Amaya and NJ to Begin PokerStars Licensing Talks on Thursday

June 18, 2014
Amaya and NJ to Begin PokerStars Licensing Talks on Thursday

It appears that Amaya is wasting little time in beginning the process of getting PokerStars licensed for New Jersey. According to The Big Story, talks between the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and Amaya will begin tomorrow.

DGE Division Director David Rebuck confirmed that talks were about to begin, stating, “We’ve had discussions with Amaya to reactivate the application, and we plan to begin discussions with them tomorrow. We’ll look at whatever they bring over.”

Rebuck stated that he’s encouraged over the recent sale and the upcoming licensing talks. He revealed, “I think in the long run it will be a good story for New Jersey. I’m optimistic that they know what the rules are, and I fully expect them to be very aggressive because they want to be here.”

The third time will likely prove the charm for PokerStars. They first attempted to purchase the Atlantic Club last year but delays in receiving a license caused that deal to fall through. Afterwards, they partnered with the Resorts Casino Hotel but the DGE suspended the application for two years over concerns surrounding continued involvement by the site’s founder Mark Scheinberg. As part of the deal, Scheinberg was forced to sell his stock in the company and resign from the company once the sale is completed.

Amaya lawyer believes that a license approval is little more than a formality at this point. She was quoted as saying “They are optimistic they will get this done quickly.” It should be noted that no documents have been filed by Amaya but a licensing application from the company is expected by next week.

One very positive point made to close out the story came from Rebuck. He believes that Amaya will indeed get approval to operate PokerStars in New Jersey and could be doing so as early as this fall.

PokerStars may prove to be New Jersey’s Christmas present to its residents. It’s hard to see the DGE turning down a PokerStars application at this point, especially now that a previously approved licensee owns the company. Now it’s just a matter of filling out all the paperwork and cutting through red tape.

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