European regulators to sign poker liquidity pact this week

Regulators from four European countries have confirmed they will sign a poker liquidity sharing agreement later this week.

The authorities in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal issued a joint statement on Friday, saying the deal would be officially signed on July 6, at a meeting in Rome.

“This agreement will set the basis for cooperation between the signing Authorities and will be followed by further necessary steps within each of the jurisdictions involved in order to effectively allow for liquidity poker tables,” the statement read.

The French regulator ARJEL has previously predicted that by September, operators will be able to apply for their software to be reviewed to ensure they are in line with the technical standards required for liquidity sharing.

According a recent report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, poker revenues in Italy and Spain were both flat year-on-year in Q1 2017 at €43m and €15m respectively.

The French online poker market has also been on a downward trajectory for the last few years despite having recently reported a slight increase in quarterly revenues.

Full year poker revenues for Portugal are not yet available, but traffic has declined since a promising start.

European regulators have been discussing the idea of a liquidity compact as far back as 2012, with operators also welcoming the plans as a way to boost a stagnating vertical.

Amaya’s vice-president of communications Eric Hollreiser told EGR Intel: “PokerStars is aware of and supports the planned shared liquidity among some locally licensed European jurisdictions. As supporters of smart and sensible regulation, and believers in the importance of pooled liquidity, PokerStars welcomes this progressive step forward and look forward to working with our regulators to provide the best possible experience for players.”

A recent poll of EGR readers saw 62% say shared liquidity would help boost the market.