Amaya flicks switch on StarsDraft DFS site
PokerStars officially enters the daily fantasy sports sector with StarsDraft launch
PokerStars has officially entered the daily fantasy sports sector after parent company Amaya Gaming flicked the go-live switch on its StarsDraft site yesterday. [private]
The launch comes just weeks after Amaya confirmed it would enter the DFS market ahead of the start of the NFL season via its acquisition of Victiv for an undisclosed sum.
The shift from Victiv to StarsDraft should be a relatively seamless one for players, with user details, balances, bonuses and account information remaining the same.
The big change is that StarsDraft will not be available to players in Canada or Michigan, as well as the five other states â Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and Washington â that prohibit fantasy sports.
The decision to withdraw from Michigan comes after the head of the stateâs Gaming Control Board, Rick Kalm, said he believed playing daily fantasy sports for real-money was illegal under Michigan law.
Amaya CEO David Baazov recently said his firm would ânot invest heavilyâ in StarsDraft and instead would claim market share âover timeâ.