Ultimate Poker made history back in April simply by launching its website, as it was the first regulated online poker site in the United States.
Though online poker is now legal for residents of Nevada, and more comprehensive online gambling bills have been passed in the states of New Jersey and Delaware, Ultimate Poker is, so far, still the only regulated online gambling web site currently in operation in the nation.
Unfortunately that exclusivity hasn't protected the country's first real-money online poker site from a problem-plagued software upgrade, having rolled out changes to its platform late last week that almost immediately resulted in a torrent of technical snags for users.
Players noticed problems almost instantly
The upgrade, which was initiated after Ultimate Poker completed a 90-day trial period during which it was closely monitored by Nevada gaming regulators, was highly anticipated but has caused some initial disappointment for players.
Players took to the popular form 2+2 to complain about issues such as software crashes, freezing, and hands vanishing in mid-play. In a statement released on their site, Ultimate Poker assured players that any money lost as a result of the issues the site experienced over the weekend had been recorded and would be fully refunded to players.
"Any affected players will be contacted within the next several days and reimbursed as quickly as possible. Please rest assured that full restitution will be made, this is something we want to make sure we get 100% right. We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused," the company said.
When it first opened its virtual doors back in April, Ultimate Poker's first days in business were relatively smooth, with only minor problems such as players reporting issues surrounding the site's identity verification process. Up until now, players - who must be over the age of 21 and be physically located within the Silver State when they log on - have for the most part reviewed Ultimate Poker and its software favorably.
Nevada market slow to get started, work out kinks
Ultimate Poker has been closely observed in the months since it first went live, in part owing to the novelty of the regulated online gambling market, which has thus far been mostly untested. Nevada became the first state in the nation to pass a law allowing for some type of regulated Internet-based gaming when it did so back in 2011. In early estimates, analysts are predicting that the U.S. online betting market could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
Though more than twenty companies have been licensed by the state of Nevada as online gaming operators and for attendant industry services, aside from Ultimate Poker, none have yet launched a room, meaning that industry experts and fans of online poker have had precious little basis for comparison.
Some of industry's most noted brands are approved for Nevada online poker
With large companies like Caesars, MGM, Treasure Island, Boyd, and South Point, having been given the green light by those in charge of Nevada's gambling industry, the introduction of real-money online poker sites by some of the industry's most prominent names has been highly anticipated. As to when we might expect to see a more crowded field in Nevada, that remains to be seen as firm dates for the launches of additional rooms are at this point unknown.
The lack of competition in the Nevada online poker market, temporary as it may be, has been the cause of some chatter in the world of gambling. Many are wondering just why the market is getting up and running so slowly in Nevada, whereas by comparison in New Jersey the process has been much swifter.
In the Garden State, first-term Republican Governor Chris Christie signed into law the state's online gambling bill at the end of February. There, the initial sites are expected to go live by the end of November.
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