Unibet Leaves Spain as Nation Begins Segregating Online Poker Market in Spain

The popular European online bookmaker Unibet has opted to exit the Spanish market as that nation begins segregating its Internet poker market.  Unibet advised its affiliate marketers of the company’s decision last week.

A message to affiliates read as follows: 

The majority of the Spanish banners/text links in your affiliate account will be de-activated on the 14th of December 2011. However, we will keep the best performing banners/text links active and re-direct these to the Brasilian website as of 14th of December 2011.

Unibet will cease operations completely in Spain come December 20 as the new regulations are set to begin January 1.

Spain’s regulation of the industry is being viewed by many operators as a bit heavy handed.

In a nutshell, Spanish players will be required to join an online poker room that is regulated by the government of that nation.  “Providers”, as they are called, will be permitted to operate from Spain and be taxed 25 to 30 percent.   Players will need to reside in Spain, similar to what we currently see in France and Italy.  Those player pool have been more than sustainable, enough so that both PokerStars.it and PokerStars.fr rank among the 7 largest Internet poker rooms in the world. 

The maximum big blind is €10, so only games up to NL 1000 are allowed.  One can only play up to 100 big blinds while the maximum buy-in for tournaments is €250. 

Furthermore there are restrictions on the amount that can be deposited in a given week or a month:  €600/day, €1,500/week and €3,000/month.  Limits can be increased on an individual basis.  They can also be reduced at the operator/provider’s discretion.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com