Rational Group's Big Ideas for New Jersey

Mar 23, 2013
Rational Group's Big Ideas for New Jersey
The chief operating officer of New Jersey's Atlantic Club land casino, Michael Frawley, gave an insight into the considerable investment that the Pokerstars parent The Rational Group was ready to make, hinting that it may be interested in further buys provided the group get an approval of its application to the New Jersey regulators. Once the formalities were out of the way, Frawley said he expected that the transformation of Atlantic Club would begin, adding that without the introduction of New Jersey's online gambling laws and the deal these made possible with the Rational Group, the Atlantic Club would have faced an unprofitable future. “With PokerStars and Internet gaming, and the capital investment they're prepared to make in the property, we expect to be more than profitable,” he said, adding that PokerStars is ready to make a $20 million investment in the first year alone and over the next five years, the investment will total over $40 million on just Atlantic Club. According to Frawley, the online gambling activities that the Atlantic Club would seek to host would see measures introduced with an aim to restrict underage or problem gamblers by creating an exclusion list, and PokerStars will contribute a significant sum to fund it. Consequently, he suggested that in trying to intervene in the deal, Caesars Entertainment via the American Gaming Association may have an “agenda”, urging the authorities to take a look “at what ulterior motive could be behind it.” Lobbyist Bill Pascrell III said he found the timeline of Caesars' actions and the progress of the Internet gaming law to be very coincidental: “Isn't it ironic that on Feb. 8 of this year while the bill was sitting on the governor's desk, Caesars approached the PokerStars headquarters and asked them to buy the Rio for $400 million … because they knew that they control Nevada, [but] they don't control New Jersey.”
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