PokerStars is ready to take on every punter on the Emerald Isle now that it’s been issued a brand new Irish sports betting license. It’s a big move for PokerStars’ parent company Amaya Gaming and its embryonic sports betting division.
The newly issued license allows PokerStars to start accepting wagers on sporting events, but does no allow for either casino games or poker. That doesn’t, however, mean the company won’t have access to the Irish gambling market. Interested Irishmen will be able to access the company’s casino and poker products via a site operating under a Maltese license.
Though PokerStars has had limited sports betting for several months now, company officials concede that its impact on the bottom line has barely been a ripple in a very big pond. The addition of the Irish market should go a long ways towards turning that situation in a very different direction.
In a statement to the press, company’s managing director of sports betting told the media:
We’re very pleased to receive a license for our sports betting offering on PokerStars in Ireland. Our operation of poker, casino games, and now sports betting shows that players trust us to deliver a variety of games in a fun and exciting way. We look forward to building on this by operating under this new license.
The only thing clouding PokerStars’ Irish adventure is a boatload of potential competitors. Irish gaming authorities also issued licenses to Nektan, an operator with an eye on the mobile market.
All told, things should get very heated in the Irish internet gambling market in the months to come.