Belgium Nationalising Online Poker

The Belgian government has made it clear that it will pursue significant changes to its online poker legislation that will come into effect as early as this year. The government said that online poker players will be restricted to locally licensed poker rooms that operate within Belgium’s borders only, and will not be allowed to play at ‘foreign’ sites such as Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars and so forth.

The new laws contradict free trade agreements in Europe, and have been condemned by the EU. “I’m fine with regulating but don’t cut off the world,” said one online poker player on a Two Plus Two forum. “Playing against people on the other side of the globe and having traffic around the clock is what makes online poker great.”

There is a debate ongoing at Poker Nations which is worth reading for more background information and comments.  You can also add your own comments on this topic - registration is entirely free.

Ian (Doolally) commented on the subject of "Belgium to Enact Laws Nationalizing Online Poker" at Poker Nations with, "We have legalisation here in the UK. Basically any company that operates and is licensed within the EEA area (European Economic Association) is allowed to advertise gambling in the UK and take players from that area.

It works very well although not as the UK government originally intended. They thought that gamblng operators would flock to the UK where they would collect, I think, 15% of profits as a gambling tax. However, what actually happened is that most went to Gibraltar or Malta where taxes were low and their jurisdictions were boosted indirectly, ie. with people employed in a fruitful industry.

I'm all for legalisation but you have to watch that countries don't try to monopolise the market and kill competition - this doesn't do anyone any favours in the long run."

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