Michael Clebnik, a self-professed “computer guy”, may be the potential savior of poker playing in America.
After the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGA) was put into place last year and effectively cut off the world’s largest customer stream for online gaming, many analysts feared for the health of the online poker industry. Well known sites such as Partypoker.net and PokerStars.com retreated from the U.S. market. Clebnik however, believed he found the perfect loophole to escape the wide-ranging legislation.
Clebnik created the Framingham-based National League of Poker, which can be based in the U.S. as he established it not as a gambling site, but as an organization that falls under the guise of sweepstake and lottery law.
Several years ago, Clebnik was simply a sports fan, having created five start-ups, including a fantasy sports company. “We were looking for expansion, and we were starting to play online poker.” Noting its huge growth potential, Clebnik realized that all the sites were based offshore.
“We felt there was a different way to offer poker to U.S. markets, and there was a lot of legislative buzz going on” which eventually led to the passage of UIGA.
Over 16 months, Clebnik and his staff developed the National League of Poker style: a membership based site, with advertisers and sponsors, the NLOP doesn’t require people to put money down on games and instead awards $25,000 in prizes each month.
The attention the NLOP is garnering is impressive to say the least. In just over a year it has gained 142,000 members, secured a title sponsor in Milwaukee’s Best beer and given away a seat at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Despite his success, Clebnik realizes that other companies will eventually catch onto his model, noting “I definitely assume there’s an industry being created here. We’re definitely the first, but we believe there will be some competition that comes out.”
