PokerStars has long been the industry leader for online poker. After being purchased for $4.9 billion by the Montreal-based gaming giant Amaya Gaming last year, many industry experts wondered what the future would hold for the iconic online poker platform.
The PokerStars sportsbook is expected to launch in early 2015
According to a statement by Amaya Gaming’s CEO David Baazov, PokerStars will begin gradually rolling out their sportsbook to targeted countries as early as April 2015. This launch will coincide with the newly revamped PokerStars client, PokerStars 7, and is expected to be received with considerable popularity by members of the PokerStars community.
However, there are a few detractors of this strategic move, with some of the more hardcore poker players claiming that a sportsbook will take money away from the overall poker economy. Nevertheless, PokerStars management, along with their parent company Amaya Gaming, clearly believes that there is more than enough demand for a sportsbook to justify the move.
The PokerStars sportsbook is expected to be available on mobile platforms this year as well
PokerStars has also announced that they will be launching a mobile version of their sportsbook sometime in 2015 as well. Presumably, this will take place after there has been enough time to ensure that the sportsbook platform is running smoothly, and it will probably coincide with an aggressive marketing campaign designed to increase participation among gamblers who have never tried online gaming.
What the PokerStars sportsbook platform means for gamblers
Whether you’re a poker player, sports better, or both, this announcement is good news for the future. For sports bettors, having the most respected name in the online poker world as a betting platform will mean a great interface and reliable cashouts. For poker players, the increase in sports bettors on the platform will all-but-certainly mean a significant increase in the number of recreational players at the tables, ensuring a healthy poker ecosystem for years to come.
