PokerStars Acquires Ireland Sports Betting License

The gambling industry seems to be in an encouraging “growth” mode. Pushing ahead its agenda of diversifying into sports betting, PokerStars has now acquired a license to offer these products in Ireland, coinciding conveniently with the upcoming European Football season.

Ever since it was taken over by Amaya, PokerStars has seen a number of changes and a new aggressive marketing strategy that included the launch of casino games and sports betting.

The site has now been granted license to offer sports betting products in Ireland. The timing of the license has come at a highly opportune moment, with England’s “Premier League” kick starting the European football season from Aug 8.

PokerStars already possesses licenses to offer poker and casino gambling from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). This new approval allows the site to operate in the recently regulated Irish market.

The site had initially launched its Sports betting products on April 1 in Beta, available through its PokerStars 7 Client and it was then introduced in Britain. Football, tennis, basketball, ice hockey, rugby union, handball and volleyball were some of the events that were offered. The portfolio was later increased to include American Football, Aussie Rules Football, badminton, baseball, boxing, golf, baseball, rugby league and snooker.

Speaking about the new Irish license, Stephen Fisk, MD – Sports Betting, PokerStars stated that it would grant the site greater leverage in terms of offerings. He said that, “Our operation of poker, casino games, and now sports betting shows that players trust us to deliver a variety of games in a fun and exciting way. We look forward to building on this by operating under this new license.”

Irish bettors will have a range of 18 sports events to choose from, which will again be available from the same PokerStars 7 Client.

The company added that more features, events, such as horse racing and more markets were soon to be added.

Image Courtesy: internationalcasinonews.com