PokerStars ends real-money operations in Israel
Operator will continue to offer F2P games following "business decision" to scrap RMG
PokerStars has scrapped its real-money online poker operations in Israel following a “commercial assessment” of the market.
The Amaya-owned brand blocked Israeli players from its paid platforms on Monday, with customers encouraged to continue using its free-to-play games instead.
A spokesperson told EGR the decision was taken after a recent assessment of the “commercial opportunities and business risks of the Israeli market”.
PokerStars did not detail the specific risks or lack of opportunities it had identified. However, the Israeli government is said to be cracking down on online gaming companies, with ISP’s asked to block access to gaming sites and banks told to block payments.
The Israel market has historically been considered grey as the law banning gambling – the 1977 Penal Law 5737 – made no mention of online gaming specifically.
As a result operators were largely left alone unless they actively pursued Israeli customers with adverts or a .il web domain.
Following its withdrawal, PokerStars said in an email to Israeli customers: “Our management team regularly review our operations market-by-market to assess commercial opportunities and business risks for our brands.
“Following a recent review, we regret to inform you that we have decided to stop offering real-money games to players who are physically located in – or have a registered address in – Israel from June 27, 2016.
“We apologise for this inconvenience and hope you’ve enjoyed your experience – we invite you to continue playing with your existing account on our play money site here.”