Poll results: PokerStars' rivals should get Cali head start
Majority of respondents believe poker giant should sit out early years of a regulated Californian market
PokerStars should be required to sit out the early years of a regulated California poker market to atone for past transgressions, the majority of respondent to this week’s EGR poll has said.
Measures included in a bill, which was due to be voted on earlier this week but failed to make the Assembly floor, included language which would have seen PokerStars banned from the market for a period of five years for its continued operations post-UIGEA.
Supporters of the bill claim PokerStars built up its customer database in the period after UIGEA in 2006 and before Black Friday in 2011 when most other operators had left the market, handing it a major competitive advantage ahead of a potentially re-regulated market.
PokerStars was forced to sit on the side lines in New Jersey for a period of two years and 59% of respondents said it would be right to ban the operator from California for similar reasons â albeit for a longer period â to enable rivals to gain a foothold in the market.
In contrast, PokerStars and its allies argue the operator has changed ownership and leadership since that date and is now under the umbrella of a publically traded company and one of the “most vetted and licensed gaming companies in the world”.
It could also be argued a ban would see PokerStars being punished for a second time after having previously paid a $105m settlement with the US Department of Justice.
And 41% of respondents had sympathy with PokerStars’ argument when saying the firm should be allowed to enter California as and when the market eventually opens its doors.