash money guarantees and low revenue, Breitling said the company was not profitable and did not expect a turnaround in the near future.

In contrast, the World Series of Poker website in Nevada has seen a boost up to more than 100 cash players on its online poker site at any one time. After hosting the globally popular World Series of Poker physical tournament schedule in Las Vegas recently, the WSOP site had seen a traffic surge that may have helped contribute to the Ultimate Gaming drop-off. Players with accounts at UP are recommended to access the Support tab on the website to discover the account closing process which is being monitored by Nevada Internet gaming regulatory authorities.

Real Gaming to Move from Online Poker Afterthought to Viable Player?

Earlier this year Real Gaming opened the 3rd Nevada virtual poker site. The company has had an extremely difficult time generating a foothold in the small online poker industry in Nevada. With an overall population of less than 3 million, Nevada’s legal-aged online poker player pool is only so large. But obviously the Ultimate Poker closure will help Real Gaming to some extent. It will certainly aid the WSOP site in becoming more profitable. In New Jersey and Delaware, the only other 2 current states which have adopted legal online gaming legislation, revenue numbers have been steady if not as high as predicted. And states like Pennsylvania, California, Mississippi and New York currently have multiple online gambling proposals awaiting votes.

How will UP Nevada Online Poker Shutdown Affect US Internet Gambling Industry?

So it will be interesting to see how the inconsistent Internet gambling atmosphere across the United States unfolds from here. In September of this year Ultimate Gaming shut down its New Jersey online poker operation, after claiming financial disagreements with the Taj Mahal Casino in New Jersey, its physical partner there. After recent elections saw the Republican Party add control of the Senate to its stranglehold on the House, online poker and casino gambling in 2015 may suffer a setback. Democrats have always looked upon Internet gambling more favorably than Republican lawmakers. Check back frequently for updates on the online gambling industry in the United States.  To learn more about US friendly poker sites, check out our online poker reviews.