Major online rooms may be temporarily shut down in Austria
Austria may temporarily shut down major online rooms Austrian authorities are discussing new iGaming regulations. Under existing laws, the country operates a gambling mon…
Austria may temporarily shut down major online rooms
Austrian authorities are discussing new iGaming regulations. Under existing laws, the country operates a gambling monopoly. The only legal online gambling option is the national lottery. Online poker cannot legally be offered in Austria, yet there are no penalties for offshore operators. Such operators include GGPoker and PokerStars.
The current iGaming license expires in 2027. The Austrian parliament is discussing the possibility of introducing a "cooling-off period" for gray-market operators. Under this proposal, unlicensed operators that served players in the country over the past five years would be unable to apply for a license for 24–36 months.
Critics of the initiative argue that black-market operators will circumvent such a ban, and that players will be forced to switch to illegal poker rooms. In addition, Vienna is a popular hub for leading European online poker players. Many German players have moved to Austria to take part in online tournaments and cash games, among them 2021 WSOP Main Event champion Koray Aldemir and high roller Fedor Holz.
Read next
Michelle Chin became the first woman in 11 years to win a mixed event at the WSOP
Negreanu and Deeb busted from the $50,000 Poker Players Championship
How to deal with frustration when playing poker?
