Caesars and 888 Deepen Online Poker Partnership

Article ByStan Fox

January 23, 2021

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Posted in: US Poker News

Caesars Entertainment and the London-listed 888 Holdings Plc have agreed to a multi-year extension of their B2B poker partnership. Under the renewed agreement, 888 will continue to power Caesar’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) online poker brand, as the company intends to enter into new regulated markets.

The Las Vegas-based casino company started WSOP in 2013. Today, WSOP is the world’s leading and longest-running poker series, allowing hundreds of thousands of participants from across the globe to compete for millions of dollars with live tournaments broadcast to a global audience. “Our partnership with Caesars Entertainment has been powering the immensely popular WSOP brand digitally since 2013, and we are looking forward to continuing this relationship for years to come,” Yaniv Sherman, SVP- Head of the US of 888, said.

Further Details

888 Holdings will continue to provide its poker platform and services to Caesars Entertainment in the US, including bringing WSOP’s digital poker rooms to players’ mobiles and desktops. The deepening partnership between the two transatlantic companies will also see the launch of “Poker 8,” 888 Holding’s next-generation poker software, in the US. The latest software was launched in Europe last November. It will significantly enhance the overall user experience through its latest graphics and animations and other advanced features like multi-day and multi-flight tournaments.

The partnership will also retain 888 as the US market’s sole interstate poker network, the All-American Poker Network (AAPN), across the states of New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. This formidable combination of technology and human interest has helped increase the number of poker players and the subsequent increase of available games and formats for the customers.

The partnership comes at a crucial time as the WSOP brand is seeking to land in additional markets with regulated online poker, such as Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions across the US where Caesars holds a gaming license to operate.

While commenting on the extended partnership, Executive Director of WSOP and SVP of Caesars, Ty Stewart, said, “We’re proud of the success story to date, mainly the record-setting tournament events of 2020.” He said Caesars is optimistic about the future of online poker in the US.

888 Extends its US Market Access

888 Holdings is a global gaming operator with a variety of multiple forms of digital gambling, including sports betting, online poker, and casino games. The majority of its platforms are meant for European players, but the Gibraltar-based gambling company has been eying the ever-expanding US online sector in the past years.

888 was actually the first online-only gambling operator to obtain a license in the US market when Nevada Gaming Commission approved it back in 2013. Since then, various 888-branded platforms are up and running in the country. For instance, 888 has an online casino and online poker platform in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. Last month, the company revealed it had obtained market access deals in Indiana, Colorado, and Iowa. These states will see the launch of 888Sport later this year.

Sherman expressed excitement at the “prospect of adding new states” to 888’s unique interstate poker network in 2021 and beyond. The official said the company believes the expansion would drive a significant increase in liquidity for poker players on its platform. Sherman added that the extended relationship would enable 888 to “gain a presence in the new US states following the regulatory approvals, which presents a significant opportunity in our long-term development strategy for the US market.”