PokerStars Gains Partners In Its Drive Towards Californian Market

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Thursday, April 24th, 2014 | Written by Adam Brown

PokerStars has moved a step closer to its goal of reentering the US market, after announcing its has formed a partnership with a group of powerful gambling interests, including California’s Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Commerce Club, the Hawaiian Gardens Casino and the Bicycle Casino. The coalition has agreed to work together to provide an online poker platform in the event legislation is passed in the Golden State.

The Rational Group owns the PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands, and following announcement of the deal, Guy Templer, Director of Strategy and Business Development, commented:

“PokerStars has a great history with California poker players, who want us in the market. We look forward to bringing our best practices in responsible gaming, online security, e-commerce, protection of players’ funds and game integrity to the California market.”

Details regarding the partnership

Although initial details concerning the partnership are somewhat sketchy, what has been established is that PokerStars will not just serve as a subcontractor providing the online poker platform and services, but will also be promoted as the collaboration’s front-facing brand.

In addition, the Morongo Tribe and card clubs have agreed to push for intrastate online poker legislation in California and have outlined four guiding principles to that effect, summarized in a statement released by Robert Martin, the Tribal Chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, saying:

“We’re pleased to announce our agreement with these established and proven organizations that represent millions of California poker players. We’re confident that, together, we can offer a safe, secure, high-quality online poker experience that brings financial benefits to California while providing the highest level of accountability, choice, service and protection for consumers.”

Agreement made following Californian online poker hearing

California is currently considering two separate online poker bills, and on Wednesday the state’s Assembly Governmental Organization Committee held a hearing on the pros and cons of regulating online poker.

One of the witnesses providing a testimony during the hearing was former Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman Mark Lipparelli, who said operators who heeded the DoJ’s call to leave the US market following passage of the 2006 UIGEA, “made the proper call” and that those poker rooms that did not, namely “bad actors”, and those currently operating in the grey market should be penalized for their transgressions.

One such operator was PokerStars, which didn’t officially leave the US until its .com domain was seized in 2011, and even today the world’s biggest poker room continues to be available to US players through the grey market. Nevertheless, during California’s Assembly Committee hearing Tribal Chairman Robert Martin of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians spoke out against “bad actor” clauses which would exclude PokerStars from entering California’s online poker market.

“Efforts by a select few interests to rewrite longstanding and effective policy in order to gain a competitive market advantage or to lock out specific companies is not in the best interests of consumers or the state and will be vigorously opposed by our coalition, online poker players and many others,” explained Chairman Martin.

Time right for PokerStars to offer US poker?

Three years has now passed since PokerStars was forced from the US market as a result of ‘Black Friday’ and despite regulation being introduced in three US states last year, the interest in online poker has waned dramatically stateside with all three states drastically missing their stated targets. Casing point, New Jersey recently had to revise its $160 million in annual tax revenue (about $1 billion in total revenue) estimate to just $34 million for this year, while in Nevada the state’s struggling online poker rooms are finding difficulty attracting more than 300 active players a day across all sites.

The question has subsequently been asked whether anything can be done to help regenerate Americans’ interest in internet poker, with some analysts suggesting welcoming marketing genius PokerStars back into the USA would help increase the allure of the game once more, and create the same level of excitement among former players which existed pre-Black Friday.

Naturally, other gaming interests in the US are keen to prevent the leading global online poker brand from monopolizing their nascent industry, but what these groups fail to appreciate is that if the Rational Group can help revive online poker’s popularity in the country, then the benefits are likely to be enjoyed by all the other poker operators. As Hartley Henderson recently pointed out in a piece entitled ‘Three Years after Black Friday, the Time is Right for PokerStars to Enter the U.S. Market’:

“And in the end, all of the companies offering online poker will all be better off. After all, it’s better to get a small piece of a large piece than a large piece of a sliver.”