The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a 54-year-old American brand that became Canadian on Aug. 1. That’s the day Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment announced it sold WSOP for $500 million to Toronto-headquartered NSUS Group, parent of GGPoker.
However, GGPoker won’t immediately take over the WSOP online poker licenses, which would represent the US debut for the Isle of Man-based site.
Caesars Entertainment commented:
Caesars Digital will also receive a license from NSUS to continue operating its recently upgraded WSOP Online real-money poker business in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania for the foreseeable future, but will otherwise be restricted from operating online peer-to-peer real-money poker operations for a specified period of time and subject to certain exceptions.
The announcement didn’t mention the remaining states where online poker is legal, but not currently offered by an operator:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- West Virginia
NSUS now owns the “intellectual property rights” to WSOP, but Caesars will continue to host the live tournament in Las Vegas for the next 20 years.
Caesars announced that brick-and-mortar poker rooms they operate will still feature WSOP branding, and Caesars destinations will retain preferential rights to host live WSOP Circuit (WSOP-C) events.
NSUS CEO Michael Kim expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition:
We will leverage GGPoker’s cutting-edge technology and industry expertise to create an exciting future for WSOP, ensuring players have an increasingly improved, safe, and seamless poker experience. Under the new leadership, NSUS intends to expand WSOP worldwide, positioning it at the forefront of poker’s growth.