Poll: What are the biggest barriers to PokerStars re-entering New Jersey?
Will New Jersey come under pressure to block PokerStars' proposed acquisition of a land-based casino in the state?
Last week’s revelation that PokerStars was lining up a bid to acquire the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in New Jersey was a statement of intent showing the company is determined to re-enter the US egaming market.
Despite being forced to shut down its US operations in April 2011 following the Black Friday indictments, and reaching a $731m settlement with the US Department of Justice in July this year, the operator looked set to be blocked from entering New Jersey by a ‘bad actor’ clause inserted into Senator Raymond Lesniak’s egaming bill. However, this was removed last week when an amended version of the bill was passed by the State Assembly last Tuesday.
While this would seem to give Stars the green light to establish a presence in the Garden State through this land-based acquisition, reportedly for a fee of less than $50m, the poker market-leader may find further obstacles blocking its path to US re-entry.
Despite this, the potential bad PR generated by allowing the operator to resume US-facing operations so soon after it was shut down, at a time when online gambling remains a contentious issue, could lead New Jersey state regulators to dispute the deal.
Powerful land-casino groups such as Caesars could also protest the acquisition, claiming that the fact PokerStars was making money online while it complied with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) should mean the operator is banned from returning to the market. Considering Stars was available in the US until April last year, many players could return to the site should it become available again, potentially giving the company an unfair advantage.
New Jersey may also come under pressure from various lobby groups including the American Gambling Association (AGA) to block Stars from returning to the US. The AGA is lobbying to push the Reid-Kyll poker bill through Congress during this year’s lame duck session. The legislation includes a ‘penalty box’ provision which would prohibit operators that continued online activities after UIGEA was enforced from applying for an online poker licence for five years, and ban them from selling or licensing trademarks or software to other businesses looking to enter the market.
What do you think? Will PokerStars’ efforts to get back into the US be opposed? Have your say by voting on the right-hand side of the page.