- Eight months after submitting its license application, PokerStars has become the first operator to launch nationally regulated online poker in Bulgaria.
- PokerStars actually received its license in February, having applied when the new license fees were being debated but had not yet been approved.
- PokerStars.BG now joins the range of locally licensed domains which PokerStars uses to feed players into its larger dot-com player pool.
PokerStars has become the first operator to launch nationally regulated online poker in Bulgaria.
The launch comes eight months after submitting its license application, and six months after the license was granted.
“PokerStars strives to be first-in-market when online poker licenses are made available and we’re proud to be the first locally licensed poker site in Bulgaria,” said Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications for the Rational Group.
“We believe in the potential of the Bulgarian market and that is why our company has invested in the local license,” he added.
Global player pool
Wisely, the Bulgarian law did not restrict players to its own geographic boundaries, but allows them to compete globally.
Therefore, PokerStars.BG now joins PokerStars’ locally licensed online poker rooms—Denmark, Estonia and Belgium—which PokerStars uses to feed players into its larger dot-com and dot-eu player pool.
Bulgarian players will be prompted to migrate their account over to dot-bg and download new software. VIP points and status will be transferred.
Blacklist
Bulgaria maintains a large and growing blacklist of online poker rooms that operate without a license. ISPs in Bulgaria are required to block customers from accessing listed domains.
The blacklist is effective. In July 2013, players visiting the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to take part in the PokerStars’ sponsored “Eureka!” event found that they could not access pokerstars.com or play from the mobile app.
PokerStars was removed from the blacklist when it formally applied for a license.
Marketing Opportunity
The success of Bulgarian player Dimitar Danchev, who won the Main Event of the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), gives PokerStars a readymade marketing focus for the new market.
Danchev won $1.8 million for his win, and another $54k for fifth place in the same event this year. He also picked up $160k in May, when he came close to winning a WSOP bracelet with second place finish in Event #6 of the World Series, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em – Shootout.
PokerStars might not enjoy its exclusive status in Bulgaria for long. Five months ago politicians passed a law reducing the fees gaming companies have to pay, making the market substantially more attractive to foreign operators.
Sister site Full Tilt is “in the process of applying for a gaming license,” according to a Rational Group statement to affiliates.
Betfair has already been granted a Bulgarian license, but has not yet used it to offer online poker.
