Earlier this week a World Series of Poker online poker room briefly, and quite accidentally, went live in Nevada. On Wednesday, the site, which is operated by Caesars Interactive Entertainment and is currently in the process of being tested, was temporarily available to Nevada residents via a Mac client.
The WSOP poker website is currently awaiting final approval by Nevada gaming authorities. Online poker is legal in the Silver State, though so far there is only one site in operation.
That room is Ultimate Poker, which made history when it went live at the end of April, becoming the first such site in the nation to offer regulated, real-money online pokergames.
Company official apologizes for error
A Caesars representative using the handle "WSOPKen" posted on the TwoPlusTwo forums to clear up any confusion caused by the blunder that allowed the site to prematurely go live, saying in a statement, "Unfortunately, for a short time this morning, two Nevada players were able to gain access to the Mac version of our real money poker client and participated in a live game."
"These players should not have been able to deposit or play. The technical glitch that enabled these players to gain access to the Mac client has been corrected," the statement went on.
Company quickly notified Nevada regulators
For its part, Caesars was quick to alert Nevada officials of the error, and in return was lauded by Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman AG Burnett who said, "They addressed it immediately, and we are working with them to see how the mistake was made. They notified me right when it happened."
Mistake proves there is anticipation for WSOP site
The World Series of Poker is arguably poker's most prestigious, not to mention most highly-publicized and followed, annual live poker tournament, attracting thousands of players to the Rio in Las Vegas each year.
The excitement surrounding the brief, unintended launch of the online poker room bearing its name and logo surely bodes well for the future of the venture, whose actual commencement date has not been made public though it is said that Caesars is looking to officially launch their online poker site during the 2013 WSOP tournament. Caesars is one of about two dozen companies who have been approved and granted licenses by Nevada gaming regulators.
This year's WSOP got underway earlier this week, with Chad Holloway already having snatched up the first bracelet of the 2013 events.
Wisconsin-born Holloway, who serves as a senior news editor for PokerNews.com, was ecstatic about his win, taking to Twitter to remark, "The bracelet means the world. Money comes and goes, but I'll always have today."
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