In an e-mail distributed to the media (as well as likely a similar message sent to affected players), PokerStars announced on Friday that it is withdrawing from the Slovenian online gaming market, effective today.
The official statement, issued by a PokerStars representative, reads as follows:
Our management team regularly review our operations market-by-market to assess commercial opportunities and business risks for our brands. Following a recent review, we have decided to stop offering real money games to players who are physically located in, or have a registered address in, Slovenia from 4 July, 2016. Player balances remain safe and secure, and players are able to withdraw their real money balances at their convenience. We do not currently expect to withdraw services from any other locations in the foreseeable future, and a full question and answer page has been provided for affected players.
We hope that we will be able to return to the market in due course, and will continue to support the implementation of fair and consistent regulation that serves the needs of all stakeholders and includes a strong commitment to consumer protection, particularly of vulnerable people, in Slovenia. There is already a successful framework for such regulation in Europe and PokerStars is currently licensed in 12 EU countries. We hope to apply for a license in Slovenia when it is possible.
Online gaming regulations have been in the works in Slovenia for several years, but it was not until March 2016 that the country notified the European Commission of its intended changes to its gaming law, changes which included the legalization and regulation of online gambling. Should the new laws take effect, operators would be required to obtain a gaming license to offer their services in Slovenia, which would be good for ten years and renewable in five year increments after that.
This follows a pattern of PokerStars and its parent, Amaya, “clearing the deck,” so to speak, as it anticipates applying for gaming licenses in certain jurisdictions. In Slovenia, one would assume, PokerStars does not want to risk the possibility of rubbing regulators the wrong way by offering internet poker in the country without a license, even if it is not technically illegal at this point. This also serves the same purpose for future licensing in the United States; by pulling out “grey markets,” those jurisdictions where online poker isn’t explicitly illegal but not exactly legal, either, PokerStars is making sure that regulators in the U.S. (for instance, California, where legislation is currently being debated) don’t have any ammunition to reject their licensing application.
A week ago, PokerStars and Amaya did the same thing with Israel, pulling its real money offerings from the country. Israel prohibits most forms of gambling and while online poker is not explicitly legislated against, the other anti-gaming laws are typically applied to internet gaming. PokerStars message to Israeli customers was much more final-sounding than was the one to Slovenians, given instructions on how to cash out and not including optimistic language about future licensing.