With Britain’s new licensing and tax rules for online operators set to take effect this week, two major operators have announced plans to withdraw from the market, and it’s possible others may follow.
The regulations, incorporated in the UK Gambling, License and Advertising Bill, require all UK-facing operators to apply for licensing from the UK Gambling Commission regardless of their location, and pay a tax of 15 percent on their British business.
Mansion Poker is the first operator to withdraw and has urged its players to cash out and move to Titanbet Poker, where their loyalty points will be transferrable. Overall, Mansion’s UK market amounts to only a small percentage of their business.
PokerStars, the largest poker site in the world, also plans to withdraw but will be setting up a dedicated British offering that will share games and player pools with the parent site.
Other major sites such as PartyPoker and 888Poker are expected to stay in country and apply for and receive new licenses.
PokerStars denies that it is shutting down in the UK.
“PokerStars has no intention of leaving the UK market,” said Mark Stuart, PR manager for PokerStars parent company, the Rational Group, in an emailed comment to GGB News. “UK players will be migrated to a new client and continue to have access to the same player pool as .com customers. This is expected to happen at the start of November, as there has been a one-month postponement of the new British tax legislation.”
The new regime was slated last week to take effect October 1, but it has been delayed to allow the UK High Court to consider a challenge brought by the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association.
The GBGA, which represents the territory’s online operators, describe the licensing and tax requirements as “illegitimate, disproportionate and discriminatory and irrational”. It claims they were “designed for economic reasons: to grant UK operators a competitive advantage over those from overseas” and says they could be detrimental to consumers if introduced.
