PokerStars to Launch Dot EU Site
Within days of announcing that they have obtained a license to operate an online gaming site from Belgium, PokerStars has followed up with the news that they have received a Remote Gaming License from the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Commission.
With this license PokerStars will soon launch a pokerstars.eu website which will immediately benefit players Finland and Sweden. Till now players from these two countries used to access and play on the pokerstars.com website and the taxation laws in force in these two countries saw them paying sometimes even as high as 50% of their winnings as taxes.
That is set to change with the launch of the .eu site because Malta is a member of the EU and does not tax gambling winnings. They will not be taxed by their countries either because gaming winnings are tax-free when the game is offered by a company operating under a license issued by a member country of the EU. PokerStars is also already licensed by France, Italy, Belgium and Estonia.
Players on the soon to be launched pokerstars.eu site will get play to play the same games and tournaments against the same pool of players as on the pokerstars.com site. The company has announced a seamless re-registration process for players who migrate to the new site which will include the transfer of all account balances. In addition to the cash even the Frequent Player Points (FPPs), Valuable Player Points (VPPs) and VIP Status will be updated on a migrating player’s account on the new site.
Players registered on PokerStars.fr (France) and PokerStars.it (Italy) sites can only play with other players from their respective sites.
Explaining the rationale behind obtaining a license from Malta, the Head of Business Development for PokerStars, Guy Templer said, “Some markets treat European Union-licensed operators differently than other license-holders. Offering our online poker on www.pokerstars.eu with a Maltese license provides benefits to players in Sweden and Finland in particular and we are always striving to offer the best product possible to our players, wherever they are located.”
PokerStars has opened an office in Malta which will administer the PokerStars.eu site and company. The launching of this new site to facilitate players from Finland and Sweden makes eminent business sense for PokerStars because of the large number of top class professional players who have emerged from these countries in recent times. Many of these players will now find it easier to participate in the various high stakes tournaments and tours because online superstar players frequently foray into the world of live poker and vice versa.
The obtaining of a gaming license is an indicator of a site’s adherence to best practices and with this new Maltese license PokerStars has levelled the European playing field between itself and its rivals. The eventual goal of PokerStars will certainly be a unified European gaming site but turning that goal into a reality might take a long time. One of the pre-conditions for such a super site would be uniformity across EU nations in online gaming legislation.
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