PokerStars, the largest online poker card room in the world is all set to enter the New Jersey market with a soft-launch scheduled for today, March 16th. The site expects to be fully operational by March 21st.
Earlier in 2011, the US facing sites of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were shut down by the FBI along with several others, thereby denying US poker fans access to these popular sites. The federal agency alleged that the sites violated federal bank money laundering laws. However, the charges were dismissed by the government in July 2012. PokerStars did not admit to any wrongdoing while the US Government acknowledged that both PokerStars and Full Tilt could apply for online gaming licenses in the US whenever a legal framework became available. Full Tilt Poker was re-launched in November 2012 following a $225 million payment to the US Department of Justice by PokerStars as asset transfer of Full Tilt Poker.
PokerStars was granted a New Jersey license last fall with the objective of the soft launch to test the geo-location capabilities of the software. The testing phase will be conducted on March 16th and 17th between 4pm to midnight with extended hours on March 18th from 8am to midnight. March 19th and 20th will see the site in operation for a full 24 hours while the number of players during the testing phase is capped at 500.
In compliance with current regulations, only players located physically in New Jersey will be able to access PokerStars NJ. They will only be allowed to play against other players from the state. However, it isn’t essential to be a resident of the state in order to play although a player needs to be physically present. Players need to be at least 21 years old and will also need to satisfy identity verification requirements.
For the purpose of operations, PokerStars had partnered with Atlantic City, the land-based casino operator. Its official partner is Resorts Casino and Hotel. Members of PokerStars NJ will be able to fund their account at the casino in person or transfer funds online via credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard, eWallets like Neteller and Skrill, and ACH transfer.
The good news for poker fans is that Full Tilt’s player pool will migrate over to PokerStars NJ. In addition to its poker products, the site will offer a variety of casino games such as slots, blackjack, roulette, video poker, and baccarat. In December 2009, PokerStars had set the world record for the biggest online tournament with as many as 149,196 players entering the $1 buy-in. They broke their own record in June 2013 with 225,500 participants. The site now looks to carve a niche for itself in New Jersey where currently WSOP/888 NJ leads with a weekly average of 200 ring game players with Party Borgata NJ in second place with 130.
