SharePhil Galfond’s Run It Once online poker platform has been sold to Rush Street Interactive, the Chicago-based company reportedly paying $5.8million for the site as it looks to launch RIO in the legal US online poker market.
Run It Once Poker’s platform and team, myself included, were acquired by Rush Street Interactive (RSI), with the plan to solidify, enhance, and integrate our software into their platform. (2/6)
— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) March 3, 2022
Although the news has only just broken, the deal was apparently signed and sealed late last year, coinciding with Galfond’s announcement that he was pulling the plug on the global RIO project and refocusing on entering the US market.
News of the deal was simultaneously announced by RSI in their 2021 Q4 and full year earnings call, with the simple line: “Acquired the technology platform and onboarded the team from Run It Once Poker.”
The acquisition will reportedly cost RSI $3.3 million in cash, as well as $2.5 million in RSI shares, with Galfond explaining how the deal came about.
“We spoke with many potential partners over the last 18 months and are very excited to be on team RSI! They share our values: Honesty, integrity, fairness, and transparency - and not only with their players. They stood out to me in the fair and honest way they dealt with us.”
The ability to upscale their operations was a major factor in Galfond taking the RSI deal, the highstakes PLO endboss stating: “RIO Poker created a platform that people loved, with features and innovations that the poker world was excited about, but we also heard things like “if only they could iterate on their software faster” or “I’d move all my volume to RIO if they were bigger.
“Well, now we are bigger - much bigger. And now we add to our existing tech team the expertise and experience of those who have built huge poker platforms in the past. I’m extremely excited about what we’ll be able to accomplish together!”
Rush Street Interactive, the online offshoot of Rush Street Gaming who operate several “bricks and mortar” casinos, already offer poker and sportsbetting online in the US though their PlaySugarHouse.com and BetRivers.com brands.
Looking to further their online poker presence, buying RIO in its entirety for such a price seems like a very clever move, initially allowing them to challenge the other second-tier online providers in the US market.
Although there is no definite launch date for the RSI/RIO combo - “Before you ask: No, I don’t yet have a launch date or place(s) to share with you” tweeted Galfond – there is a good chance that Pennsylvania will be the market of choice.
RSI’s BetRivers brand already has a large presence in the Pennsylvania market, both online and “live”, with BorgataCasino.com currently running on their state online poker licence.
Multiple brands can run off the same licence in Pennsylvania, so it would seem like a sensible opening gambit for the RIO platform under RSI.
New Jersey and Michigan are possible options for the launch, but other legal states are unlikely due either to the size of the markets or the lack of available licences.
New York and Illinois have been mooted as future possible, if or when online poker becomes available.
