PokerStars Sets the Date

The 21st of March has been announced as the long-awaited and much-anticipated return date for PokerStars to the US, as the world’s largest online poker site prepares to go live in the state of New Jersey.

Amaya Inc. -owners of PokerStars – intend to conduct an ‘interim testing period’ in association with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), and also a beta-testing phase using a limited number of players in March.

The new site, at Pokerstarsnj.com, will also feature slot machines. News of the launch date comes after a several month long wait following last September’s DGE authorisation allowing Amaya to operate the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands in the Garden State.

The Amaya Inc. Chairman and CEO, David Baazov, speaking of the announcement this weekend, said:

Online poker licences are almost always tied to a brick-and-mortar gaming establishments. Bailey stated of PokerStars launch date:

The road back to the US online market has been far from an easy one though, with a three-and-a-half year tale of failed casino purchases, partnership announcements, massive regulatory hurdles to overcome. Not to mention the Amaya buyout of PokerStars, and subsequent unexplained delays before the DGE’s provisional approval of a licence.

There are still problems afoot in the US market for Amaya and PokerStars, however, with a Kentucky court this week handing down an $870milllion verdict against the PokerStars site in lieu of ‘historic’ allegations dating back to the post-UIGEA, pre-Black Friday days.

It is this period – 2006 to 2011 – for which the Kentucky authorities claim that alleged losses by Kentucky-based players should be repaired, something which current owners, Amaya, believe ought to be a concern for the old owners, not themselves.

This, however, is also subject to appeal – Amaya having “since received a notice from the sellers’ representative initially disputing all claims set forth in Amaya’s notice of claim.”

Although a messy and potentially financially-costly problem, the Kentucky verdict is unlikely to dampen the enthusiasm heralded by the New Jersey launch this week. Although not only residents of the state of New Jersey can play – anyone within the state borders will be able to take advantage of the new site - they will still not have access to the global PokerStars player-pool.

There have also been discussions, ongoing for some time, about whether or not PokerStars will build their own poker-room at the Resorts Casino. Plans were mooted almost three years ago for a $10million live poker room, and although they have since gone quiet on any specifics, reports from various sources state that it is very much still a part of the Resorts/PokerStars plans.

New Jersey currently licences 17 online gaming sites, and the return of PokerStars will be a relatively small – but very significant – addition to this. The company said it would ‘use the same stringent verification, technology, account segregation, and responsible gaming practices to regulate player activity that the brand has pioneered elsewhere globally’.

What all of this will add to the regulation processes in other states is not yet clear, but as a first step for PokerStars, and the New Jersey populace in particular, it is highly significant.