Home / Poker News November 2011 / The Poker Grapevine – Party Poker’s Wise 2006 Choice
The Poker Grapevine – Party Poker’s Wise 2006 Choice
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Sun, 2011-11-06 09:30
Back in 2006, shortly after the passing of the infamous UIGEA, Party Poker decided to exit the US online poker market. One of the Party Poker founders (Anurag Dikshit) even struck a deal with the DoJ, paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in exchange for being let off the hook. For years, Party Poker’s decision seemed like the definition of a bad move. The company’s shares tumbled, its player-base left in shambles it was forced to cede top dog status to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Dikshit was regularly bashed on various online poker forums, accused of cowardice and the undermining of the online poker industry.
In the wake of Black Friday though, through 50/50 hindsight, it appeared that the company had in fact made the right move back then. By avoiding the wrath of the US authorities, and by paying its dues, Party Poker has made certain that a possible return to the US market once regulation and legalization occurred would be as smooth as possible.
Last week, the first step of that process has apparently been taken: Bwin.party has teamed up with Boyd Gaming and MGM, in obvious preparation for a possible return. While the partnership is likely to attract scrutiny, the presence of MGM in the fold is certainly a huge ace up the sleeve for Party Poker.
PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker had secured similar partnerships with Wynn Resorts and Station Casinos, partnerships which fell apart after the Black Friday indictments, as the live gambling operators didn’t want to have anything to do with entities that were clearly in breach of US laws.
The only question remaining for Party Poker now is how it would be received by the US public. Back in 2006, there was a lot of anger among the players, who felt abandoned by the operation which they’d trusted for years. Has that anger dissipated, or do US players still hold a grudge?
