One of the most popular casinos in Vegas, South Point Casino has ventured into online casino gaming. Early in August this year, the casino became the first to get the approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission, to function as a gaming operator, manufacturer and service provider in Nevada. Soon after that, the company announced that it would launch the real-money poker site in fall, which did not happen. In October, the casino launched the first legal, 100% free poker site under its brand name, South Point Poker.
In its press release about the online poker room, South Point Casino LLC has also mentioned about the promotions and tournaments it is going to host on its site. This is great news for all but Mac users in Nevada. Why? Because the much hyped South Point Poker play money site is not compatible with Mac operating system, leaving thousands of Mac users disappointed!
Where is the Mac Compatible Version?
The all new South Point online poker room offers both downloadable and browser versions of the software. The poker client, however, is compatible only PCs and not on Mac systems. So if you are a Mac user in Nevada, you won’t be able to play your favorite game online, even though it is for play money. This also implies that once South Point Poker launches its real money poker site, you will be among the thousands of Mac users who are deprived of online poker gaming in the state of Nevada, in spite of it being completely legal there.
As of June 2012, there were an estimated 66 million Mac users across the world. While that may be lesser than the number of PC users, it is not insignificant. By not having a Mac compatible version of the poker software, South Point Poker will be losing a number of Mac using customers in Nevada State.
Wait for Mac Compatible Online Poker Client to be Longer?
South Point Casino is likely to be the first company to have its own branded online poker site offering real money gaming. After it received the license earlier this year, the casino has not wasted time in starting development of the gaming software for its site. Rather than getting its software from a third-party developer, South Point has decided to develop its in-house software for the online poker room. This is one of the reasons that it leads the race, for a share in Nevada’s online gambling market.
While there is news about the casino also having a supercool Geo-location tool to ensure that only members in Nevada register with it, there is no information whatsoever about the development of a Mac poker client for the site. As of now, South Point is going to be the only online poker room after its launch sometime at the end of the year. The possibility of anybody else launching an online poker room before, or at the same time when South Point launches its poker room is bleak.
Considering all this, it can be concluded that Mac users are in for a long wait for real money online poker. When the rest of Nevada is busy enjoying South Point Poker’s promotions and offers, Mac Users can’t help but feel left out.
What will Mac Poker Players Miss Out?
South Point Casino has been promoting its online poker room with promotions for its new members. In a press release published earlier in October, the casino had stated that the poker room would be running on the highly acclaimed Zen Entertainment gaming platform, and the URL of the poker room will be www.southpointpoker.com. The press release also listed down the promotions that it is running on its play money site. Unlike PC users, who will be able to access the online poker room, Mac users will miss out on these promotions. The offers include –
• Qualifying satellites for a seat at the weekly tournaments offering grand prize of $10k;
• Cash prizes worth $100,000 each month
• Tie-in promos where members of the casino can win online
These promos were announced when the casino planned to launch its poker site in October. While the launch did not happen as scheduled and the site is not yet functional, South Point is doing all it can to be the first casino to launch its own online poker room in Nevada. News is that the casino is on an aggressive hiring spree for developing its online casino and monitoring its operations. But whether or not it plans to offer a Mac poker client is something that we need to wait and see.
Poker Sites for Mac
You don’t have to worry about missing out just yet. Whether you’re in Nevada or not, there are still online poker sites that accept Mac users. You can check them out by viewing our list of online poker sites for Mac right now.