Poker Stars in AC discussion

Poker Stars wanted Atlantic Club, then the AGA tried stopping them and won by delaying their licensing and purchase. Now Pokerstars seems likely to operate the online poker for Trump Taj Mahal, but then what.

What expectation did the AGA have to be so worried? Yeah, criminals or whatever, but what about the real story? I'm guessing they aren't bleeding with debt operating online and have loads of cash ready to reinvest.

The maverick was going to............(insert your thoughts and opinions please)

Any answer with the words collusion, casino cartel, competition please, or conspiracy gets bonus points.

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Now Pokerstars seems likely to operate the online poker for Trump Taj Mahal, but then what.

Trump Taj Mahal partnered with Ultimate Gaming, the company that operates Ultimate Poker in Nevada and is majority owned by Station Casinos.

Resorts partnered with PokerStars. IMO PokerStars getting a license is a long shot. There are a lot of complicated issues involved in PokerStars getting a license. They almost certainly have to have settled the KY lawsuit and who knows what other states might want a cash grab on back taxes or penalties, including NJ.

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What expectation did the AGA have to be so worried? Yeah, criminals or whatever, but what about the real story? I'm guessing they aren't bleeding with debt operating online and have loads of cash ready to reinvest.

PS operated post-UIGEA while the companies in the US could not. It gave PS a huge advantage. Most states that have proposed or pass online poker address this with a bad actor clause post-UIGEA where there is at least a 5 yr cool down period. This term was dropped in NJ at the last minute.

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The maverick was going to............(insert your thoughts and opinions please)

Try to buy a B&M casino in a state that for some reason dropped its bad actor clause at the 11th hour (is this the collusion of conspiracy theory you want?). They would then use this to try to get into other states. I don't think the AGA delayed the licensing. PS didn't file their license application until April 17th and there is a 90 day review period. The sales contract expired less than two weeks after they filed.

Ok thanks for the clarification on their latest. I was just going off the top of my head with it. Whatever article about their licensing chances seemed rosier than your take, but my memory has already been wrong once tonight. I didn't know about the NJ omission of the bad actor clause, and would chalk that one up to a free democracy in action. If NJ had blocked them without giving them a chance to fight, then it would have been the collusion I would expect.

My basic outlook of casinos is as 7 brothers all owning the only gas station licenses in town, all pretending to hate each other, but the price of gas is higher than the national average and no restrooms. I was thinking or more so hoping, PS with B&Ms, would have been able to offer more what players wanted and not just what they would accept(same, same, same). Possibly just for image's sake in the US with one casino, but you've convinced me it's all about the online business. I'd hate to see real casinos go the way of Blockbuster, but they might survive since we all like counting twenties and hundreds like dollar bills. The day might come where there is some excuse to make it seem like being in the casino is a privilege which demands premium charges, so everyone gets herded online. I'd probably just quit it and find something else fun. I'd probably be wasted one night losing my life savings thinking I was dreaming it.

Great answers Pokeraddict. Ten points just for using the multi-quote effectively and not just to be a dick like people normally do.
Five points for my error correction and 5 for additional insight.

Keep in mind that MGM Resorts and Steve Wynn both got shoved out of NJ for nothing more than their alleged associates. PokerStars paid a $731 million settlement to the DOJ and is the defendant in another state's illegal gambling civil lawsuit at the moment. They have also not ever paid NJ taxes AFAIK. Atlantic Club also alleged that Isai was still involved with the company.

Steve Wynn and MGM Resorts are not worthy of a NJ license but PokerStars is? Don't get me wrong, I think PokerStars is a high quality and respectable online poker room. That can be proven by the fact they could pay up on Black Friday when the other two could not. My point is only that their actions, in my opinion, are far worse from a legal and licensing angle than Wynn and MGM. I also think bwin.party will have issues as it appears they have in NV.

Funny when taxes are used as a competitive advantage and I don't understand the point of it all. Apple and Pfizer pay themselves patent licenses, Revel pays itself for the Revel brand, and the Florida Marlins pays the owner and his wife a management fee for their management company, and it's all allowed for them to take these deductions. Then PS gets held up not paying taxes when aren't they all. They call them elites for a reason.

You don't play cards with the cards meaning something different depending on who holds them, but it comes down to something as simple as this when we talk about these higher level power games. I'm personally looking into these ideas to benefit myself wanting to become a corporation, but I can't afford the lawyers. LOL.

Anyways I can see how it's a long shot for them. The country should just double casinos and allow them to be built in all the empty Walmarts for 15 years, as long as they're sole proprietorships. You would see how fast the big boys failed if this were the case. It's just you try to make sense of all this and you can't. There's a big fundamental problem hiding.

Quote: Pokeraddict

Keep in mind that MGM Resorts and Steve Wynn both got shoved out of NJ for nothing more than their alleged associates.

You may be confusing Wynn with Playboy or Hilton. Wynn has never been unwelcome in Jersey. Just ask Christie Whitman about the hundreds of millions of dollars that she spent on the Steve Wynn tunnel to try to lure him back.

Here is a 2004 story about his possible plans that never happened.

http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/news-and-views/steve_wynn_coming_back_to_atlantic_city-50665142.html