PokerStars Poker Room to Open in March at London’s Hippodrome
The world’s largest online poker room has set the launch date for its first land-based operations at the Hippodrome in London for March 4, 2013, and the launch of its first ever social poker venue by way of a Facebook app has seen phenomenal overnight success.
Back in November of 2012, PokerStars promised its members that it would enter into the social gaming realm with a PokerStars Facebook App. That goal was achieved on February 5, 2013 when PokerStars announced the launch of PokerStars.net on Facebook.
Up until now, Zynga maintained a stronghold in social poker games with its Texas Hold’em app, which has been the most popular (and highest revenue grossing) of all Facebook gaming apps for a long time running. Zynga has been on the ropes financially, but is looking to resolve that issue by entering into the real-money online poker market to suffuse its bankroll. Conversely, PokerStars, a company that has seen prolific success in the real-money poker industry, is expanding into the social play-money market and, realistically speaking, could quickly overtake Zynga’s role as the number one Facebook poker app in the world.
While PokerStars has been an overnight success in the social gaming community, the online poker room is expecting similar results in its latest campaign to take on the land-based casino market. Last year, it was announced that PokerStars inked a deal with the Hippodrome Casino, located in London’s industrious Leicester Square, to introduce PokerStars LIVE. The online poker giant would be taking its cybernetic card gaming into the material realm. The Hippodrome has been steadfastly preparing for the grand opening of the first live PokerStars card room with affluent renovations and refurbishments of its existing floor room.
“The poker room’s luxury interior design has been developed to take poker to a new level, catching the interest of all national and international players,”? said Simon Thomas, Chairman of the Hippodrome. He went on to describe the casino’s ambition; “to create a fabulous environment in which to play poker, with great lighting, comfortable seating and the audiovisual support to [meet] the needs of the poker player.”?
According to reports, PokerStars LIVE is set to launch on March 4, 2013 and will host non-stop cash games, along with a low buy-in tournament series slotted for April 12th to the 14th, 2013, sponsored by the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT).
The Hippodrome – officially opened in 2011 after extensive restoration that saw the company shelling out £40 million – is already being dubbed the UK’s “busiest casino”?. Once PokerStars LIVE officially launches next month, the establishment is expected to rise to the highest tiers of the totem pole as one of the most alluring and luxuriated poker rooms in the world.