New Jersey Online Gambling Brief December 12, 2013
The big news in New Jersey this week was Wednesday’s revelation by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement that PokerStars’ license application would be put on the shelf for two years unless serious changes take place inside the company.
In this week’s edition of the New Jersey Online Gambling Brief we’ll fill you in on where PokerStars now stands in NJ; recap Tuesday’s Congressional hearing on online poker and why it was a massive victory for online gambling advocates; detail the impending auction of the Atlantic Club Casino; and a whole lot more.
PokerStars out (for the time being) of New Jersey
Word came down on Wednesday that PokerStars license application in New Jersey was being suspended for a two-year period by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement according to Forbes.com’s Nathan Vardi.
However, it should be noted that there were stipulations made by the DGE that would allow the suspension to be lifted early, namely that PokerStars found a way to solve its Isai Scheinberg problem. The “primary” reason (and only reason given) for the suspension was the alleged ongoing involvement of Isai Scheinberg in the company he founded back in 2001.
You can find more information, along with a little bit of speculation on Wednesday’s breaking, but not entirely unexpected news here.
Online gaming opponents embarrassed at House subcommittee hearing
Tuesday offered both sides in the online gambling debate a chance to bring their A-game before Congress and make their best arguments for or against online gambling. Fortunately for the pro-online gambling crowd, only one side decided to show up to the hearing ready to play some football; the other side had a critical turnover that definitely cost them the game, and may have cost them the season.
Speaking on behalf of the pro-gambling crowd, the PPA’s John Pappas and the AGA’s Geoff Freeman stayed on message and did an excellent job of clearly and succinctly making their case for regulated online gambling.
On the other hand, Andrew Abboud of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation started off pretty well, but things went south when he was asked about the hypocrisy of the Sands Corporation fighting against regulated online gaming when they offer mobile gaming at their Venetian property!
Abboud faced criticism from both sides of the aisle, as Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Joe Barton (R-TX) questioned Abboud’s and his company’s motives, citing their apparent double standard — the best Abboud could muster in defense of the Las Vegas Sands position was to almost word-for-word recite Rep. Joe Barton’s proposed federal online poker legislation, only a smaller (casino-sized) scale.
It’s unlikely the hearing will suddenly make a federal bill viable in the near future, but it definitely put Sheldon Adelson and the rest of the anti-online gambling crowd on the defensive, taking a lot of wind out of his “I’ll spend whatever it takes to stop online gambling” sails. And Abboud’s gaffe did make it into some mainstream press outlets including The Hill.
Atlantic Club hits the auction block
Interested in getting into the online gaming industry in New Jersey?
Looking for an 800 room casino/hotel fixer upper?
Do you have $25 million burning a hole in your pocket?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, have I got the place for you; The Atlantic Club Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey!
On December 17th, the Atlantic Club Casino (which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month) will be up for auction, with a starting price of $25 million.
The casino was in talks with PokerStars over the summer that would have seen the online gaming giant buy the Atlantic Club for around $15 million, but that price also included the assuming of the company’s liabilities — which is likely the reason the auction price is set at $25 million.
Whoever buys the Atlantic Club will have a clear path to an online gambling license if they desire to go down that road, which after the successful launch last month could make the Atlantic Club auction hotly contested.
We thought you should know…
Party/Borgata cash-game traffic is up to an average of 200 players according to www.pokerscout.com’s 7-day rolling average figures, and peak traffic is approaching 600 real-money cash-game players.
MikeyCasino won the Party Poker $50k Guarantee Sunday tournament two weeks in a row. Read how he did it here: Déjà vu for MikeyCasino in the Party Poker $50k Guaranteed
