Shared online poker liquidity agreements are taking shape and will likely become reality by mid-2017, Italian media has reported citing the country’s online gambling head Daria Petralia.
Media reports from the past few weeks have indicated that several European regulated jurisdictions have entered the final stages of negotiations in a bid to deliver on their promise from late last year to launch first merged player pools by the end of this year’s first half.
International liquidity will have to overcome two main challenges in order to become reality. In the first place, the countries involved feature different frameworks in relation to online poker taxation. And there will have to be a certain amount of uniformity among interested parties in order to be able to combine their player pools.
In the second place, all involved online poker markets will have to meet certain technical standards. According to people with knowledge of the matter, this will not be that hard to achieve when it comes to online tournaments. On the other hand, cash games may turn into a bit of a stumbling block before the realization of the shared liquidity plan. However, latest reports on the matter have been more than optimistic that progress has been made and is to be made in the weeks to come.
It has been revealed recently that Italy is set to present its shared liquidity regulatory framework during an upcoming meeting in Brussels in May.
Portugal, France, and Spain have been the other active participants in the shared liquidity talks. All four countries, including Italy, feature ring-fenced online poker markets. Gambling regulators from the UK have also participated in the negotiations that have taken place since last summer, although the country’s regulatory system is a bit different from the ones in the other four countries.
Austria and Germany have also reportedly joined discussions. Earlier this year, Austrian online gaming brand win2day and Finland’s newly merged state-run gambling operator Veikkaus launched Europe’s first cross-border online poker network. This is why Austria’s interest in a broader Europe-wide poker network should not come as a big surprise.
The shared online poker liquidity plan is seen as an experiment by European regulators that if successful, may lead to the creation of a network that will encompass other games and gambling options, as well. Talking to local media, Ms. Petralia has suggested that betting exchange may also be included in future shared liquidity plans. However, the official has pointed out that regulators will wait and see if the creation of an online poker network will prove to be an effective move.
Italy, Spain, and France regulated their iGaming markets several years ago, ring-fencing online poker to players from the respective countries. They have all seen online poker proceeds fall significantly in the years after. This is why shared liquidity is seen by many as the possible savior and booster of online poker across Europe.
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