PokerStars.gr is now operating under a full license in Greece.
Flutter Entertainment was granted a local license in July 2021 by the Hellenic Gaming Commission. In a press release issued today, Flutter has announced that PokerStars, PokerStars Sports, and PokerStars Casino are all now available under this license in Greece at .gr domain names.
Commenting on the announcement, Dan Taylor, CEO of Flutter International, said: "Launching PokerStars under a full local license in Greece follows months of hard work from teams across the business. I'd like to thank them all for helping to make PokerStars' range of safe and trusted products available to players in Greece and for contributing towards our ongoing strategy of growing our business in international regulated markets."
This launch means that poker players in Greece can access a full roster of promotions, tournaments, and cash games. And if they want to take a punt, the sportsbook and casino are accessible to them too.
Additionally, Greece does not require the segregation of player pools, so players on PokerStars.gr should be able to play against the international player pool on Stars.
As a market, Greece is a relatively small addition to the fold. The population is about 11 million people, roughly 1/6 of the population of the UK, France, or Italy. And the appeal of gambling online from there is limited by a Player Withholding Tax to which all Greek residents are subject.
Greek players who are living overseas are therefore wise to set up an account on whichever PokerStars client is local to your current jurisdiction (assuming it is legal there).
It has been an odd year for PokerStars.
GGPoker has become serious competition, threatening to overtake Stars in several metrics. For the first time in fifteen years, PokerStars dropped to second in cash game traffic in June 2021. In an effort to tidy their compliance portfolios up, Stars also pulled out of Macau and Taiwan last year. Meanwhile, the Netherlands actively pushed Stars out.
There has also been some expansion though. PokerStars launched in Michigan and celebrated its second full year in Pennsylvania.
And now there's Greece.Feature image source: Flickr by daves_archive_1, used under CC license
