While the celebration is ongoing in Nevada after Tuesday’s launch of the first regulated online poker site on the U.S., the potential for the “big kahuna” of online poker to reenter the U.S. market potentially took a blow.

The Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Berzon reported that the deal between PokerStars(Rational Group) and Colony Capital LLC, the current owners of the Atlantic Club (pictured) in Atlantic City, expired on Tuesday and there are no signs that a new contract was signed. An update from NorthJersey.com claimed the deal was indeed dead.

As you may remember, PokerStars agreed in principal at the end of 2012 to take over the Atlantic Club, one of the struggling properties on the Boardwalk in New Jersey, for $50 million. There was a catch to the proposal, however: PokerStars, through its Rational Group corporate headquarters, had to obtain a temporary license in order to be able to operate in the Garden State.

PokerStars began the process back in February and it was expected that there would be little to no opposition to the purchase and takeover. That was before the American Gaming Association, the organization that counts many of the major players in the brick-and-mortar gaming industry as members, filed a brief with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission encouraging the denial of the license. In its brief, the AGA argued that PokerStars violated U.S. laws regarding online gaming, money laundering, and bank fraud and, as such, was an unworthy participant in the New Jersey gaming scene.

With a great deal of debate over the issue, the NJCCC has stated to the Rational Group and Colony Capital that it may not make a decision on the licensing issue and the proposed deal until August, according to Berzon. This puts the question of PokerStars’ involvement in several key areas of New Jersey gaming in danger of falling through.

The Newark Star-Ledger’s Salvador Rizzo quoted PokerStars spokesman Eric Hollreiser as saying about the deal, “Given the confidential nature of our agreement, it would not be appropriate for me to comment.” The other major players in the deal, Colony Capital and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, would not comment to the Star-Ledger on whether the deal is falling through.

The Star-Ledger was able to get comments from State Senator Ray Lesniak (pictured), who was instrumental in the push for online gaming in New Jersey and is a supporter of PokerStars’ efforts to take over the Atlantic Club. Lesniak still believes the deal is intact, but remarked, “I wouldn’t believe anything right now and just wait until the decision from the Division of Gaming Enforcement.”

“What I do know,” Lesniak concluded, “is that the opponents of PokerStars are out there in full force trying to prevent them from operating in New Jersey.”

At first glance, PokerStars’ deal to purchase the Atlantic Club was seen as a way of saving a failing operation in Atlantic City. Ranked 10th of the 12 casinos that operate in New Jersey, the Atlantic employs approximately 1,800 people whose jobs would be preserved under the auspices of PokerStars. The site itself declared it was ready to put a great deal of money into overhauling the property to ensure its viability in the competitive Atlantic City market.

The real lure of ownership of an Atlantic City casino for PokerStars, however, is alleged to have been in the rapid movement of online gaming and poker in the state. In January, Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed a full online casino gaming bill, but stated he would sign off on the legislation with some amendments to it. Rapidly, the New Jersey legislature accepted Christie’s amendments and, within the next month, the bill was passed into law.

One of the components of New Jersey’s online gaming legislation is that only licensed casino operators in Atlantic City are allowed to offer online gaming to New Jersey residents. With this in mind, many believe the reason for PokerStars’ push to purchase the Atlantic Club is to garner a foothold in the state in order to offer online poker in the U.S. for the first time since Black Friday.

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