PokerStars approved for Pennsylvania online poker launch in early 2019.

https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/33...line-gambling/

I used to play at Mt. Airy a lot, and still do about 1-2x a year since my dad lives about 20 mins away. It would be really awesome to see the poker room, which an absolute joke, re-branded to Stars and have them do some work on bring the place up to snuff. Last time I went, it was kind of a poopshow.

This partnership has nothing to do with the physical location, Stars is just supplying the software as part of a partnership deal in accordance with the law

while the first part of this may be true, the second simply isn't

Stars is not supplying software to anybody, probably ever. The Stars Group is going to operate under its own brands, under (essentially renting) Mount Airy's license

It will be interesting to see how the issue of branding plays out in PA.

Back in April, the PGCB determined that "there is no limitation on the number of skins that a slot machine licensee may employ to deliver games, but every 'skin' that a casino offers must be branded in a manner that makes it clear that it is offered on behalf of the slot machine licensee consistent with language of the act.”

https://gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov/?pr=775

I'm not sure if this is going to mean domain names like pokerstars-dot-mount-airy-dot-pa, or if the online poker games will have to be branded as Mount Airy Poker, or both. PA regulators have made it clear multiple times that the branding must be associated with the primary land-based slot machine licensee, so I'm curious myself how that is going to be handled at launch.

PokerStars Mount Airy
PokerStars by Mount Airy
Mount Airy Powered by PokerStars

from your quote, not sure if the domain is important. could still be pokerstarspa.com?

Amazing. Guess I'll be moving to PA.

Correct I phrased that wrong.

NJ Stars recently moved to the chests rakeback model that row uses. Winning PA regs should be prepared for a terrible rakeback %. Sad!

Compared to the great rakeback we are getting now . Im just ready for no eastern european nits

any update on this?

Also interested.

UPDATE

In mid-January, the U.S. Department of Justice released a "revised" opinion of the 1961 Federal Wire Act, which in essence makes interstate gambling (such as "shared liquidity" internet poker), illegal in the U.S.

https://www.justice.gov/olc/file/1121531/download

The USDOJ Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) has been instructed to review and approve the Wire Act changes, and there is a "90-day window" (ending Monday, April 15th) for operators and states to come into compliance.

https://www.justice.gov/file/1124286/download
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In light of the new opinion, which deems "all" forms of interstate online gambling illegal (instead of just restricting sports betting across state lines), the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has mandated that its casinos "comply with" the new Wire Act opinion, and has declared PA as a sole-state market. This means that PA will NOT link to the existing tri-state compact with NJ/NV/DE.

https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/34...ct-compliance/
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There's really no concrete timetable for PA online poker at this time, although a "PA only" launch could still happen soon. Some companies paid up to $4 million for an online poker license they may no longer see any value in.

https://www.pennbets.com/biggest-losers-doj-reversal/
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Pennsylvania has a population that's roughly equal to that of NJ/NV/DE combined, so that could maybe be a vague guesstimate as to how PA online poker will perform once the sites who are already licensed for it (and still want to operate in PA) are authorized to open for business.

The problem is that the new Office of Legal Counsel (USDOJ-OLC) opinion apparently makes the existing tri-state compact (aka MSIGA) expressly illegal, which -- without a formal reversal, court injunction, or some other official declaration to the contrary -- would expose licensed, shared-liquidity U.S. online poker to federal government prosecution on and after Monday, April 15th, 2019. That would only effect NJ/NV/DE cross-play for WSOP at the moment, but that will also mean no more hopes of combining states to play online poker in the U.S.
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New Jersey State Senate president Stephen Sweeney has formally requested that the USDOJ rescind its opinion, and says the state will go to court if that doesn't happen. Keep in mind that there is a definite timeline with all of this -- as enforcement risk begins April 15th w/o any modifications to the current USDOJ-OLC interpretation of federal law.

https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/35...j-on-wire-act/

New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also sent a joint letter to the USDOJ that requests clarification of the opinion, because it could potentially impact other (MUCH more lucrative) "online gambling" verticals such as lotteries, sports betting, slots, casino table games, and exotics (betting on the Oscars comes to mind). The way the opinion is worded, states may be forced to severely restrict all "transactions" associated with these verticals to in-state, which could cause enormous headaches.

https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/FOIAWireAct.pdf

The NJ Office of the Attorney General has also submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking additional info on potential Sheldon Adelson/CSIG involvement in the federal government's reversal of the Wire Act opinion, which had paved the way for many states to formally license iGaming products since 2011 -- until it was officially reversed on Nov 2nd, 2018.

https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/FOIAWireAct.pdf
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I've written my own summary of how the new interpretation of the Wire Act may impact statewide online poker in the U.S. going forward. It focuses on former PPA president Rich Muny's recent call-to-action for American poker players and fans who enjoy playing online.

https://www.parttimepoker.com/poker-...-communication
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PokerStars pros Jason Somerville, Chris Moneymaker, and Daniel Negreanu have come out against Sheldon Adelson on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JasonSomerville/...44860635385857
https://twitter.com/CMONEYMAKER/stat...25732936531968
https://twitter.com/RealKidPoker/sta...41966063030272

Run It Up contributor Andrew Neeme (who is NOT a PokerStars pro) has also expressed frustration with the recent developments (12:50-17:45).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLOXfbkCLww&t=770s
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Others ITT probably have additional insights, but right now it's (a) keeping an eye on the progress of New Jersey's actions between now and April 15th, (b) awaiting enforcement guidelines (if there are any to be released) from the USDOJ-OCGS, and (c) gauging what U.S. online poker player-activists have to say.

-David

EDITS TO POST #38

-- "affect" not "effect" (MSIGA section)
-- "wagering-related communications" not "transactions" (joint letter section)
-- "a small number of states" not "many states" (FOIA request section)

Following this, and just wanted to pop in and say that was a great summary dhubermex and I just want to say thanks for doing it.

+1

+2. Thank you for the summary, David/dhubermex.

Hats off to the Attorney General of New Jersey for filing the below 4 page Freedom of Information Request to try to get to the bottom of just how much cronyism is going on to cause the reversal of the Wire Act opinion.

https://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases19/FOIAWireAct.pdf

Thank you for the kind feedback. That's nice of you to say, and you're very welcome.

It's so disappointing to see the long-brewing battles over who's going to control gambling in the U.S. further escalate and (like always?) negatively impact online poker.

So much effort has already been put into creating a statewide-licensed "shared liquidity" environment for U.S. online poker players, and not only is the existing NJ/NV/DE agreement now under direct threat, but the new OLC opinion (if not somehow modified, overturned, rescinded, etc.) will also prevent any state from legally combining player pools while making online poker less attractive for low/medium populated states to regulate in the future.

I hope Pennsylvania launches online poker soon. Even though it will be restricted to PA. From what I've read here and on other outlets, there are many Keystone State players looking forward to competing online once the games go live.

UPDATE FOR POST #38

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially delayed enforcement of the Wire Act for an additional 60 days - through June 14th, 2019 -- according to a report by Steve Ruddock for OPR.

https://www.onlinepokerreport.com/35...ent-postponed/

According to a summarized report published by the Poker Alliance, "state lawmakers are undeterred by this new opinion. In fact, there have been more than 20 internet gaming bills (from iPoker to sports betting) introduced since the opinion was released on January 14th."

https://www.pokeralliance.com/news/u...-act-reversal/

There's also a very informative Webinar that was uploaded by the North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) recently. It features a one-hour discussion with former New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) official George Rover and Ifrah Law managing partner Jeff Ifrah.

https://www.nagra.org/page/call_for_webinars

The webinar is moderated by current NJDGE Technical Services Bureau Chief Robert Moncrief, Jr. It covers statewude U.S. internet poker, lottery, sports betting, casino, etc.

I've already published the complete timestamps for the webinar elsewhere. Just google "NAGRA Webinar" and the timestamps are available for those who would like to follow along with what experts are saying.

wtf

Any update on this? Lots of conflicting reports on the interwebs.

Not much on the news front. I am not holding much hope for them to launch before the end of the year. I bet they won’t launch until q1 2020.

my guess is there trying to integrate a casino into the poker client itself which is probably why it taking longer than usual.

They already have a casino integrated into the poker client in practically every market they operate, including a dozen or so locally regulated markets.