New regulations passed by Parliament in the United Kingdom have put the online gaming and poker industry in turmoil as gaming companies either announce plans to pull out or adjust their offerings inside the borders.
The bill, called the U. K. Gambling, License and Advertising Bill, was passed in May through Parliament and will take effect for online gaming and poker operations on October 1. As a part of the bill, all online gaming and poker operations would have to apply for a special U. K. license and new taxation rates of 15% would take place for those offering their games to British citizens. This has led several popular online sites to either completely pull out of the British market or substantially alter their offerings.
The first to make an announcement of their intentions was Mansion Poker. On Wednesday, Mansion stated that they would withdraw from the British market and urged those players still active on the site to withdraw their bankrolls from the site. As a part of an e-mail sent to players, Mansion encouraged them to move over to Titanbet Poker, where Mansion stated that all loyalty points from Mansion would be transferred should a player move to Titanbet.
Reasons for the move by Mansion are as a direct result of the new British law set to take effect. With the new taxation rates, Mansion (which sees a majority of their action come from the European continent) would be “double-taxed” on their revenues. As the percentage of their action that comes from the U. K. is small in relation to their overall coverage, it is easier for Mansion to depart the market rather than take on the new license and tax burden.
On Friday, the most powerful player in the online gaming and poker industry made a similar decision to Mansion. PokerStars announced that it would be taking its online offerings off the board for British players. Citing the same reasons that Mansion did in making its decision (double taxation most importantly), PokerStars advised players taking part of their offerings (through PokerStars.fr or PokerStars.com) that they should also cash out any funds on their accounts and use any special awards (VIP Stellar Rewards and Milestone Cash Credits) prior to October 1.
Unlike Mansion, PokerStars will be opening up shop with a dedicated British offering. After October 1, British players will take part of the action through PokerStars.co.uk, which will be funneled to the PokerStars.com player base. As a part of an e-mail sent to British players, PokerStars states, “The PokerStars U. K. site will continue to share all games and player pools with the PokerStars.com site. Due to the new regulations, the auto-rebuy feature will not be available on the U. K. site for either cash games or tournaments. All other software features and game experience will remain the same.”
The new regulations in the United Kingdom are expected to affect more sites than just Mansion and PokerStars. Other companies that make their wares available to the U. K., including Winamax and TurboPoker (licensed in France) are contemplating their actions in accordance with the new British regulations, which could include a pullout from the U. K. or applying for licenses to operate. Such sites as partypoker and 888Poker are expected to apply for and receive new British licenses to be able to continue their games inside the U. K.
It does not appear that this is a nationalization effort by the British government, which other countries in Europe (France, Spain and Italy, among others) have chosen to do. The additional money brought in by the new licenses and the 15% taxation rate would be welcome to the country’s revenues and would also provide a method for the country to tackle the unregulated (re: offshore) sites that some players have found popular. In 2013, the U. K. brought in £930 million and through the new licensing and regulations and mobile gaming, with the British government expecting significant increases (along the lines of 10-15% per year) over the next five years.
