PokerStars to meet Spanish player reps
Power Affiliate EducaPoker and sister site Poker-Red invited to send two representatives each to discuss dot.es framework.
PokerStars will meet with representatives from Poker-Red and EducaPoker to discuss poker players’ concerns ahead of the opening of the Spanish egaming market.
Power Affiliate EducaPoker and its sister news site Poker-Red have each been invited to send two representatives to attend a meeting in Barcelona next Monday, with the latter having opened a forum thread giving players the opportunity to suggest potential questions for the operator.
Jairo Moreno, editor-in-chief of Poker-Red, told eGaming Review that “As of today, this is the first time a poker room invite Spanish players (via online communities) to discuss their plans.
However he notes that “This kind of policy seems to work for PokerStars cause this is not the first time they do it.” Earlier this year the operator invited a number of players to its Isle of Man headquarters to discuss dot.com rake changes, while also undertaking a similar process in France.
One of the principal concerns for players in Spain is the level of taxation, with Moreno explaining that: “Tax law for gambling in Spain is a great mess for poker players cause you are – allegedly – supposed to pay for every pot you win without deducting losses.
“Regular players are scared about the tax man knocking on their doors with an unpleasant surprise and a lot of them are planning not to play till this becomes clear,” he added, suggesting that operators might be encouraged to put pressure on the government in this regard.
Moreno also revealed that “[Players] want to know if new taxes on poker rooms will have an impact on rake. Technical transition to .es accounts, payments methods and chances to create a new account through an affiliate are also recurrent matters.”
The regulation of the Spanish egaming market has hit a number of obstacles in recent months, causing it to push back the initial target date of 31 March for issuing licences, while regulator Juan Carlos Alfonso resigned from his post in March to be replaced by Carlos Hernandez Riera.
Enrique Alejo, general director of Spanish regulatory body DGOJ, revealed last week that the first licences would be issued on 1 June. However back-tax concerns have raised doubts about the entry of a number of operators, with PokerStars potentially set to face costs of as much as 200m.