On Friday, PokerStarsannounced that it will roll out blackjack and roulette “on a market-by-market basis beginning this month with completion anticipated by the end of 2014 reaching nearly half PokerStars’ current player base. PokerStars will add sports betting and other popular casino games in 2015. It also plans to launch a fully-featured casino on mobile and web in 2015.”

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The move comes as a result of Amaya Gaming, the former owners of the Ongame Network, purchasing PokerStarsand its sister site, Full Tilt, earlier this year. Amaya officials stressed the importance of sports betting and casino games to the company’s overall strategy, bucking the historically poker-centric focus of PokerStars.

PokerStars launched casino games on its dot-es client already and Full Tilt players saw casino games added to their client in January of this year.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications for PokerStars, commented in Friday’s press release, “We are taking the same principles, practices, and integrity that make PokerStars such a successful and beloved brand and applying them to new verticals. These new products will also support the development of poker and grow the overall business.”

According to PokerStars, Full Tilt players have adopted casino games thus far. In fact, 30% of the site’s user base plays casino games every month, while “50% of Full Tilt casino players say that the site is the only online casino at which they play.”

For players who are concerned they’ll dump their entire bankroll into sports betting and casino games, PokerStars is offering the option of hiding the links to the new games and opting out of marketing and other correspondence about them.

Additionally, PokerStars does not see the new games having a deleterious effect on the poker ecosystem. As Hollreiser explained, “The experience on our poker platforms to-date shows increases in net player deposits following the addition of casino games and a negligible impact on poker spend. We are confident these games will create more value to our PokerStars site and bolster the core poker offering.”

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