More info has been obtained in light of the American Gaming Association's petition against the proposed Pokerstars-Rational Group acquisition of the Atlantic Club land casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey – which could now be called hypocritical, as it appears to be connected to the fact that one of the leading members of the AGA, Caesar's Entertainment, has been trying to sell its World Series of Poker brand and the famous Las Vegas land casino the Rio to the Isle of Man online poker group.
A quote of Pokerstars communications chief Eric Hollreiser appeared in the Forbes magazine, revealing that a senior executive of Caesars Entertainment Corp. contacted a high-level Pokerstars executive in February, proposing a potential deal for Caesars' Rio casino in Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker brand.
“Caesars Entertainment approached PokerStars and offered to sell us certain assets, such as the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. Caesars suggested that this acquisition would give us a better relationship with Caesars and would help PokerStars gain a license in Nevada. PokerStars declined the offer because we had no plans to acquire another casino in the near term,” Hollreiser said in the statement.
Regarding the AGA petition, which alleges that since criminal charges are still pending against Pokerstars founder Isai Scheinberg, New Jersey regulators' approval of the acquisition could send 'a damaging message', Pokerstars commented that “The U.S. Department of Justice has said PokerStars is suitable to apply for a license in the U.S. and saw fit to give us the assets of our largest competitor and entrust us to compensate their customers outside of the U.S. We will continue to work with authorities including the N.J. regulators and other interested state regulators to discuss our qualifications and allow them to comment on what they find.”
It was added by Hollreiser that "PokerStars is one of the world's largest and most respected Internet gaming companies because we work closely with regulators and are in good standing with governments around the world. We will continue to work with authorities, including the New Jersey regulators and other interested state regulators, to discuss our qualifications."
In the petition, the AGA also noted that despite 2006 and the advent of the UIGEA being regarded as the unofficial cut-off point for 'illegal' online gambling activity in the United States, "....many states had declared that online poker was illegal even prior to 2006. At least eight states enacted laws specifically banning Internet gambling and every state bans gambling without a license," which according to them implies that "PokerStars violated the laws of every state."
All these facts triggered speculations that the AGA complaint has been motivated by the pursuit of commercial exclusivity rather than morality reasons. After all, one could ask themselves, how come the AGA acknowledgement about pre-UIGEA activities does not work for Caesars' partners in online gambling initiative, 888 and Bwin.Party's predecessors?
"By that standard, 888 and Bwin's PartyGaming, with which AGA's members are now allied, would also have been in violation of the laws of every state," it has been concluded in the media.
A hearing on the AGA petition and the acquisition will be held by New Jersey regulators next week.
Giving a piece of his mind about the whole situation, New Jersey Senator Jim Whelan supported the Pokerstars deal and alleged that Caesars Entertainment, which owns numerous casinos in Atlantic City, is using the AGA to keep their competition out of the area.
“They are motivated by greed. They want to keep foreign investors out. The gaming association is their vehicle,” he said.
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