PokerStars quietly left the newly regulated Colombian iGaming market, after the country’s online gambling regulator, Coljuegos, blocked last week the first of a list of 325 unlicensed online gambling operators.
On Friday, the online poker room informed its local players via email that as from Monday, July 17, they will no longer be able to play real-money poker. PokerStars was one of the high-profile names to be mentioned in the above-mention blacklist, which was made public by Coljuegos back in March.
Colombia became the first Latin American country to regulate its online gambling market. Its new gaming and betting regulatory framework was introduced by lawmakers last fall. And it was in late June when Coljuegos issued the first license for the provision of iGaming services. Local operator Aquila Global Group and its Wplay.co sports betting website became the first to receive the necessary approval to operate in Colombia’s newly regulated gambling environment.
In its message to Colombian players, PokerStars explained that it was leaving the market due to the new regulatory regime and the fact that it did not hold a license to operate legally in the country. However, the operator pointed out that it was interested in obtaining such a license, which means that it may return to Colombia when and if granted the necessary approval.
PokerStars has been treading carefully since 2011 when it was indicted by the US Department of Justice for providing illegal real-money services to US-based players, thus violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Ever since, the operator has been trying to steer away from black markets and to only stick to regulated jurisdictions and gray markets.
Colombia and the Latin American region, as a whole, have been among the gray jurisdictions targeted heavily not only by PokerStars, but also by other major operators in the iGaming field. They have spotted the potential the region holds and have been trying to capitalize on it as much as possible.
Over the past several years, that potential has also been taken into consideration by lawmakers from several Latin American countries. Aside from Colombia, which has already legalized online gambling and crafted a regulatory regime for licensed operations, Mexico and Brazil, among several others, have been discussing the possibility to open their markets.
Both countries have been working on amending their current gambling laws in a manner that would include online gambling as a legal option. Legislative hurdles have hampered progress towards legalization and regulation, but many believe that those hurdles will eventually be erased.
