New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s not to blame for delays in approving PokerStars’ online gambling license application, despite heated accusations to the contrary.
PokerStars applied long ago for the right to operate in New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market in partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel but the unresolved criminal prosecutions hanging over Stars’ owners caused the state Division of Gaming Enforcement to suspend Stars’ application for two years in December 2013.
Then Stars changed ownership last June, and new boss Amaya Gaming resubmitted the application, leading state Sen. Ray Lesniak – a champion of the state’s gaming industry – to predict Stars would be back on the Jersey shore within weeks. Sadly, it was not to be, and the protracted silence emanating from the DGE regarding Stars’ application led Lesniak to take to his twitter feed to pin the blame on Christie’s presidential ambitions.
Basically, Lesniak believes Christie doesn’t want to piss off GOP kingmaker and staunch online gambling opponent Sheldon Adelson, who has said Stars’ new ownership has done nothing to expunge its criminal nature. Lesniak went as far as to tweet that PokerStars would “inject life” into Atlantic City but Christie had “soul [sic] out NJ for Adelson’s support.”
Lesniak suggested Christie was stalling Stars in order to give Adelson’s other political rent boys the time to introduce the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, the federal anti-online legislation that would bring an end to intrastate online gambling markets like New Jersey’s. A House version of the bill was introduced this month and Sen. Lindsey Graham is believed to be close to introducing a companion bill in the Senate.
WASN’T ME
Christie’s office told Business Insider it was “nonsensical” to say Christie has personally interfered with Stars’ application, given that Christie’s signature was on the bill that allowed the state’s online gambling market to exist in the first place. Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts called the DGE licensing review “an independent, technical process, the length of which varies case by case.”
Lesniak wasn’t buying it, noting that the state’s online gambling legislation had passed by veto-proof margins, so Christie had “no choice” but to sign the bill. Adelson himself has publicly stated that Christie has confided he’d only signed the bill because he was powerless to stop a veto override.
Lesniak maintains “with a high degree of confidence” that Christie “put a stop to [Stars application].” Lesniak’s beliefs are shared by Bob McDevitt, president of casino workers union Unite Here Local 54, who said his understanding was that it was “the attorney general’s office and the governor who are holding up” Stars’ approval.
A DGE spokesperson declined to comment on the Christie speculation, saying only that Stars’ application process was “ongoing” and that no more details would be forthcoming. Amaya attorney Marie Jones also declined comment on Christie’s alleged antics, but did say Amaya had expected to receive approval much more quickly, given Amaya is already licensed in the state as a gaming technology supplier.
