Free Poker opens online

Hoping for changes to the law casinos in Vegas and California are starting free poker sites

Casinos have made it clear that they are betting on a change in the laws on online gaming. Most online gaming companies are sure that it is only a matter of time before casino gaming is legalised and are making preparations to cash in the instant Americans are once again allowed to play the game they love. Two separate casino companies have already created their own free play poker sites. Such sites allow people to play poker for points every time they win, those points are then traded in for various prizes such as electronic goods and even cars. These sites cash in on sweepstake laws that mean players can still get in on the action provided by poker without having to break the law. It also means that when the gaming laws change they will already have some market share for when they change their setup to allow real money games.

Owner of the South Point Hotel and Casino, Michael Gaughan has announced that his free poker site will have the same name as the casino and will be using the ZEN network as their framework for operating the site. The site is expected to be up and running sometime in October. In addition to prizes there are even cash gifts on offer with the site to be funded exclusively by advertising and sponsorship deals. Zen also runs the poker rooms cardplayerpoker.com and spadesclub.com and Card Player magazine. According to Guaghan the website is only the first step and he intends to apply for an intrastate license at some point in the future.

The other casino to open a new site is the Barona Resort in San Diego which is launching a Beta site for a free poker room online. The only players who are eligible to use the site are Club Barona members and the site will work in much the same way as that described above. The manager of the Barona hotel and resort, Rick Salinas, has said that “We are always looking for new and inventive way to excite our players and launching this free to play site is just another way to provide more fun for our players while at home.” The platform is being provided by the GTECH G2 internet company and offers a whole range of variations of poker.