We knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. Even so, it does feel a little strange. PokerStars now has casino games. Currently available only on PokerStars.es, PokerStars’ strong Spain-only site, if the pattern established with PokerStars’ Spin & Go’s follows, casino games will likely spread to the “dot com” site in the future.
For the longest time, it appeared that PokerStars was going to remain the one major site that was going to remain a pure poker play, “untainted” by casino gaming. Full Tilt Poker, also owned by PokerStars’ parent company The Rational Group, was going to be the one in the family to branch out into other games. As recently as March, PokerStars Director of Poker Room Operations Steve Day addressed the poker community on Two Plus Two, saying, “There are no plans at this time for casino games in the PokerStars client,” adding, “I suppose you can never say never, but right now ‘We are Poker’ and nothing else.”
But when Amaya Gaming agreed to buy The Rational Group in June, that all changed. Though it owned the Ongame Network, Amaya was known more for being an online casino games developer than a poker caretaker. In a conference call presentation shortly after the sale agreement, there was a slide which indicated Amaya had plans to expand its new acquisitions into other verticals such as casino gaming and sports betting, something that concerned PokerStars fans, as they preferred that it remain poker only. Not only is it comforting, in a sense, to have a site that only features poker, but PokerStars management has also been regarded as the most knowledgeable and customer-focused in the industry and players did not want the extra distractions of casino games.
Responding to those concerns, Day again posted on Two Plus Two, saying:
I do see some references here to casino and sportsbook. I can see why certain slides in the Amaya presentation linked earlier in the thread raise questions about our future plans relating to these products. Full Tilt has recently rolled out a wide variety of casino games, so it is not surprising to see such products referenced as areas of potential growth compared to the 2013 financial results.
The writing was on the wall, though, as just hours after the purchase agreement was announced, PokerStars’ Spanish subsidiary REEL Spain, Plc was awarded two licenses to offer blackjack and roulette in the country. Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov said in the previously mentioned conference call that PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker “…do not only have the ability to attract new players, but they are also able to offer popular tables and slot games to their millions of players using their poker platforms.”
The list of games currently being offered on PokerStars.es includes roulette and multiple forms of blackjack. They can only be played by customers using the new PokerStars 7 client software and can be found under a separate “Casino” tab.