Pokerstars withdrew itself from Croatian market - 11.12.2024.

[Sebbour]

I'm writing this in order to notify other players from Croatia what to do.

Several days ago I have received this email from pokerstars:



First, I was skeptical that they will convert all tickets into real money and secondly I was skeptical that they will allow me to withdraw it (because I haven't deposited in more than 10 years ago - and then I did it only to be able to withdraw larger amount that I have deposited).

But both things happened as they said, they converted all tickets into real money and I was able to withdrew it (visa debit card - for me that was the only option). Money is still not in my bank account but I have received two emails from PS, first, that they have approved my withdrawal and second one, that they have sent the money to my bank account. I will update on this when I receive the money.

I'm not going to erase my username because who knows what future holds but certainly it isn't bright.

So, if you are from Croatia and you have received email like me (you should have) and you have money on your account I would suggest that you withdraw it.

 

[Sebbour]

Update

I have received money on my account so this is settled.

Today I have received another e-mail from PokerStars in which they explain everything one more time with one new thing (I have highlighted it):



P.S. I can still login in the PS client and I can still see all tournaments there but I didn't try to play them.

 

[Urameshi]

Is this a specific decision by Pokerstars or online poker is illegal in Croatia?

 

[Tammy]

I would be interested to know what the regulations are in Croatia.

 

[Highfish]

I'm not surprised.

With the high license costs and other restrictions imposed on providers by local governments, more and more providers are withdrawing from smaller markets.

How nice it used to be when the whole world could play poker without politics interfering.

 

[pentazepam]

 

[Sebbour]

Is this a specific decision by Pokerstars or Online poker is illegal in Croatia?

Online poker is legal in Croatia AFAIK but not on all sites.

I searched a little bit and Croatian IRS forbid Pokerstars to operate in Croatia on September 2023. Back then I had problems with updating PS client (Croatian IRS blocked access to site www.pokerstars.eu and .com) but I managed to update through some another page from Pokerstars which wasn't on the black list.

My assumption is that our market is to small and that they have more costs (licensing and other stuff - as @Highfish pointed out) than benefits from it and that's the main reason why they decided to withdraw.

I would be interested to know what the regulations are in Croatia.

In short, online gambling, online betting and online poker is allowed in Croatia but only on sites which are approved by Croatian government.

Here on this link is the list of web addresses of gambling operators (they aren't dividing poker or betting from gambling) which are currently banned:

https://www.porezna-uprava.hr/Dokumenti%20razno/Popis%20web%20adresa%20prire%C4%91iva%C4%8Da%20igara%20na%20sre%C4%87u%20za%20koje%20je%20izdan%20nalog%20o%20zabrani%20rada.pdf

 

[Sebbour]

I just tried to register in one of available freerolls and this is what I get:



So, I can see all tournaments but I cannot play them.

Then I tried to see if I'm able to play for play money but I cannot play them as well:

 

[Goggelheimer]

The German Gambling authority made it the other way around.
They give out a whitelist, where gambling and poker is allowed, the list for poker is really short.
Only 5 Operators allowed/licensed, PokerStars, GG-Poker, 888-Poker, partypoker and two PartyPoker skins BWIN and Bpremium.
The question is which will stay in the German market for a longer time, the smaller ones may consider to leave smaller market share segments.

 

[Tammy]

I just tried to register in one of available freerolls and this is what I get:

View attachment 374478

So, I can see all tournaments but I cannot play them.

Then I tried to see if I'm able to play for play money but I cannot play them as well:

View attachment 374479

This is exactly what I see too. I would always have the regular ".com" version downloaded so that I could monitor CC freerolls on Stars. Not really necessary now, but I still like seeing the real money games for some sick reason. LOL

 

[Sebbour]

This is exactly what I see too. I would always have the regular ".com" version downloaded so that I could monitor CC freerolls on Stars. Not really necessary now, but I still like seeing the real money games for some sick reason. LOL

It's like they (PS) tease us: "You could play all those tournaments, you just have to move in another area!"

 

[Tammy]

It's like they (PS) tease us: "You could play all those tournaments, you just have to move in another area!"

Exactly! The place I would have really loved to move to is Croatia though, so NOW what do I do???

 

[Sebbour]

Exactly! The place I would have really loved to move to is Croatia though, so NOW what do I do???

Well, you'll need to find another area.