As of today, BetRivers customers in Pennsylvania can play real-money online poker against other users. It’s a product that has been in the works since 2022, when BetRivers owner Rush Street Interactive acquired the Phil Galfond-designed Run It Once Poker and announced that player-versus-player poker would be part of its US strategy.
Until recently, the timing of the launch was a mystery. However, earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) confirmed to PlayUSA that BetRivers Poker had ticked all the regulatory boxes and was ready to go live.
Galfond, one of the world’s top poker pros, joined forces with RSI to adapt his product as part of the deal.
As poker players, we designed this platform from the ground up to be for the players – all players. From the amateur playing their very first hand to the sophisticated pro, everyone was kept in mind as we focused on fairness, excitement, and generous rewards that truly benefit the player. I’ve been heavily involved in the game design, promotions, and policy decisions, and, more importantly, in building an incredible team that sees online poker the way I do.
– Phil Galfond, from a press release
BetRivers Poker features
BetRivers Poker is a full-featured site from day one, even offering some formats that not all its US competitors do.
Like any online poker site, BetRivers offers cash games and tournaments. Aside from large multi-table tournaments, it has two forms of fast-paced, three-handed sit & go tournaments, called Sit & Go Select.
The Classic SNG version of Sit & Go Select is just like any other single-table tournament, but with a fast structure and only three seats. The Cub3d version is what’s sometimes called a lottery or jackpot sit-and-go. Whereas Classic always pays out three times the buy-in (minus rake), Cub3d has randomized payouts. These are often just twice the buy-in, but with a chance to be as high as 1,500x.
Those three-handed tournaments with randomized payouts have been very popular in international markets since their introduction by French site Winamax in 2012. However, in the US, they have until recently only been available through PokerStars, as Spin & Go.
DraftKings launched its version of the format earlier this month, as Electric Poker. Unlike BetRivers, DraftKings isn’t currently offering any other version of poker except that one format.
The BetRivers Poker pitch: low rake
BetRivers says that its poker product offers value to players through rake that’s “among the lowest” in the state, as well as integration with the iRush Rewards loyalty program.
How does that claim stack up against other operators?
For Sit & Go Select, rake varies between 4% and 6.7%, which is lower than the flat 7% offered by PokerStars on Spin & Go.
For most cash game tables, the rake is nominally 4.75%, but the effective rake will depend on play style because there is a cap. The cap can be anything from 15 big blinds at the smallest stakes to less than a single big blind at the highest.
That’s also lower than other sites, at least at low stakes. Some, like WSOP, lower their rake percentage at higher stakes, though in those cases, the cap is more important than the percentage anyway.
What’s interesting is that BetRivers offers its lowest rake on the very smallest stakes, which is the opposite of most sites’ strategies. Its $0.25 Cub3d tournaments charge only a penny in rake (4%), while its penny cash games charge 4.5% instead of the usual 4.75%. The hope appears to be to keep recreational players around longer, and perhaps offer softer games as a result.
What didn’t make it: Splash the Pot
Those who’ve followed the history of Run It Once Poker and its transformation into BetRivers Poker may notice one disappointing omission. There’s no mention of Galfond’s innovative Splash the Pot rewards system.
This would presumably have been incompatible with the combination of low rake and iRush Rewards. After all, it was originally conceived by Galfond as an alternative to conventional rakeback, not an addition to it.
Splash the Pot took some percentage of the money collected as rake from cash game players and returned it to the game at random, increasing the size of certain pots. What was interesting was that it changed the game dynamic and made for looser, more exciting play.
It’s possible that we could see the concept make a comeback in some form, perhaps a limited-time promo. However, for now, players will have to content themselves with a more conventional, though affordable rake structure and rewards system.
Photo by PlayUSA
Graphic via BetRivers