PokerStars Files Application to Operate NJ Casino
After what seems like a fairly long period of silence on the matter, word came this week that the parent company of online poker behemoth PokerStars, the Rational Group, has submitted its license to operate land-based New Jersey casino the Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel. The New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement officially received the completed application on April 10th, it said, meaning that clock will now be ticking on a 90-day period of review.
PokerStars made a bid for the struggling Atlantic City “locals only” casino last year, promising to turn around a property that has been on the decline for the number of years as Atlantic City on the whole has suffered a loss in tourism dollars and gambling revenue. The city, and indeed much of the state of New Jersey, was also badly damaged in last fall’s Hurricane Sandy, a storm that ravaged the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, wreaking particular havoc on the Garden State’s famous shoreline.
In February New Jersey became the third state in the nation to legalize some form of Internet wagering. The passage of the online gambling bill there was a crucial hurdle for PokerStars to take over the ailing Atlantic Club, for which a purchase price was said to be below the $50 million mark.
Stabilizing Atlantic City’s faltering economy was a motivating factor behind the passage of the online gambling bill, as several casino properties in the city are under the threat of closure as casino patrons flock to newer properties across the borders in other states. Pennsylvania, in particular, has benefitted from an influx of new casino visitors, having last year passed Atlantic City to become the second largest gambling market in the United States. The new online gambling industry in New Jersey, which is legally required to be based in Atlantic City, is expected to preserve some, if not all, of the endangered jobs there.
The New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement will have until July 9 to submit a report on Rational’s application to the Casino Control Commission. The next step after that is a hearing that must be held within 30 days of that date.
Powerful industry trade group the AGA has been a vocal opponent of PokerStars’ bid to take control of the Atlantic Club, arguing that the company should be disallowed from entering the New Jersey market as it continued to offer US-facing real money online poker games after the 2006 passage of the UIGEA. PokerStars settled their case with the United States government last summer without admitting wrongdoing.
Casino Control Commission Chairman Matthew Levinson declined to say whether a request by the AGA to attend the PokerStars hearing would be accommodated.
“The Commission believes it would be appropriate to schedule and address the AGA’s petition to participate in Rational Group’s ICA hearing once the Commission can determine when that hearing may be held,” Levinson said in a statement.
As yet, a date when New Jersey residents will be able to log on to online poker rooms and casinos has not been announced. Nor is it clear when Delaware and Nevada, the two other states to clear the way for Internet wagering, will begin rolling out their sites. There has been talk that Delaware may have online gambling by the fall; in Nevada there is speculation that online poker games will roll out this summer.
