Spain’s gambling regulator – Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) – published on Friday information about the draft resolution that will allow the country to participate in the shared online poker liquidity project.
Spain has been one of the four regulated jurisdictions to have actively negotiated the creation of an online poker network that would make it possible for players to play against peers from all four jurisdictions. Although the topic emerged in Europe’s iGaming space several years ago, it was only last summer when actual actions were taken by Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal towards the project’s realization.
DGOJ released two documents on Friday, with those being primarily concerned with explanations on what shared liquidity was and what operators would be required in order to be able to participate in the project.
Spain-licensed operators will be able to join the shared liquidity network, once it is launched. What is more, DGOJ also pointed out that new operators will also be allowed to participate upon applying for the necessary licenses. All participating operators will have to ensure that their operations are compliant with the technical standards presented by the gambling regulators of Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal.
It can be seen in DGOJ’s recent publications that the regulator as well as its counterparts from the other three countries would be particularly strict in making sure that all participating operators have deployed effective anti-money laundering mechanisms, as well as mechanisms that would prevent other criminal activities from being conducted. What is more, multi-accounting would not be tolerated, as noted by DGOJ.
Once and operator has applied for taking part in the shared liquidity project and its application has been approved by DGOJ, it will have to inform the regulator about the exact date on which it will launch operations in the shared liquidity environment. It will also have to make sure that its players are prepared and informed about the new conditions under which the game of poker will be provided to them.
DGOJ also explained that the new technical standards and related set of rules that are to be implemented will make it possible for an international shared liquidity environment to be created for other types of online gaming services. It is yet unclear what games could be included in the project.
As mentioned above, regulators from the four countries have worked actively over the past year to turn the shared liquidity idea into reality. Excluding Portugal, where the market is still too young, none of the other three jurisdictions have not seen their poker markets expand over the years, which became the main reason for the creation of the poker network that will combine their individual player pools.
Regulators have explained that they have decided on that particular partnership due to the four countries’ geographical proximity and the similar conditions under which online poker services are provided there. However, more countries may join the project in future.
Spain’s gambling regulator had previously issued 27 online poker licenses, but there are currently only four active online poker platforms in the country. The lack of interest from operators mirrored the lack of interest among players. Under Spain’s current regulations, players can only play against their fellow-countrypeople, which gives them very limited opportunities for diversity. Their counterparts from Italy, France, and Portugal have been in a similar situation, which has affected the local poker markets in an extremely negative manner.
Hopes are that the international shared liquidity will help all four jurisdictions eventually see any growth in their poker markets.
