PokerStars Excluded From New Jersey Online Poker Launch

Ever since it was announced that legal internet gambling was coming to New Jersey, online gambling operators have been scrambling to be included in the list of companies granted licenses to operate in the New Jersey arena. Nevertheless, with the online poker launch date just days away PokerStars still continues to remain outside the loop with the poker giant’s history in the US of operating contrary to the 2006 UIGEA taking a heavy toll on its prospects for re-entering the lucrative American market.
In 2005, partypoker.com was actually the biggest online poker room in the US and also commanded a 41% share of the worldwide online poker revenuest. The passing of the UIGEA, however, then saw PartyPoker withdraw from the country after paying a $105 million fine that was hoped would one day pave the way for the company’s return to the US.
Meanwhile, PokerStars benefited from the gap left in the US online poker market and has since grown to become the biggest operator in the world, at around 10 times the size of its nearest rival. Despite PokerStars eventually being shut down in the US and paying a $731 million penalty to the DOJ, regulators have aired their concerns over PokerStar’s checkered past, and so the company’s future in the US remains uncertain.
All the same, PokerStars hasn’t given up hope in once again becoming part of the US market, worth $16 billion annually, and is currently in talks with the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJ DGE), with a recently released statement via Twitter, stating:
“Our conversations with NJ DGE are continuing, however it is now apparent that we will not have approval in place to launch on Nov. 26.. We remain committed to working with the Division to complete the review process.”
As of yet, though, no details have emerged as to the nature of the discussions between the DGE and PokerStars.