Shared online poker liquidity, under scrutiny

Italian politicians have raised concerns about the shared online poker liquidity project’s impact on problem gambling and are opposing the agreement.

Poker has been losing relevance over the last years and the segment is fighting to unroll new tactics to revitalise the activity and recover some of the interest it had over a decade ago. The shared online poker liquidity project was introduced as a solution to the poker crisis but is now facing opposition from Italian politicians.

The agreement would see France, Spain, Portugal and Italy working together through their gambling regulation bodies in order to have players from one country play against users in another one. However, some Italian politicians and responsible gambling campaigners are endangering the project as they raised concerns about it’s impact on gamblers and the potential flow of money related to organised crime structures.

Italian Deputy Paola Binetti was quoted by AGIMEG and assured that the plan could stimulate illegal activities and gambling addiction. She explained that there’s a thin line between legal and illicit in the digitalisation of the gambling industry and questioned the current form of the shared liquidity project for its imprecision on legal and illegal activities.

The international settlement was signed on July 6th by authorities from France, Portugal, Spain and Italy but could face some turbulence on the near future.