Beach Reached: Shared Poker Pool Filling Up as Portugal Dives In
Published May 30, 2018 by Lee R
PokerStars becomes the first operator to offer pools across three jurisdictions.
Shared pooling is really happening.
Triumphant Triumvirate
After years of ringed fencing, Portugal has now completed the first trifecta of shared pool participants with Spain and France.
Dousing Out the Ring
The long decried ringed fence preventing sharing of poker pools across jurisdictions officially came down when regulators from the three nations and Italy signed an agreement to share their licensed operator player pools across multiple markets which would increase the size of the pools higher than any single jurisdiction was capable of.
A Full Pool
With France and Spain sharing for some months already, the entry of Portugal marks the bringing of player pooling to reality, with a full three jurisdictions now participating in the shared liquidity pool. Italy is still getting its integration model together.
First Service Provider
PokerStars brought in the first shared player pool in January for France and Spain, with the chief executive of the Stars Group parent company the extension of service with a bang:
PokerStars will celebrate the launch June 3-13 with a €5m ($5.9m) guaranteed online Trio Series consisting of 78 events including featuring a €250 Main Event carrying a €500,000 guarantee.
The Promotional Bang
Further promotions include Main Event depositor free-rolls, second Chance free-rolls, daily free-rolls giving away €3 and €10 satellite and Series tickets, and in France €2.50 Spin & Gos.
PokerStars Head Speaks
Stars Group chief operating officer Guy Templer excitedly looked forward to passing along the benefits of his organisation’s hard work:
“Our players will see a huge increase in the variety and scale of our tournaments and promotions and will enjoy more excitement, more competition and more fun.
Renewing the Commitment
Templer further expressed his delight at his organisation’s renewed commitment to the Portuguese market whose implementation was just getting underway:
“We look forward to working with the Portuguese regulator to further improve the poker product offering for Portuguese players, and additionally hope that Italy will soon progress so that their players can also enjoy the significantly better experience that shared liquidity brings."
Ramifications
Completing the initial foursome would also open the door for further sharing, and some of the largest pots ever amongst increasing jurisdictions of friendly completion sans borders, a prospect which was unimaginable barely a year ago.
