What Has Changed Since PokerStars Exited The US Market?

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Thursday, August 13th, 2015 | Written by Charles Washington

It may seem hard to believe, but it’s actually been over four years since the Department of Justice forced PokerStars to exit the unregulated US market, in the process leaving a gaping hole in the poker community stateside. The good news, however, as many poker enthusiasts will already be aware of, is that PokerStars may soon be back on the US scene, and back in a huge way, too, as the site looks set to land a lucrative gaming license in the state of New Jersey, possibly by the third quarter of 2015.

What The iPoker Market Was Like Pre-Black Friday

While four years is very little on paper, in real time it can feel like a lifetime and that is exactly how it must seem to a number of keen poker enthusiasts all across the country. Back when PokerStars was forced to “fold” its hand, very few segregated markets existed in the world, and none so small as New Jersey with a population of just 8.9 million people. There were also a lot fewer online gambling and gaming options available, including social games and daily fantasy sports (DFS), meaning PokerStars back then basically ruled the roost. The market, of course, has since changed dramatically. For instance, just take a moment to consider how quickly technology has advanced and how many new gadgets we now have compared with 4 years ago.

888 Now Dominant In Regulated States

If PokerStars is granted an iGaming license to partner with Resorts Casino Hotel in New Jersey, this time around competition for PokerStars will be much more fierce because the market has matured over the past few years, with 888 Holdings becoming the dominant force in New Jersey, as well as the country’s other two regulated states of Nevada and Delaware.

In fact, just as PokerStars currently enjoys a virtual monopoly of the global iPoker market, controlling more than 50% of world traffic, 888 Holdings has become the dominant force in the US with its software powering Nevada’s only viable poker site, WSOP.com, and all of Delaware’s sites across the two states shared platform, the All American Poker Network (AAPN). Furthermore, if 888 manages to acquire bwin.party, then the WSOP.com/888 partnership in New Jersey will no longer have to compete with the Party Borgata Network, and could instead control and consolidate both networks in The Garden State.

Other Obstacles For PokerStars To Overcome

Unfortunately, even with PokerStars’ return the US market is unlikely to return back to its pre-Black Friday (April 14, 2011) level when tens of thousands of Americans were playing poker. Therefore, a lack of liquidity will be a big issue for PokerStars, and truthfully the situation may not be resolved until New Jersey decides to join the Nevada/Delaware multi-state compact, and other US states decide to pass regulation of their own.

On top of that, licensing fees and taxes have also increased since four years ago, which means that obviously the more they’re spending, the harder they will have to work to turn a profit. Regulators will also be an issue and cause for concern, as they’re getting stricter and stricter, so approving new games is proving much harder than in the past. Also, no matter how respected and well known PokerStars may be, it will not totally be in charge in New Jersey, as Resorts Casino will be its land-based casino partner.

The Future For PokerStars In The US

A lot may have changed in the four years, and even though PokerStars has been saddled with a ‘bad actor’ label for contravening the UIGEA, the operator is still the most highly respected and highly competent in the whole iPoker industry. In fact, without the site’s strong presence, post-Black Friday the whole online poker industry may have fractured beyond repair. PokerStars has now distanced itself from the site’s founder, Isai Scheinberg, who currently has a US warrant issued against him for flaunting the country’s gambling laws, but even now his name has seriously been considered for entry into the Poker Hall of Fame. Poker pro Terrence Chan has even started a campaign to have Scheinberg admitted to the illustrious poker club, tweeting:

“In my opinion, if the man who has done more to grow poker than any other individual in the world in the past 20 years is not in the Poker HOF, it is illegitimate. PokerStars expanded into, and created, brand new markets where there were very few poker players. We have all benefited from the company that this man built. Some made careers out of the poker industry in various ways. But millions of others simply found a way to play a game they found enjoyable.”

In the meantime, PokerStars continues to be the biggest global iPoker brand, and although it may take a little time, all of the signs are pointing to the fact that PokerStars can once again become the dominant force in the US online poker market. Of course, things will never go back to how they were back in 2011 as a lot has changed since then, but even so, many hope and believe that PokerStars can once again revive the country’s tired and struggling world of online poker.