Donald Trump to Enter Online Poker Fray

Real estate, entertainment and casino mogul Donald Trump has teamed up with hedge funds manager Marc Lasry in an effort to get a piece of the online poker industry pie once the activity becomes licensed and regulated in the United States.

From Bloomberg News:

The real estate financier, Lasry’s Avenue Capital Group and casino operator Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. will form an Internet gaming joint venture should U.S. regulators permit such businesses to operate, according to an Oct. 14 regulatory filing. Trump Entertainment, which Avenue Capital took control of last year, would own 10 percent of the venture, the company said in its filing. It didn’t disclose the stakes to be held by Trump or Lasry’s $12 billion hedge fund.

“It’s just a matter of time,” Ivanka Trump, Donald’s daughter, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. “It would be a tremendous source of taxable revenue for states or the federal government and an enormous generator of jobs.”

Trump’s casinos operate in New Jersey, which is currently pushing to legalize online gambling at the state level.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher