partypoker goes live on desktop in the Czech Republic through a partnership with King’s Casino Rozvadov, mobile poker offering coming soon
partypoker has returned to the Czech gaming space two years after the reorganization of the local market and just as many years after the online poker room shuttered its premises for Czech players.
In a statement on its official blog, partypoker announced on Wednesday that it is now live in the Czech Republic through a partnership with King’s Casino Rozvadov, which is known to be home to Europe’s largest brick-and-mortar poker room and frequent host of some of the major live tournaments taking place on European soil.
partypoker’s online poker product is currently only available on desktop (PC and Mac). Its games are to be rolled out across mobile later this year.
Under Czech regulations, local players are required to complete an ID verification at a physical facility in order to be able to gamble online. partypoker said yesterday that now and for now, interested players can carry out the ID verification at Post Offices throughout the country. Through the poker operator’s partnership with King’s Casino, customers will soon be able to complete the process at the property.
To celebrate the launch of partypoker in the Czech Republic, the poker room’s local partner announced a series of live events, including the inaugural edition of the €110 buy-in Czech Poker Masters with a guaranteed prize pool of €551,750. The tournament is set to kick off on April 14 at King’s Casino and to run through April 22. Online Day 1s start from March 31.
partypoker Joins PokerStars in the Local Poker Space
partypoker has resumed poker operations in the Czech Republic two years after it left the local market. The company has become the second international online poker brand to enter the local space since the nation re-organized its gambling market back in January 2017.
The Stars Group’s flagship operation, PokerStars, was the first international operator to be granted a license from local regulators. The online poker room launched its offering to Czech players in February 2017, just a month after the country’s new gambling law took effect.
partypoker applied for a license back in the spring of 2017, but withdrew its application shortly after and left the Czech market, citing heavy bureaucracy and an unnecessarily high tax rate for its decision to shut its premises to local players. Under the country’s gambling law, licensed operators are obligated to contribute 35% of their local revenue to Czech coffers. The rate is among the highest in Europe.
partypoker eventually announced its return to the Czech Republic last fall when it was issued a license by the country’s Finance Ministry.
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