PokerStars Invests in Land Based Casino

PokerStars is moving into the land-based casino market with a major investment in London’s Hippodrome Casino. According to a recent report in the Sunday Times, the online poker giant’s stake raises Hippodrome’s value to somewhere around £100 million.
Specific details of the deal haven’t been made public yet, but the move was not entirely unexpected.
Rumors about a PokerStars’ branded, land-based casino have swirled since the company sent out survey asking about players’ off-line gaming habits a few months back. At the time, company officials said the survey was not related to any expansion plans.
They did say that they were, “always open to new business opportunities that could strengthen our offering to players.”
PokerStars’ Busy Year
PokerStars’ move towards land based gaming is just one of several big ones they’ve made in the last year.
The company’s biggest deal, of course, was their acquisition of the troubled Full Tilt Poker brand, which should be relaunched in November. The FTP acquisition didn’t come cheap. PokerStars will be paying the US government around half a billion dollars over the next three years to settle FTP player accounts and company fines.
Do you think PokerStars will be successful in the land-based casino market? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.