AC’s Resorts Casino Inks Online Deal with Sportech and NYX Gaming

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Tuesday, June 24th, 2014 | Written by Charles Washington

Atlantic City casino Resorts has announced a partnership deal with SNG Interactive to develop a platform which will allow it to offer real-money online gambling in New Jersey. The companies are now targeting January 2015 as the date to launch their online gaming products on ResortsCasino.com, and commenting on the partnership deal Resorts Casino Hotel CEO Mark Giannantonio, said:

“We are also thrilled to announce our partnership with Sportech-NYX Gaming, LLC (SNG) to make casino games available on the ResortsCasino.com and affiliated websites. SNG’s extensive knowledge of the online gaming industry combined with Resorts’ longstanding history of first-class land-based gaming will allow us to bring New Jersey online gamers a fresh, unique and user-friendly experience.”

SNG partnership deal

In 1978, Resorts Casino Hotel became the first casino to open in Atlantic City, and the very first to open outside of Nevada in the United States. The resort is currently owned by New York property developer Morris Bailey via his company DGMB Casino LLC, with a minority shareholding also held by Connecticut-based casino operator Mohegan Sun.

Sportech-NYX Gaming (SNG) is a joint venture between European gaming software firms Sportech and NYX Gaming, with Sportech already providing casino-based racebook and online horse betting solutions for Mohegan Sun. Sportech and NYX said they would now invest around $2 million each in the project, although as of yet only online casino games appear part of the deal with no mention made of internet poker. This may be due to the fact Resorts Casino Hotel already has an online poker partnership agreement in place with PokerStars and Full Tilt owners,The Rational Group, which it struck back in July 2013.

Deal with Rational Group already in place

At the time the 2013 deal was struck with The Rational Group, the venture was hailed as a potential game changer which would have allowed Resorts Casino to make the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands available in New Jersey. The optimism, however, was short lived after PokerStars’ license application was suspended at the end of 2013, and Resorts’s online gambling prospects have remained frozen ever since until the new SNG deal was announced this week.

Nevertheless, the Rational Group agreement continues to remain in place with the company still aiming to provide online poker if an appropriate license is ever approved. Furthermore, the prospect of PokerStars shedding its ‘bad actor’ label has increased lately after Canadian firm Amaya’s announced its proposed acquisition of the online poker giant, prompting Resorts owner Morris Bailey to issue the following statement:

“We welcomed the recent announcement by Amaya Gaming Group, Inc of its plans to acquire Rational which we expect will move the regulatory approval process forward. PokerStars is the leading world-wide brand in online gaming and we are looking forward to our future with them in New Jersey.”

PokerStars by the fall?

When PokerStars had its license application frozen by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), the company was allotted two years in which to significantly change the circumstances of its board. The Amaya Gaming acquisition plan subsequently revealed the Scheinberg family would be divesting away from the business, thus compelling the DGE to announce that it felt “encouraged by [the] development and the expanded opportunities it might provide for New Jersey’s Internet gaming industry.”

Amaya already has a presence in the New Jersey market as it currently provides casino software to Caesars Interactive and bwin.party, whilst its Ongame poker platform is used by Betfair. Amaya is therefore heavily invested in the New Jersey market and having PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands introduced to the state, as well as the wider US market, is seen as an key part of its $5 billion acquisition of the Rational Group. After all, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both have the most highly regarded online poker software in the industry, and before Black-Friday PokerStars accounted for 70% of the USA’s unregulated online poker market.

Assuming the necessary licenses are obtained we can therefore assume Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino will be aiming to offer regulated online casino gambling through its Sportech-NYX Gaming collaboration, and online poker via its PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker sites. Commenting on the company’s prospects going forward, the casino’s owner, Morris Bailey, said:

“This is an exciting era of gaming in New Jersey, and we are confident it will be another positive steppingstone in Resorts’ storied history.”