When individual US states were given the green light to legalize internet gambling, we got excited. When Ultimate Poker became the first legal, regulated online poker room to launch in Nevada in April 2013, we got really excited. It seems, though, that the excitement of the poker community alone has not been enough to allow poker to take off in the United States fully. Let’s hit some of the highlights with the help of the weekly PokerScout Scouting Report.

Let’s start with Ultimate Poker, the beacon of hope for American players last year. Months after the Nevada launch, it got its poker room up and running in New Jerseywhen internet gambling became legal in the Garden State. Operating with the Trump Taj Mahal, Ultimate Poker shut down its New Jersey operations last week, citing breaches of contract by Trump Taj Mahal Associates LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

In Nevada, where Ultimate Poker had first mover advantage, the site now has 60 cash game players on average over the last seven days, compared to 100 for WSOP.com. And now recent reports from a number of media outlets have said that Chief Marketing Officer Todd Kobrin, Director of Poker Operations Scott Yeates, and Poker Product Manager Chris Danek have all left the company.

Additionally, sponsored pro Jason JCarver Somerville, who produces the very popular video series RunItUp, announced during a live stream that he is parting ways with Ultimate Poker.

Meanwhile, WSOP.com is leading in Nevada, but it too has had tough sledding. The site got a significant boost during the World Series of Poker, as thousands of people flocked to Las Vegas and were bombarded with advertisements for the site at the Rio, but according to PokerScout, traffic has fallen way off those peak levels. Even a recent 100% reload bonus and double player points did not help all that much. PokerScout reports that WSOP.com traffic was up 12% last week, but compared to the World Series boost, that’s not much.

Back to New Jersey, PokerScout showed a decline for the state’s cash game traffic last week. Sister sites PartyPokerand Borgata Poker are the leaders with 140 cash game players, followed by WSOP.com with 120. With Ultimate Poker gone, 888 Poker is now the short stack with 55 cash game players.

Sometimes we forget, but there is a third state, Delaware, that has legalized online poker. Unfortunately, Delaware is so small that the three racino-based online poker rooms are really non-factors in the grand scheme of things. That may change, though, when Delaware’s interstate gaming compact with Nevada takes effect.

The governors of each state signed the “Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement” in February, which allows players from one state to play on a poker site located and licensed in the other. 888 recently announced that when the Agreement takes effect, it will launch its All-American Poker Network across both states.

The three online poker rooms in Delaware already run 888’s software, so they will be a part of the network. WSOP.com in Nevada, which runs the software, will be the network’s biggest player at the outset, and 888 will be launching two more rooms – one for Las Vegas’ Treasure Island Casino and an 888-branded room. Thus, at the outset, the Nevada/Delaware AAPN will have six member rooms.

PokerScout also made note of the anticipated launch of PrivateTablein California. The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel had determined that it should be allowed to exert “its sovereign right under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to regulate and conduct Class II gaming from the tribe’s reservation.” Class II gaming includes poker. The Tribe said it planned to launch PrivateTable in late August, but that has not happened. In the meantime, stakeholders continue to argue over the regulations for online poker in California.

PokerScout’s Scouting Report is a daily newsletter for the online poker industry, with in-depth data and analysis of the market. More information can be found by clicking here or contacting support@pokerscout.com.

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