Legal Poker Sites Week in Review April 27 2013
Several legal poker stories made the headlines this week. The first story involves Skillbet. The company, which claimed to be legal in 28 states at its launch last year, announced that it would alter its business plan to concentrate on social media. Skillbet stated it had stopped promoting its skill poker format at least a month ago and that this announcement had been planned for some time. Some have speculated that this was related to a complaint from players about Skillbet’s props that were abusing the system.
GiGse Discussion about PokerStars
Legal Poker Sites attended the Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GiGse) last week. One of the highlights was a heated discussion between the Poker Players Alliance’s John Pappas and Jan Jones-Blackhurst of Caesars Entertainment. The topic was PokerStars. The PPA feels that PokerStars deserves a gaming license in New Jersey, while Jone-Blackhurst of Caesars disagreed with that opinion.
Pennsylvania Online Gambling Bill Introduced
Twelve sponsors introduced an online gambling bill this week in Pennsylvania. The bill allows Pennsylvania casinos to offer online poker and casino games to residents in the state. Players would be required to have a Pennsylvania address to play. The details of the bill may be found here. Pennsylvania is the second largest casino state in terms of revenue in the US behind Nevada.
Legends Players Bailed Out
Legends Sports players got the bailout that they waited for but not at the terms that they were hoping to receive. The deal transferred balances at Legends to WagerWeb. The deal was reportedly going to carry a two times wager requirement but the deal ended up being ten times. Players will theoretically lose 50% of their balances clearing the wager requirement.
Caesars Entertainment to Spin Off Interactive Division
Caesars Entertainment announced that they would spin off their interactive division and two casinos. The interactive division includes the World Series of Poker and the online gambling business related to the brand. The deal will also include Planet Hollywood and a Maryland casino that is under a partnership between Caesars Entertainment and Rock Gaming. Rock Gaming also owns a portion of the interactive division. Caesars Entertainment hopes this move will generate as much as $1.2 billion. That is less than 4% of the company’s overall debt load.