- PRO can confirm that its primary website for distributing the client, Partypoker-Sochi.com, is offline for “maintenance.”.
- Entain is on a path to generate 100% of revenue from nationally regulated markets by the end of 2023.
- Ostensibly, Sochi clients provide players with a way of buying into or qualifying for live events being held in the country.
- It is unclear how operating real money online poker in Russia does not contradict the wider company’s plans.
Entain, formerly GVC, parent company of partypoker, has taken another step back from the Russian online poker market, closing its dedicated Partypoker Sochi online poker client.
The online poker site continues to operate in Russia, PRO understands. However, its client specifically designed for the market—which only launched six months ago—has been shuttered.
The news was first reported on Russian online poker news sites. PRO can confirm that its primary website for distributing the client, Partypoker-Sochi.com, is offline for “maintenance.”
“Due to increasing regulatory restrictions in Russia, we have decided to close our Sochi poker product,” a partypoker spokesperson told PRO. “We will continue offering other poker services in Russia while we explore additional commercial and regulated opportunities within the market, as part of our strategy to only operate in licenced territories by the end of 2023.”
