The other 49 states
As a casual onlooker, the other question you need to ask is how many of the other 49 states would allow PokerStars in.
While the terms of the offer Caesars may have made to PokerStars are unknown, there is an obvious reason PokerStars would reject it: PokerStars has no chance of operating in Nevada in the short term, if ever — the language of the state’s new gaming laws is written explicitly to lock out PokerStars. Meanwhile, nobody (aside from maybe New Jersey politicians) seems to really have any incentive to let PokerStars in.
I think the probability is that any legislation with regard to online gaming in every state other than New Jersey will probably be designed to protect the incumbents.
The game is a game is a game
It’s tempting to get caught up in the nuances of the arguments, but in this case I think it’s a waste of energy. As I said in the opening: It’s a game. It’s not a question of morality, or right and wrong. It’s not even a question of hypocrisy.
The fact is that people will make the arguments they need to make when it suits them.
As Ian J. Imrich pointed out in a tweet, the AGA didn’t bat an eye when Wynn Resorts moved to partner with PokerStars or when Station Casinos moved to partner with Full Tilt before Black Friday in April 2011, but it now sees fit to intervene when PokerStars is clear on the other side. On the other hand, in 2010, the New Jersey DGE effectively forced MGM to sell its 50% stake in the Borgata in Atlantic City because the DGE found MGM’s partner in Macau, Pansy Ho — the daughter of Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho — to be an “unsuitable partner,” even though the DGE admitted that there was no evidence indicating that Pansy Ho has been engaged in or accused of any illegal activity (MGM has yet to sell its half). Yet now, the DGE seems willing to consider PokerStars as a casino operator in the state despite the company’s past transgressions — and it also appears amenable to allowing MGM to regain its license.
The one thing that seems clear is that if PokerStars is going to make a play to enter the U.S. online gaming market, it needs to win this battle in New Jersey, because it’s doubtful that any other state is desperate enough to let PokerStars in. I do suppose that if PokerStars has enough influence to get the “bad actor” clause removed from the legislation, it’s also possible that New Jersey is weak enough to let this happen.
But if New Jersey does, in fact, find that PokerStars is fit to own a casino in New Jersey, the state probably needs to demand far more than stable ownership and the status quo from PokerStars. Otherwise, it will be an open debate going forward as to whether New Jersey is a leader in the online gaming revolution, or merely the biggest pushover state in the Union.
The article On AGA vs. PokerStars originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Jeff Hwang.
Fool contributor Jeff Hwang is a gaming industry consultant and the best-selling author of Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy and the three-volume Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha series. For the second half of 2011, Jeff was enlisted by HVS to help conduct a market feasibility study on the Las Vegas Sands Spain project, before returning to work as a consultant on the development of PokerTracker 4, the premier stat-tracking software for online poker players released last fall. Jeff owns shares of MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn Resorts. You can follow Jeff on Twitter: @RivalSchoolX.The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.
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