Mere days after the partnership between Wynn Resorts and PokerStars was announced, Wicked Chops is now reporting on a similar merger between PokerStars’ chief rival in the online poker wars, Full Tilt Poker and Station Casinos. The partnership would likely lead to other land-based casinos seeing the writing on the wall and partnering with other online poker rooms like Cereus, Cake Poker, and Party Poker.
According to WickedChopsPoker.com, Full Tilt Poker has been in talks with a number of Las Vegas based casinos regarding a partnership, but the buzz seems to be revolving around Station Casinos:
“We’ve recently heard from a number of Las Vegas and online poker insiders that Full Tilt Poker, the second largest U.S.-facing online operator, is in talks to form a strategic alliance with Station Casinos… Station’s has been buzzing internally about a potential Tilt deal, and with the PokerStars-Wynn alliance announced…”
In addition to the PokerStars/Wynn deal, we have also seen Caesar’s Entertainment join forces with 888 Holdings PLC to expand the Caesar’s brand to new markets overseas –the deal was made official last week when the Nevada Gaming Commission gave the project the green light—and now we are hearing rumors of yet another deal in the works; could we actually be seeing a serious push by the online poker sites to legalize and regulate poker in the United States?
With 18 Casinos in the Las Vegas area, Station Casinos may not have the prime “Strip” locations and big names of other gaming giants like MGM, Wynn, or Caesar’s possess, but the company that is owned in part by the Fertita brothers has been wildly successful in their business model for casino growth as well as turning the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) into a major sporting organization and global phenomenon after purchasing the near bankrupt company.
The pending partnership could also be a main reason why the location of the Full Tilt Poker Onyx Cup Series has yet to be announced –the first Onyx Cup Series tournament is scheduled to take place on May 11th and 12th—and considering the small field size these $100,000 to $300,000 buy-in tournaments will draw, Station Casinos could be a perfect fit. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that the Onyx Cup Series was created specifically to help Full Tilt Poker land a partnership deal with a brick and mortar casino, considering unlike PokerStars and Party Poker, Full Tilt Poker has not jumped head-first into the live tournament pool.
Related Posts
- Full Tilt Poker Unveils the Onyx Cup - March 16, 2011
- More Details Emerge on Full Tilt Poker Onyx Cup Series -
- Wynn and PokerStars Joining Forces in USA Poker Fight - March 29, 2011
Written by Steve Ruddock on March 30th, 2011