Online poker giant PokerStars has quit Cyprus’ online gaming market, if reports from several Greek and Cypriot poker news outlets are to be believed.
Players accessing PokerStars from within the Republic of Cyprus have not been able to participate in online tournaments or play cash games on the platform for several days now.
Cypriot players have said in online poker forums that they have received an email from PokerStars, reading that the operator has decided to suspend access to its platform in the region. Account holders will be able to withdraw their funds until May 4, 2021.
PokerStars further noted that those players who are not able to withdraw their funds by the above date should contact its support team to learn how they can access and withdraw their balance.
Signs of the poker operator’s departure from Cyprus were all over this past few days. Existing players said that they were able to withdraw money from their accounts. However, others noted that they were unable to download the PokerStars software from within Cyprus. Players were also unable to take part in poker tournaments and cash games.
Why Has PokerStars Left Cyprus?
The reasons behind PokerStars’ abrupt departure from Cyprus could be several. In the first place, after the reorganization of the Cypriot online gambling market in 2012, the island nation’s regulator, the Cyprus Gaming Commission, has only been authorized to issue digital sports betting licenses.
This means that PokerStars has operated in a gray area for quite a while before finally deciding to quit the Cypriot iGaming space.
And the major online poker operator has actually been trying to avoid gray markets as this could derail its US expansion plans. PokerStars was one of the companies that were shamefully banished from the States several years ago in what is known as Black Friday of online poker.
The operator was later on allowed to return and now provides its services in several US states where online poker is legal.
In addition, PokerStars has a new owner after its now former parent organization, The Stars Group, recently closed a multi-billion tie-up with Irish gambling powerhouse Flutter Entertainment. Flutter itself has huge US expansion plans and is probably looking to eliminate every little thing that could hamper these plans.
In addition, according to regional poker players, one of the reasons behind PokerStars’ exit from Cyprus could be related to the fact that many Greek players used to open Cypriot accounts with the operator via VPN in order to avoid paying taxes in Greece. It should be noted that PokerStars is licensed to operate in Greece.
In that country, players are levied taxes on their poker winnings, which PokerStars automatically deducts from their balances. However, players from Greece have avoided such tax deductions when playing with Cypriot accounts.
In addition, large winnings are not paid out at once in a lump sum in Greece, an issue yet again avoided by Greek players who resorted to opening Cypriot accounts.
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