Christie Still Being Blamed For PokerStars DelayAs Time Goes On, More Seem Certain It's Christie's Fault |
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Atlantic City’s online gaming industry has been stagnating for quite some time, and many see PokerStars coming into the market as a way to jump start the industry. However, for months the firm’s application for a license has not been approved. Many are still insisting that Republican Gov. Chris Christie is exerting political influence to delay it indefinitely.
Ray Lesniak, the man who spearheaded the state’s online gaming efforts, is convinced that Christie is to blame, telling BusinessInsider: “Christie put a stop to it. With a high degree of confidence it’s apparent that’s exactly what has happened.” The president of the local union of casino workers agreed with Lesniak. He said that his “impression was that PokerStars should have been already up and operating long before this point,” adding that his “understanding is that it was the attorney general’s office and the governor who are holding up the approvals.”
Christie’s office told BusinessInsider that such claims are “nonsensical.” However, other sources close to the situation said it’s true that Christie is blocking it.
The alleged reason? As a favor to billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson, who spends lavishly on Republican candidates. Christie might run for president in 2016.
Adelson, the owner of Las Vegas Sands Corp., thinks online gaming is not a moneymaker and that it will hurt brick-and-mortar casinos. Sands is the richest developer of brick-and-mortar casinos in the world. Adelson has added some moralism to his anti-online gaming position, but that’s barely worth mentioning. It’s about profits.
Adelson is currently funding efforts to ban online gaming at the federal level.
Like every politician ever, Christie has claimed to be in favor of jobs. PokerStars coming into the New Jersey market reportedly could generate up to 1,000 jobs in a city that has already lost thousands over the past 12 months due to casinos closing. It is worth noting the mistakes by online gaming supporters. They claimed that online gaming would save casinos, but that has been an abject failure. A handful of casinos closed despite a New Jersey online gaming industry—albeit without the world’s largest poker site. Also, revenues were projected to be much higher.
PokerStars once had a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel, and PokerStars said it would spend $10 million on a live poker room at the property, contingent on it receiving licensure in the Garden State. That never happened, though regulators still insist that the licensing process is “ongoing”, according to BusinessInsider.
At one point it was assumed that PokerStars being acquired by Amaya Gaming Group, which already has New Jersey gaming approval, would speed along the process. That hasn’t been the case. Just this week, Resorts Casino announced that it would be rolling out an online gaming product this month via a partnership with a different company.
Currently just two brick-and-mortar casino operators—Caesars and Borgata—are generating online poker revenue. There are four distinct poker sites between the two operators. Late last year, poker sites from Betfair and Ultimate Gaming closed their virtual doors in New Jersey due to lackluster traffic. New Jersey’s online poker industry took in just over $29 million in 2014.
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