\nBy Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/p>\n
\tThe online gaming community believes PokerStars\u2019 planned entrance into New Jersey\u2019s Internet wagering market in October is the fuel needed to kick-start the state\u2019s stagnant gambling activity into overdrive.<\/p>\n
\tThe tainted European betting giant \u2014 which was bought this summer in a staggering $4.9 billion transaction by Amaya Gaming Group \u2014 was angling for a piece of New Jersey\u2019s action long before the state launched Internet gaming in November.<\/p>\n
\tThe Isle of Man-based company wanted any slice of the potential U.S. online gaming pie. PokerStars, however, is viewed by U.S. gaming regulators as dirty.<\/p>\n
\tNevada and New Jersey ignored the company\u2019s $731 million settlement with federal prosecutors two years ago that made criminal and civil charges disappear. The U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn\u2019t keep PokerStars from entering legal U.S. online gaming markets.<\/p>\n
\tA \u201cbad actor clause\u201d in Nevada\u2019s interactive gaming regulations sidelined the company. Online casino operators that took wagers from Americans after the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act are banned for five years from doing business in the state.<\/p>\n
\tNew Jersey doesn\u2019t have a \u201cbad actor clause,\u201d although state gaming regulators were hesitant to sign off on a deal between PokerStars and Resorts Atlantic City for a joint venture in online wagering.<\/p>\n
\tShowering in the fresh Canadian water provided by Amaya could wash away PokerStars\u2019 stench.<\/p>\n
\tMontreal-based Amaya provides gaming equipment, lottery systems and interactive gaming technology to American states and Canadian provinces. The company, which has its stock traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, is licensed as an interactive equipment provider in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\tAmaya closed the PokerStars purchase in August and cleaned house of former company officials and owners, some of whom remain under indictment in the United States.<\/p>\n
\tEarlier this month, Amaya CEO David Baazov told analysts he wouldn\u2019t make any statement on the company\u2019s New Jersey plans but was hopeful on getting involved in other U.S. opportunities.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI think that a lot of states are looking at the regulation because of the benefits of consumer protection; however legislation takes time and it\u2019s difficult to predict when it\u2019ll be passed,\u201d Baazov said in a transcript posted on the Online Poker Report website. \u201cWe\u2019re going to examine proposed legislation on a state-by-state basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tPokerStars, along with its affiliated Full Tilt Poker, controls 54 percent of the global online gaming traffic outside of the United States. Combined, the websites have more than 85 million users.<\/p>\n
\tPokerStars was the undisputed industry giant when the website operated in the United States, albeit illegally, until it was cut off by the April 2011 Justice Department indictments.<\/p>\n
\tMany former PokerStars players in the United States would like to regain access to the website. Resorts Atlantic City could provide the opportunity, as long as players are willing to travel within New Jersey state lines.<\/p>\n
\tNew Jersey\u2019s six online casinos are on pace for $125 million in annual revenue, less than half of what analysts once predicted for the market. Nevada\u2019s three online poker websites had their first $1 million revenue month in June.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAt this point, real-money I-gaming does not have the catalytic power that some analysts had hoped,\u201d Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon told investors.<\/p>\n
\tPokerStars, however, could boost the figures in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cPokerStars had been the poster child for the \u2018bad actor clause,\u2019 but with Amaya having removed the former management team, PokerStars is now more viable and will begin to operate in New Jersey after being in indefinite limbo,\u201d Beynon said.<\/p>\n
\tEilers Research gaming analyst Adam Krejcik said PokerStars \u201cshould give a boost to online poker revenue trends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe competition is watching the maneuverings around PokerStars closely.<\/p>\n
\tCaesars Interactive CEO Mitch Garber, whose company controls 29 percent of New Jersey\u2019s online gaming business through the Caesars and WSOP.com websites, told analysts he expects PokerStars \u201cwill go through that very stringent licensing process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIronically, Caesars and Amaya are partners in New Jersey. Caesars uses the Canadian company\u2019s software platform for casino games under its New Jersey brand.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cCertainly PokerStars has been a company to be reckoned with,\u201d Garber said. \u201cAnd we leave decisions about how that will impact the market and whether they\u2019ll enter the market at all to the regulators.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOthers believe U.S. online gaming is facing issues that even PokerStars can\u2019t fix, such as geolocation technology troubles and payment processing complications.<\/p>\n
\tPokerStars is also at the center of the California online poker debate.<\/p>\n
\tState lawmakers shelved online poker legislation debate until next year, mostly because of discord among Indian tribes.<\/p>\n
\tThe Morongo Band of Mission Indians and three California card rooms have a deal with PokerStars. More than a dozen other tribes want PokerStars banned through a \u201cbad actor clause.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBeynon believes California could be another catalyst for online gaming throughout the United States.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe tribes will come up with a solution in 2015, legalizing what we estimate is a multibillion-dollar poker market,\u201d Beynon said. \u201cCalifornia is meaningful on a stand-alone basis but would also be an accelerant for New Jersey, as a potential interstate agreement would provide New Jersey with much-needed liquidity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe agreement could include PokerStars.<\/p>\n
\tIf Amaya can get PokerStars up and running in the United States, the action will be the most game-changing event led by a Canadian business since 1988, when the Edmonton Oilers shipped hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings.<\/p>\n
\tThe trade transformed the U.S. image of the National Hockey League forever.<\/p>\n
No replies were posted for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Howard Stutz, Las Vegas Review-Journal The online gaming community believes PokerStars\u2019 planned entrance into New Jersey\u2019s Internet wagering market in October is the fuel needed to kick-start the state\u2019s stagnant gambling activity into overdrive. The tainted European betting giant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}