PokerStars Asks Judge to Overturn ACC Ruling

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Friday, June 14th, 2013 | Written by Lucy Brown

PokerStars is back in the New Jersey civil courts.

This time around the online poker powerhouse is asking a judge to overrule an earlier decision that freed the Atlantic Club Casino from its purchase deal with PokerStars.

The twists and turns of PokerStars’ deal for the ACC

PokerStars and the Atlantic Club first began discussions regarding a purchase of the struggling Atlantic City Casino in the fall of 2012.

After preliminary discussions spanning October and November, the two parties reached a tentative purchase agreement in December of 2012.

That agreement contained a provision that is now the matter of great dispute between PokerStars and the ACC. Specifically, the contract required that PokerStars obtain a license from New Jersey regulators by April 24th, 2013.

PokerStars failed to meet this purported deadline as a result of additional requests for information from New Jersey regulators. And shortly after the deadline passed, the Atlantic Club Casino took what they saw as the opportunity to exit their deal with PokerStars and pursue a more lucrative sale.

When is a deadline not a deadline?

The answer to that question lies at the heart of the legal battle between PokerStars and the Atlantic Club Casino.

In summary: PokerStars believes that the deadline as established in the contract does not comport with New Jersey gambling regulations. The Atlantic Club Casino argues the opposite, asserting that the deadline was just that – a deadline by which PokerStars needed to have secured their license from New Jersey regulators. Once the date came and went, says the ACC, then they were absolutely free to exit the contract at any time of their choosing.

In late May a New Jersey judge agreed with the ACC and cleared the way for the casino to pursue other buyers.

Can PokerStars find another way into New Jersey?

The Atlantic Club Casino is hardly the only struggling property in Atlantic City. PokerStars could certainly find one or two alternative routes into the New Jersey market, but it’s unclear at this point if they’d be the highest bidder or the most attractive option for a casino considering sale.

Remember, when PokerStars and the Atlantic Club Casino first reached a deal, the legality of online gambling was still in flux. A bill to do so was only advanced in the waning days of December, and it was unclear whether or not Gov. Chris Christie was going to be on board with the idea well into February. As a result, a casino selling now would attract far more suitors at a far higher valuation with the ambiguity surrounding online gambling removed.

What about a partnership with an existing casino? That is certainly a route PokerStars could pursue, but again there are roadblocks.

The first is that a likely dance partner isn’t immediately apparent. The second is that New Jersey regulators recently revealed a tight timeline for the introduction of new partnerships; casinos have only until the end of June to submit partnerships for regulatory approval if they wish to be part of the first wave of regulated online gambling in New Jersey this November.

New Jersey regulators have yet to indicate how they plan to handle other aspects of their market, such as poker on mobile devices.

Bookmark our poker news section for ongoing coverage of the fight between PokerStars and the ACC.