Portugal will soon join in online poker player sharing with France and Spain according to Charles Coppolani, France’s top gambling official.
Coppolani told French channel RMC Sport TV that Portuguese regulators have entered the final stage of preparation to enter into the player sharing agreement. France and Spain began sharing players through the PokerStars platform last month.
The three countries, as well as Italy, agreed to adopt player sharing in 2016 and have been working on regulatory terms. The final agreement was signed in July, but implementation has been slow. So far, PokerStars is the only online gambling operator to be approved for player sharing.
Portugal first issued online gambling licenses in 2016 and PokerStars is the only current licensee in the jurisdiction.
Coppolani also said he was concerned about Italy’s willingness to begin player sharing and said he hoped Italian regulators were still committed to the project, according to local reports.
In a later interview, Pier Paolo Baretta, Undersecretary of State at Italy’s Finance Ministry, said Italy is still committed to the project and that a verification process is currently underway. Once completed, the country’s gambling regulator will evaluate the results and then begin player sharing.
In another European story, American consultancy Grant Thornton is recommending that Greece open up its gambling license process.
In a study prepared for the Greek government, the firm proposes unlimited operating licenses for a wide variety of games provided the operator has a Greek domain name suffix in its web address, according to a report at ekathimerini.com.
The firm recommends two types of permits for gambling on the web: Type A licenses would go to providers wanting to offer betting games and bet exchange websites, and Type B licenses would be for suppliers of all other gaming types, including those based on random number generators such as online casino games.
The firm said licensed providers should be able to operate outside Greece—in another European Union country—but would have to have a server based in Greece containing the details of transactions made by local gamblers, according to the report.
