Portugal joins France and Spain in shared player pool

Portugal has joined France and Spain in a shared poker liquidity network, with PokerStars the first operator to offer a shared pool between the three countries.

In July last year, regulators from the three nations, as well as Italy, signed a deal to allow operators active across more than one of the markets to merge player pools.

Operators in France and Spain have been offering shared pools for some time and Portugal will now join the network, although uncertainty remains as to when Italy will make its move.

In January, PokerStars rolled out a shared player pool in France and Spain, and earlier this month, Rafi Ashkenazi, chief executive of the operator’s Stars Group parent company, said an extension to Portugal was close.

PokerStars customers in France, Spain and now Portugal can compete against players in each of the countries for larger prizes.

To mark the launch, PokerStars will host a €5m ($5.9m) guaranteed online ‘Trio Series’ from June 3-13, featuring 78 events including the €250 Main Event with a €500,000 guarantee.

Promotions such as Main Event depositor free-rolls, Second Chance free-rolls, daily free-rolls giving away €3 and €10 satellite and Series tickets, as well as €2.50 Spin & Gos in France will also be on offer.

Guy Templer, chief operating officer at Stars Group, said: “We have worked hard to become the first operator to bring the benefits of shared liquidity to Portugal.

“Our players will see a huge increase in the variety and scale of our tournaments and promotions and will enjoy more excitement, more competition and more fun.

“This dramatically strengthens our offering and demonstrates our commitment to the Portuguese market.

“We look forward to working with the Portuguese regulator to further improve the poker product offering for Portuguese players, and additionally hope that Italy will soon progress so that their players can also enjoy the significantly better experience that shared liquidity brings.”

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