PokerStars will be back in the U.S. starting March 21, but only in New Jersey’s iGaming market.
The Amaya-owned platform has finally announced its much-anticipated launch in New Jersey after a lengthy licensing process in the state. The state approved PokerStars for licensing in September.
It marks the company’s return to the U.S. market after being shut down by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2011 for violating U.S. online gambling laws.
Only PokerStars customers physically located within New Jersey’s borders will be able to use its platform to gamble online when the site launches. PokerStars is partnered with Resorts casino in Atlantic City.
The site will be the state’s 18th internet gambling site. It will undergo testing by state regulators before its debut. It will offer not only poker, but online table games and slot machine games as well, according to the Associated Press.
“PokerStars is the global leader in online poker and trusted by its customers for its robust and innovative technology, world-class security and game integrity,” said David Baazov, Amaya’s chairman and CEO. “We are honored and excited to now bring these experiences to New Jersey.”
After the 2011 shut down, PokerStars had been banned in New Jersey because of legal problems concerning former corporate officials of the Rational Group, owners of the site before Amaya purchased it in 2014.
According to the AP, PokerStars tried twice in 2013 to get licensed in New Jersey, but the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement suspended the company for up to two years, citing legal problems involving some company executives, including an unresolved indictment against its founder stemming from the DOJ investigation.
Those executives stepped down as part of the sale to Amaya. The PokerStars website also paid a $547 million fine to the Department of Justice but didn’t admit wrongdoing.
New Jersey requires that Internet gambling companies partner with an existing brick-and-mortar casino in Atlantic City in order to offer online gambling. PokerStars is partnered with Resorts casino, which launched online gambling last year with Sportech NYX Gaming LLC.
The entrance of PokerStars is expected to give a jolt to New Jersey’s Internet gambling market, which took in $149 million last year in its second full year of operation. That represented an increase of more than 21 percent over the previous year, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, Amaya has appealed a Kentucky Circuit Court ruling that ordered the company to pay $870 million for illegally operating PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in the state through 2011.
The company has posted a $100 million bond to put a stay on the order through the appeals process.
The company also said that under its purchase agreement to buy PokerStars and Full Tilt, it has asked seller Rational Group to compensate for potential losses related to the lawsuit and asked that the $300 million put into an escrow account as part of the merger be kept there.
Rational is disputing AYA’s request, which will now be settled through provisions put in place under Amaya’s and Rational’s purchase agreement.
In December, a Kentucky court ordered Amaya to pay penalties of $870 million to cover losses by state residents who played on PokerStars in the period between 2006 and 2011. Amaya acquired PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in August 2014 for $4.9 billion.
Amaya said in a statement Monday that its appeal may not be successful and the notice of claim may not result in the remission of any money from the escrow fund to the Canadian company. It also said that its potential losses may not eventually be reimbursed by sellers or otherwise.
