“Caesars Entertainment approached PokerStars and offered to sell us certain assets such as the Rio Casino in Las Vegas,” Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars, told Forbes. “Caesars Entertainment suggested that this acquisition would give us a better relationship with Caesars Entertainment and would help PokerStars gain a license in Nevada. PokerStars declined the offer because we had no plans to acquire another casino in the near term.”
PokerStars, through its Rational Group US Holdings parent, is currently in the process of purchasing the Atlantic Club Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City for up to us$ 50 million, which would subsequently allow it to apply for an intra-state online poker licence from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
However, the process has been complicated of late after the American Gaming Association trade group filed a brief earlier this week opposing the proposed purchase and calling Rational Group a ‘business built on deceit, chicanery and the systematic flouting of United States law’.