PokerStars to Soft Launch in New Jersey on March 16th

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Friday, March 11th, 2016 | Written by Lucy Brown

PokerStars was shut out of the US market in 2011, after its previous owners, the Scheinberg family, consistently flaunted the country’s UIGEA. The acquisition of PokerStars by the Amaya Gaming Group in August 2014, however, paved the way for the site to shed its ‘bad actor’ label and obtain a New Jersey iGaming license at the end of 2015. Consequently, PokerStars is now due to make a soft launch in the Garden State on March 16th, followed by a full real-money launch five days later on March 21st.

Here is how the Canadian company, the Amaya Gaming Group, has transformed PokerStars since it bought the site for $4.9 billion in 2014.

Timeline of Changes

Amaya is working hard to position themselves as the leader in iGaming and has been in the process of making major changes to its operations. In fact, the company has made numerous changes to both PokerStars and other aspects of their operations over the past two years. Let’s take a look at the timeline of these events:

1. Spin & Go. On September 29, 2014, Amaya introduced Spin & Go, 3-person tournaments that award winners with a jackpot. Although criticized for requiring very little skill and being purely a game of chance, Spin & Go has proved to be incredibly popular and profitable.

2. Casino Games. Amaya introduced casino games to PokerStars on October 1, 2014, opening the door to attract players interested in more than just online poker.

3. Modifications to 2015 VIP Program. On October 14, 2014, Amaya sent an email to members of the two top tiers of their rewards program, announcing a small change to the awards received by attaining certain levels. The announcement also hinted at major changes in the words for 2016.

4. Rake Changes. On October 29, 2014, Amaya announced increases in rakes on several games. Due to a poor response from players, these changes were changed again on January 6, 2016.

5. Changes at Full Tilt. Amaya overhauled Full Tilt in July 2015, changing the way that players were able to select their opponents, in what the company said was an effort to make things fairer.

6. DFS. In August 13, 2015, Amaya launched Stars Draft, a daily fantasy sports betting site.

7. Modifications to the 2016 VIP Program. In an email dated November 1, 2015, Amaya finally unveiled the changes for the 2016 VIP Program that were hinted at a year earlier. The changes greatly limited the ability of VIP players to make money by grinding at the tables. Many VIPs spoke out against the changes, but Amaya opted to leave them in place.

8. Sports Betting. In January 2016, Amaya introduced BetStars, a sports betting platform, now giving the company a stake in all forms of online gambling.

9. Heads Up Tables Eliminated. On February 12, 2016, Amaya removed almost all of the heads up poker tables from PokerStars, something they had one at Full Tilt a year earlier.

10. Duel App. The day before the heads-up tables disappeared from PokerStars, Amaya introduced a mobile app for head-to-head poker games called Duel.

11. Full Tilt’s Closure. On February 16, 2016, Amaya made it known that they were merging Full Tilt Poker players with those of PokerStars. The move is expected to take place in the near future.

Mixed Opinions

Opinions over the changes made by Amaya over the last 2 years vary. Some people criticize the moves the company has made, thinking that the company is attempting to increase profits without any regard for player experience and satisfactions. Others feel that the changes that Amaya has made were sorely needed to advance iGaming and that over time, they will prove to be positive.

Imminent New Jersey Launch

PokerStars is scheduled to launch in New Jersey on March 21st, but five days before the much-anticipated event, Amaya has said it would first be conducting a 5-day soft launch. During this time, just 500 players will be able to play real-money poker on the site, with the players restricted to 8 hours of play during the first two days, sixteen hours on the third day, and 24 hour on March 19 and 20.

Once launched proper, New Jersey players who frequented the site prior to Black-Friday will then be able to either set up new accounts, or alternatively reopen their old accounts, and thus claim past Frequent Player Points (FPP) and their past VIP status. Furthermore, their past FPP’s will be converted into the new currency, StarsCoins, at the preferential rate of 1-for-1, rather than the standard 1.6 per FFP rate.

All online operators in New Jersey must partner with a land-based casino, which for PokerStars is the Resorts Casino Hotel. Commenting on next weeks launch of PokerStars NJ, casino owner Morris Bailey said:

“.. Resorts is poised to offer players the best online and bricks & mortar casino experiences anywhere. We expect that the launch of PokerStars will further spur the positive momentum we have already made in the New Jersey online gaming market.”