PokerStars’ controversial bid to purchase the Atlantic Club Casino in New Jersey is in jeopardy after the company missed an important licensing deadline.
According to published reports in the Wall Street Journal and EGR, Pokerstars’ deal with the Atlantic Clubs’ owners hedged on the company being licensed by the end of the month. With that deadline in the books, no one is quite sure what the next step will be.
One group that’s likely to be cheering today’s news is the American Gaming Association. They want PokerStars (and parent company the Rational Group) barred from doing business in the US as punishment for taking action from American players after Black Friday.
In a legal brief sent to the New Jersey Attorney General attempting to block the Atlantic Club sale, AGA lawyers called PokerStars:
…a business built on deceit, chicanery and the systematic flouting of U.S. law.
For their part, PokerStars claimed that the AGA was simply trying to keep them out of the potentially lucrative US online market.
As of this writing, neither PokerStars nor Atlantic Club owners, Colony Club, had posted comments regarding the situation on their respective sites.
Do you think PokerStars should be allowed to operate in the US market? share your thoughts in the comments section below.