PokerStars “Saddened” by Upcoming Atlantic Club Shutdown
A year-end post on the corporate blog belonging to the world’s largest online poker web site, PokerStars, shows that the company still has its failed deal to buy the Atlantic City casino the Atlantic Club on its mind.
The head of corporate communications for PokerStars, Eric Hollreiser, wrote a blog post on Tuesday that addressed the upcoming closure of the Atlantic Club.
The property is set to shut its doors on January 13.
Referring to the impending Atlantic Club closing, Hollreiser, a former journalist, wrote, “This is particularly sad, though, because it simply didn’t have to happen.”
PokerStars sought to acquire the Atlantic Club in 2013
PokerStars attempted to buy the Atlantic Club in early 2013, a story that was inescapable to anyone following poker and casino news as it was one of the most prominent of last year and received an intense amount of coverage from both the mainstream and the poker media alike.
The deal was struck in late 2012, but by the spring the Atlantic Club had called off the sale, saying that the reason was the inability of PokerStars to secure an interim operating license from New Jersey gaming regulators before a contractually-stipulated outside date.
A takeover of the long-struggling Atlantic Club, one of the worst-performing of Atlantic City’s twelve land-based casinos, would have allowed PokerStars to gain entry into the newly-launched New Jersey online poker and real money Internet casino market.
Atlantic Club ended up bankrupt and auctioned off
In the wake of the halted sale to PokerStars, the Atlantic Club went on to file for bankruptcy in November before being auctioned off to a partnership of Tropicana Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment last month.
The two companies plan to lay off the some 1,600 people currently working at the Atlantic Club, a fixture on the New Jersey shoreline since the early 1980’s, and divide the property’s assets.
Tropicana will be receiving the table games as well as the slot machines, and Caesars will be acquiring the real estate property. The two companies are paying $23.4 million for the Atlantic Club – well above the $15 million price that was PokerStars was set to pay had its deal with the Atlantic Club held up.
PokerStars had plans to continue operating the Atlantic Club had the sale worked out.
Company still awaiting entrance into New Jersey regulated iGaming market
Instead, the online poker behemoth went on to partner with Resorts, the oldest casino property in the financially flagging seaside resort town. It dates back to 1978 and the start of legalized casino gambling in the Garden State.
Resorts was approved to operate an Internet betting web site by New Jersey gaming regulators in December, however PokerStars was not. While its application to operate a New Jersey-facing online poker room was not denied, it was placed onto what amounts to a 24-month hold.
If not New Jersey, then elsewhere
This week’s blog post makes clear that PokerStars is not above focusing its efforts to gain a foothold in the nascent U.S. real money online poker market elsewhere.
“PokerStars does not share the vulture-like management practices that led to the coming job losses and disappointment of thousands of people in New Jersey with the closure of the Atlantic Club,” the blog post read.
“Instead, PokerStars will continue to pursue our goals and remain confident that we will have a strong presence and positive economic impact in the American market in 2014, whether that is in New Jersey or another state seeking the benefits of being home to a world-class online gaming company,” it continued.
