[Ali shmali]

william,

your points fall short. Pokerstars has been around for much longer then a year. You'll notice party poker is still a top 3 site and has zero risk involved in matters of U.S. litigation(as far as i can tell at least). This is due to their aggressive affiliate program.

Another reason your point falls short is because Pokerstars currently DOES have an affiliate program and these affiliates currently advertise to Americans anyways. They are also the number one site right now with the majority of their business in the U.S. If the hammer of the U.S. authorities does decide to come crashing down, it will happen regardless of Pokerstars' affiliate program.

The one thing that does make sense to me, is that they don't feel the need to push in more money with the current political climate. That area seems pretty grey though. There is a chance the bill's enforcement will be negligable. If so, how much money are they losing by not having a good marketing campaign? If the enforcement does end up being strict, how much money are they losing by having a good affiliate campaign?

I'm going to guess it is still in their best interest to have an aggressive marketing program. It will not only bring in more U.S. customers, but more non-U.S. customers. That seems like a win-win situation to me.