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Regulated Online Poker in Spain on Schedule

A regulated online poker industry in Spain is scheduled to be rolled out in January 2012. According to recent reports the plan is still on schedule and there has been a lot of interest. This past Wednesday was the last day for online gaming sites to apply for one of the online poker licenses in Spain for the time being. Based on reports there was a lot of interest and roughly 50 operators have applied for one of the licenses in Spain.

There has been no list of confirmed operators, but some poker rooms will definitely be in the mix including PokerStars, Unibet and Party Poker. One application has been confirmed and it was from the Groupe Bernard Tapie (Full Tilt Poker). The deal has gone through for Full Tilt Poker, so it looks like they have plans on reopening in the New Year. It would be very interesting if Full Tilt opened up in various markets and I’m sure they’d do fine due to their excellent software suite.

It has been announced that the poker industry in Spain will be segregated initially. Only players that reside in Spain will be able to play on the Spanish poker sites that receive licenses. Some of the licenses may be awarded to poker rooms within the next couple weeks, but the poker rooms aren’t expected to be operational until January 2012. There has been some indication that the poker rooms could open up to international non-Spanish speaking players in the future, but not initially.

The Spanish poker market is one of the bigger international markets in the world and they could definitely have success running a segregated poker network although it’d be much better to open up the network to international players. The poker rooms will only be able to offer Texas Holdem, Stud, Omaha and Draw poker games for the time being. There are also a couple other rules that the poker rooms will need to follow in order to not breach the terms of their license.

• The maximum big blind in a cash game is €10.

• The maximum buy-in in a tournament is €250

Many operators are jumping at the chance to receive a license in Spain because the taxes are low compared to other markets that have regulated such as France. The lower taxes should help operators keep the rakes the same as they are now and that should mean that most Spaniards will start playing online poker on the Spanish sites. Unlicensed sites are not legally allowed to operate in Spain once the 1st licensed poker room opens, but I’m sure many poker rooms that don’t receive a license will remain in the market.

PokerStars appears that they want to make a splash in the Spanish market. PokerStars will most likely receive one of the licenses and I’m sure they’ll become one of the most popular Spanish poker sites in 2012. More countries are expected to regulated poker in the New Year and it should be interesting to see how everything plays out.