PokerStars Rolls Out Blackjack And Roulette Games This Month

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Monday, November 24th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

Canadian gambling operator Amaya Gaming has announced it is now ready to release a selection of casino table games through its PokerStars.com domain, and that blackjack and roulette games will be available to its customers by the end of the month. Other gambling games will follow later, with a sports betting platform set to be added in 2015, and commenting on the latest development, PokerStars Head of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser, explained:

“We are taking the same principals, practices and integrity that make PokerStars such a successful and beloved brand and applying them to new verticals. These new products will also support the development of poker and grow the overall business.”

Market Research Via Full Tilt And Spanish Sites

Amaya Gaming has apparently decided to plow ahead with its casino game products after the overwhelming success enjoyed by such products on its Full Tilt and PokerStars.es websites. According to Amaya’s research, 30% of its poker customers on these sites have been playing casino games regularly each month, and as Eric Hollreiser asserts:

“Those launches have been successful in reactivating dormant customers and extending the value of our existing poker customers. The experience on our poker platforms to-date also shows increases in net player deposits following the addition of casino games and a negligible impact on poker spend. We are confident these games will create more value to our PokerStars site and bolster the core poker offering.”

Casino Games Needed To Grow Industry

When PokerStars first announced it was to offer casino games, the move took industry insiders by surprise as throughout its 13-year history the site had marketed itself as a poker-only destination. In its efforts to promote online poker in the US, for instance, PokerStars would often highlight the difference between poker as a “game of skill” and “games of chance” such as casino games.

However, the online poker industry has changed dramatically since Chris Moneymaker satellited an online tournament before going on to win the 2003 WSOP Main Event, thus sparking the poker boom. After experiencing a decline in recent years operators have now realized they also need to offer casino gambling in order to remain profitable.

Therefore, extending its products to casino games is seen as a necessary way forward for PokerStars, and while the global online poker market is worth around $4 billion per year, casino games will allow PokerStars access to a worldwide market worth $25 billion per year. In addition, Amaya Gaming has insisted that extending its products range will also help drive up traffic at the site, thus resulting in greater benefits for all PokerStars customers.

Compromise For Poker Purists

Naturally, poker purists have felt aggrieved over PokerStars’ deviation away from a poker-only format, and its regular customers have expressed outrage that the “fish” which they depend on for a living will now be more likely to blow their bankrolls at the site’s blackjack and roulette tables, rather than losing it playing poker against superior players.

Furthermore, PokerStars regulars are concerned that they themselves may also be tempted to gamble on the sites casino games, the bane of many a poker professional, who have subsequently blown their hard earned bankrolls while tilting at the casino. Addressing this last concern,
Eric Hollreiser, explained:

“Recognizing that some poker players prefer a poker-only environment, PokerStars has enabled features that will allow customers to remove the additional games from their view and to opt out of direct marketing and promotions of the casino games. We are committed to extending our leadership in poker and will continue to serve the passionate online poker player, while expanding our reach into new audiences and new gaming opportunities.”

Roll Out On Market-by-market Basis

As mentioned, blackjack and roulette will appear on PokerStars by the end of November, and with bets starting as low as $0.10 ample data will be collected to determine whether players are ready to accept casino games from the worlds’ biggest online poker room. In the meantime, the roll out will be on a market-by-market basis with completion expected by the end of 2014.

Investors Hit Jackpot With Amaya Shares

In July 2010, Amaya Gaming stocks debuted on the Canadian market at $1 per share, but over the past five months its share price has soared by 235% to its present level of $37.50, giving the company a market capitalization of $4.89 billion. Recently, Amaya shares were further boosted after announcing a record 512% rise in revenues to $239 million in Q3, up from the $38.6 million reported for the previous year. There is also plenty of optimism going forward, and Industrial Alliance Securities Inc analyst Neil Linsdell has even boosted his rating for the stock to a buy, and extended his target on the shares to $44.