Portugal has finalized a technical standards framework that sets the requirements to be met so as for the country to be able to share online poker liquidity with other regulated jurisdictions. Projeto de Regulamento que define os Requisitos Técnicos do Sistema Técnico do Jogo Online, as the regulatory piece was titled, was produced by Portugal’s gambling regulator Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) and was submitted to the European Commission for review earlier this week.
The ongoing EC review has put the regulation to a standstill. This means that it cannot take effect in the country for the next three months. In other words, Portugal cannot sign any shared liquidity agreements before early April.
As mentioned above, the document sets the technical specifications for shared liquidity between the country and other regulated jurisdictions. Here it is important to note that Portugal has shown openness to share online poker pools not only with European regulated markets but also with markets beyond Europe as long as these meet the necessary technical standards.
SRIJ issued the first online poker license in November to PokerStars. The .pt website of the world’s leading online poker operator turned into an instant success, maintaining more than satisfactory traffic and cash game statistics during its first month of operation in the newly regulated market.
As Portugal has submitted its technical standards paper to the EC, the idea of online poker shared liquidity between two or more European regulated jurisdictions has inched closer to reality. Said idea started taking form last summer when France changed its gambling law so as to open the country’s market for shared liquidity provided that criteria and conditions are met.
In November, gambling regulators from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and the UK discussed and agreed on certain universal technical standards to be met by all countries interested in sharing liquidity on online poker.
Gambling officials from the above-listed countries vowed to have first actual agreements by mid-2017. However, half a year may not be enough for differences in the jurisdictions’ gambling laws to be overcome, particularly ones related to taxation. Each of the five countries taxes online poker in different way and what works best for one country may not work that well for another.
The lack of compatibility in taxation systems may certainly cause delays in the negotiation of shared liquidity agreements. On the other hand, given the fact that ring-fenced jurisdictions like France, Italy, and Spain have been looking to boost their online poker operations, compromises will probably be made for their player pools to be increased.
