One Year In, Regulators Praise European Shared Liquidity and Urge Others to Join One Year In, Regulators Praise European Shared Liquidity and Urge Others to Join
Key Takeaways
  • The trio stated that it has resulted in a growing online poker market across all three markets.
  • They “express their willingness to cooperate” with other EU member states who wish to join the pact.
  • Italy has not moved forward with shared liquidity, and its government is explicitly anti-gambling.

The gambling regulatory authorities of France, Spain and Portugal have issued a joint statement heralding a successful first year of cross-border shared liquidity.

The trio stated that it has resulted in a growing online poker market across all three markets and “express their willingness to cooperate” with other EU member states who wish to join the pact.

Italy, an original signee of the agreement in 2017, has yet to move forward, leaving its online poker market stagnant and still rife with unlicensed operators.

“One year after the materialisation of the first poker [network] accepting players from more than one of the said jurisdictions, the French, Portuguese and Spanish regulatory authorities convey their general satisfaction on the evolution of this new online shared ecosystem,” the three stated.

On January 16, 2018, PokerStars made history combining its player pools of France and Spain. Four months later, it expanded the pool further with Portuguese players.

Soon after, partypoker also connected its French and Spanish networks, followed by French market leader Winamax debuting in Spain for the first time. Recently, iPoker joined the competition.