PokerStars the biggest online poker website in the world had adopted a new strategy ever since the company was acquired by Canadian based Amaya Inc. Amaya had made a number of changes to PokerStars policies and one of the biggest changes was the decision to diversify its product offering and start providing casino games and sports betting to its millions of registered poker players.
Amaya Inc wanted PokerStars to leverage its global player database and to offer casino games and sports betting services as these two markets had a lot of potential and were doing a lot better than the online poker market. PokerStars recently got approval to launch a sportbook website in Denmark and secured a 12 month temporary license. The company plans to launch its sportbook betting services during the early part of 2016.
While PokerStars has faced a lot of opposition from entering into the U.S. market, the company has generally been well received in European and Scandinavian countries and has a strong reputation in the online poker industry. Spillemyndigheden, the online gambling regulator in Denmark reviewed PokerStars application and decided to award PokerStars with a 12 month temporary license to launch sports betting services within the Danish market.
In a statement, Eric Hollreiser, Vice-President of Corporate Communications at Amaya Inc said
We’re pleased to offer sports betting under a license that ensures local oversight of the industry and allows PokerStars to bring its gaming expertise and high standards of integrity, compliance and security to Danish bettors. This furthers Amaya’s commitment to the responsible growth of online gaming by supporting local regulation that protects players, creates a viable, competitive marketplace and provides revenue for local governments.
There is still no information as to how PokerStars plans to roll out its sports betting services in the Danish market. The company has the option to offer its sports betting services via its PokerStars 7 client or can also use one of the many domains that Amaya purchased earlier this year to give Danish players direct access to its sports betting services. One of the websites that PokerStars can use to launch its online sports betting services is BetStars.dk, which was registered on the 20th of May 2015.
Some of the other domains purchased by Amaya Inc during November 2015 include BetStars.com, BetStars.eu, BetStars.it, BetStars.co.uk and BetStars.de. Amaya paid $10,000 to buy the BetStars.com domain and has plans to use it as an individual website to launch sports betting services.
