The European Commission has approved a technical standards paper submitted by the Portuguese gambling regulator – Serviços de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ) – that sets a technical standards framework in relation to the provision of iGaming services.
Among other important things, the legal document also makes it possible for Portugal to enter online poker shared liquidity agreements with other European regulated markets.
Discussions about the creation of an international online poker network have been floating around for several years now. However, it was last summer when a significant progress in relation to the idea was made. France adopted amendments to its gambling law that allowed for its gambling regulator – ARJEL – to negotiate shared liquidity agreements with other ring-fenced jurisdictions.
In November, regulators from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the UK announced that there had been ongoing talks and that first shared liquidity agreements could become reality by mid-2017.
SRIJ submitted Projeto de Regulamento que define os Requisitos Técnicos do Sistema Técnico do Jogo Online to the European Commission in January. The paper being reviewed by the EC meant that the country could not enter any shared liquidity agreements within a three-month standstill period.
Generally speaking, the piece contained information of how iGaming operations, including ones related to the creation of an international online poker network between Portugal and other countries, were to be conducted in the country.
As the standstill period has expired and the EC has approved the paper, Portugal may now proceed with negotiating shared liquidity agreements. In other words, if such agreements are negotiated soon, regulators’ prognosis for ring-fenced markets merging their player pools by mid-2017 may be fulfilled.
PokerStars was the first online poker operator to go live in Portugal since the country’s new iGaming regulations came into effect last spring. The poker room rolled out its .pt website late last year and has so far remained the only one to service local online poker players.
Initial traffic figures wowed the industry, as the Portuguese poker website attracted more players than websites with years of operation. Although initial interest has decreased over the months, there have been clear indications for great demand for this type of offering in the country.
As mentioned above, PokerStars has remained the sole online poker operator for now. The fact that SRIJ has not issued any licenses since last November may be interpreted as a hint that the regulator may indeed be busy negotiating shared liquidity with other ring-fenced markets.
Reports have emerged earlier this year that French online poker operator Winamax was hiring Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking staff to expand its operations’ scope beyond its homeland. Although the operator has remained tight-lipped about its actual plans, it seems that it is interested in the prospect for several countries merging their player pools in near future.
