PokerStars Re-Entering US Poker Market

Two years after Black Friday, PokerStars is readying a return to the US online poker market with the proposed purchase of the Atlantic Club casino in New Jersey casino.
According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, PokerStars is looking at paying around $50 million for the land-based casino.
If the acquisition goes through, PokerStars will be perfectly situated to grab a big chunk of the emerging, legal, American online poker market. New Jersey legislators are very friendly towards online gambling and are hoping to turn the Garden State into the technical hub of the American igaming industry.
While PokerStars will have problem coming up the $50 million to actually buy the casino, getting a New Jersey gaming license could be another matter entirely.
Despite their recent purchase of Full Tilt Poker’s assets from the US Department of Justice, PokerStars’ founder Isai Scheinberg is under indictment in relation to other cases. That’s the kind of thing the company’s competitors will, no doubt, be whispering in gaming regulators’ ears during the licensing process.
Land-based casinos are clearly a part of PokerStars’ long term strategy. In October, the company invested heavily in London’s fabled Hippodrome Casino to the tune of $100 million.
Investing in land-based casinos is a pretty savvy move for any gaming company that’s looking to break into the US market. That’s because ownership of a land-based casino is a likely prerequisite for online gaming licenses in the US, especially in the absence of Federal online gaming legislation.
What do you think of PokerStars possible return to the US market? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.