WSOP.com Online Bracelet Events
WSOP.com online bracelet events are full go for the 2019 WSOP

Earlier this week, Judge Paul Barbadoro of the US District Court concluded that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting. As a result, the World Series of Poker confirmed all online gold bracelet events will be available to players in both Nevada and New Jersey.

“I hereby declare that § 1084(a) of the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084(a), applies only to transmissions related to bets or wagers on a sporting event or contest,” Barbadoro wrote in conclusion. “The 2018 OLC Opinion is set aside.”

The new opinion came following the Department of Justice’s claim that the Wire Act applied to all forms of online gambling and left gray clouds surrounding upcoming WSOP.com online gold bracelet events that were planned to take place across an interstate player pool. With the new opinion, the cloud has been lifted, at least for now, and interstate WSOP.com online gold bracelet events are a go. Prior to Barbadoro’s opinion, players in Nevada and New Jersey were only guaranteed the ability to compete in the first two online gold bracelet events.

“Yes, barring something unforeseen, we plan on continuing with shared liquidity between Nevada and New Jersey for the remaining eight WSOP gold bracelet events between now and July 14,” Seth Palansky, WSOP Vice President of Corporate Communications, said when asked to confirm if players in Nevada and New Jersey would be able to participate in online gold bracelet events going forward.

WSOP.com recently completed the first of nine online gold bracelet events as part of the 2019 World Series of Poker, with Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Online Bracelet being won by Yong ‘LuckySpewy1’ Kwon. Kwon, who is currently the #2 ranked player in New Jersey, was playing out of the Garden State for the win. The event had a field size of 2,825 entries and Kwon scored $165,263 for first place. Fifteen-time gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth finished in sixth place.

“Wins are few and far between for U.S. online poker these days, so any positive news is met with smiles from the staff,” Palansky added. “It is very hard to watch DFS and sports betting, and even marijuana, spread quickly throughout the U.S., but a peer-to-peer game like poker, which is not a house-backed game and only sees operators take a cut to facilitate the play (like DFS and sports betting) be stuck in the mud. It’s very frustrating. Globally, more than 100 million people play poker and enjoy the game and we long for the day it is spread far and wide across the U.S. and taxed and regulated like any other legitimate business. Poker requires liquidity – a pooling of a large amount of players – to offer meaningful prize pools to get consumers excited. Interstate poker on a mass scale is critical to delivering on that.”

The 2019 WSOP schedule includes eight more online gold bracelet events, starting with Event #24: $600 Six Handed Pot Limit Omaha on June 9. Buy-ins for these remaining events range from $500 to $3,200, with the $1,000 Championship Event taking place June 30.

Remaining 2019 WSOP.com Online Bracelet Events

DATE EVENT BUY-IN TIME
6/9 WSOP.com 6-Handed Pot Limit Omaha $600 3:30 p.m.
6/16 WSOP.com No Limit Hold’em Knockout $600 3:30 p.m.
6/19 WSOP.com Turbo No Limit Hold’em Deepstack $500 3:30 p.m.
6/23 WSOP.com No Limit Hold’em Double Stack $1,000 3:30 p.m.
6/30 WSOP.com Championship $1,000 3:30 p.m.
7/3 WSOP.com High Roller $3,200 3:30 p.m.
7/7 WSOP.com 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em $800 3:30 p.m.
7/14 WSOP.com Summer Saver No Limit Hold’em $500 3:30 p.m.