PokerStars New Jersey Announces “Run It Up” Live Event as Marketing Push Continues

April 20th, 2016 | by Greg Shaun

“Run It Up: Resorts Rumble” will bring PokerStars New Jersey players and poker pros to Atlantic City for a live party to welcome the platform to the state’s legalized gambling market. (Image: pokerstarsnj.com)

It took PokerStars New Jersey less than two weeks in operation to overtake the WSOP/888 and Party Borgata online card rooms in the Garden State, and the Amaya-owned property is only getting started with its marketing campaign to transfer over players and entice new gamblers to their digital tables.

Roughly a month since pokerstarsnj.com officially went live, PokerStars is announcing a live event titled “Run It Up: Resorts Rumble” scheduled for May 14 at the Resorts Casino Hotel, the network’s Atlantic City land-based partner.

The one-day Saturday festival is PokerStars’ ceremonial welcoming party to the Garden State.

Tickets to the event cost 1,000 StarsCoin, which is the cash equivalent of about $10. For the thrifty PokerStars player, a freeroll on May 1 will divvy out 50 free passes to the top 50 finishers.

“We’re very proud of PokerStars’ initial success in New Jersey and look forward to seeing our fans in person,” Amaya VP of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser said in a press release.

Stars Galore, All-In Charity

It wouldn’t be a party without celebrities, and PokerStars is bringing a few of its A-listers to the event.

Of course, you can’t do “Run It Up” without Team PokerStars member Jason Somerville. The Twitch star will be in attendance along with Barry Greenstein and 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Chris Moneymaker.

“It’s been so much fun playing and streaming on PokerStars New Jersey this month and I can’t wait to hang out with all of our awesome Run It Up fans in person,” Somerville explained. “It’ll totally be worth putting on pants.”

All money raised during the event will be donated to Autism Speaks, a cause near and dear to Moneymaker whose daughter has been diagnosed with the developmental disorder.

Cause for Concern?

PokerStars New Jersey’s quick start in the largest legalized gambling market in the United States seemingly went off without a hitch. 10 days after its March 21 introduction, the site was averaging 170 players around the clock on its seven-day average.

The overall response from players was positive, minus a few hiccups here and there during the beta test period.

But now, statistics provided by PokerScout.com seem to show pokerstarsnj headed in the wrong direction.

Over the last week, PokerStars has lost 40 players and is reporting just 130 occupied seats for its weekly numerical mean. During its debut week, the platform reached a 24-hour peak of 452 players, but this week that number is hovering below 400.

As is the case with many businesses, the excitement surrounding the launch has seemed to fade. Amaya is now likely trying to make sure the norm plateau doesn’t dip any farther than it already has.

The predominant statistic is of course not total players but revenues, and after a strong report from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for March that showed iPoker up over 10 percent, Amaya, PokerStars, and players are hoping those April showers fill a player pool to produce a flowering future in the Garden State.