Home / Poker News January 2012 / Belgian Gaming Commission Authorizes 3 Sites
Belgian Gaming Commission Authorizes 3 Sites
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2012-01-04 14:51
Belgium has been working on its own online poker legislation too, and a while ago it was made clear that Belgian poker players would be forbidden from playing at unauthorized online poker sites. The law went into effect as 3 sites were authorized by the Belgian Gaming Commission, while all other online poker operations have been banned.
The sites are PokerStars.be, Partouche.be and Casino777.be. The move is based on the Belgian Gambling Act, and it is indeed an interesting one as it locks out a whole bunch of major players like PartyPoker.com and the iPoker network, in a seemingly arbitrary way.
The 4 largest internet providers in the country have already moved to block all online poker sites with the exception of the three freshly authorized ones. PartyPoker and the iPoker network have lashed out at the new law calling it unenforceable. Thus far though, unfair as it is, the law does appear to be enforced quite well indeed.
The Belgian Gambling Act is by no means a hastily put-together piece of legislation: lawmakers have worked on it for 2 years. The reason why PokerStars are one the list is a simple one: they have made timely moves to team up with a local online casino operator, Circus Groupe, a setup which allowed them to gain a Belgian license under the provisions of the above said law.
The move is part of
PokerStars’ global strategy to obtain licensing wherever required and possible. As the largest online poker site as well as the largest organizer of live poker events in Europe, it makes perfect sense for the site to pursue such a strategy.
According to the chief executive officer of Circus Groupe, it was the BGC’s and the Vallonia Ministry of Finance’s goal to attract the largest online poker site by working out a taxation scheme which is perfectly suitable for PokerStars’ Belgian activity.
