Estonia Moves to Legalize Online Poker
Still riding momentum from the Baltic Poker Festival, Estonia is set to open its doors to the online poker industry.
Starting this year citizens of the small Northern European country will be able to legally play online poker on the nation-based Olympic Casino group platform, which was developed by industry giant Playtech.
“We are truly glad of this opportunity to start our partnership with Olympic as the leading casino entertainment provider in Central and Eastern Europe,” said Mor Weizer, executive manager of Playtech.
In 2011, the laws will change again, allowing international operators into the country as long as they are able to satisfy requirements set by the Estonian government.
A former economic leader, Estonia was one of the hardest hit countries by the world-wide recession in the late 2000s.
Last year retail sales plummeted and the government is hoping that regulating and taxing the online gambling industry will help stimulate the economy.
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Comments
2pkr
2010-10-26Obviously, Estonian poker players are outraged, with only one small online site currently licensed in the country; the Estonian Olympic Casino. Legislation of this sort not only hurts the online poker sites, but also online poker aficionados who are left with a much smaller pool of players.
doublejokers
2010-01-11I don't understand how the European Union lets them get away with this. I wanna play Starzzz!