ace|Play Poker about to go live
ace|Play Poker

Free-to-play poker site to be turned into real online gambling den as soon as allowed.

Companies are warming up in anticipation of a real-money online poker revival in the US. Following Thursday’s signing of Nevada’s new online gambling bill, establishing a presence in said state is a logical first step in a strategy to conquer the American market.

That’s the precisely the strategy followed by American Casino and Entertainment Properties (ACEP), the Arizona company behind a new poker site, ace|Play Poker. Partnering with Ongame, the company that Amaya recently purchased from bwin.party digital, ACEP created the site as a free-to-play alternative for the time being.

Amaya CEO David Baazov praised the decision to purchase Ongame. He said that “Ongame’s unique track record within regulated markets around the world has proven essential for the success we are experiencing in the United States.”

Of course the aim for both ACEP and Amaya is not a social gaming, free poker site, but an online and mobile casinos generating revenue from real-money wagers. With that in mind ACEP acquired a Nevada interactive gaming operator license in September in preparation for real gambling operations.

ACEP also has a strong presence on the brick-and-mortar scene with the Stratosphere in Vegas and the Aquarius in Laughlin.

“The poker solution from Amaya Gaming Group’s Ongame Network enables us to quickly establish a quality free-to-play poker website,” explained ACEP CEO, Frank Riolo, adding that the ultimate goal is “to be among the first-movers within iGaming in the United States. Our launch of ace|Play Poker will help strengthen our brands and prepare us for real-money online poker, which we will launch when it is legally possible.”

Development is underway to release ace|Play Poker to the iPhone and iPad gambling audience, as well as Android users.