It was revealed late yesterday that, beginning at the end of this month, the Entraction Network will no longer allow players from five different countries to play on their family of sites.
The announcement was made by Donkr.com, who revealed the information that they had received from their affiliate contacts. In the statement, Donkr.com writes, “We have been informed by one of our partner sites that the Entraction network will block players from the following countries as of September 29th: Canada, Israel, Norway, Russia and Turkey. All our players from either one of these countries will NOT be able to continue on their existing deals.”
An e-mail posted on the Two Plus Two forums from NoiQ.com support, one of the members of the Entraction organization, explained the Entraction departure in better detail. “We regret to inform you that Entraction will be blocking access to the Poker Network for the following five countries as of September 29th: Canada, Israel, Norway, Russia and Turkey,” the e-mail stated. “Unfortunately we do not have information available as to why this is being put into place, however, please note that this will only effect (sic) the Poker side of NoiQ. Players from these countries will still be able to access our Casino and Sports as we operate these with other partners, not Entraction.”
The reason for the departure from five of the bigger poker markets in the industry has many seeking reasons why. Four of the countries – Israel, Norway, Russia and Turkey – have or are debating enacting stringent laws on sites their citizens can play online poker. The odd man out in this case, Canada, is a question mark as there aren’t any burning questions as to the legality of online poker and it is well accepted in the country.
The true reason for the departure may lie in their new ownership, International Game Technology (IGT), who recently closed on a deal to buy the Entraction Network. The deal was first announced in May when IGT offered $115 million to buy the outstanding shares in Entraction Holding AB, the parent company of the network. The deal was quickly closed, with IGT taking over Entraction Holding AB in June.
Herein could be the issue, however. IGT has been one of the main platforms for many online casino and poker operations around the world since 2005, but its home offices are located in Las Vegas (the company has international offices located around the globe, including the United Kingdom, Canada and China). Although the Entraction Network already didn’t allow for American action, IGT decided to get everything in line in other potential problem areas. If the Entraction Network continued its present operations in countries that prohibit online gaming, that would have an impact on future licensing of an online poker or casino operation for IGT in the United States if/when there is regulation.
As expected, the revelation of Entraction’s blockage of players has not been received warmly. On the 2+2 forums, poster “the_most10” commented, “Literally made an account and deposited two hours ago and I’m from Canada…WTF?” Another poster, “SMUTTTT,” added in his two cents when he wrote, “This sucks. I play exclusively on Entraction now and this is gonna result in a tougher player pool for sure.”
Posters at 2+2 have opined – and it is quite likely – that the decision by the Entraction Network will have a significant impact on its player base. According to PokerScout.com, the Entraction Network is the eleventh largest in the online poker industry, with a seven day average of 1200 cash game players. By departing the five markets, there will be a sizeable reduction in the numbers in cash games and tournaments. The Entraction Network covers some fairly popular poker rooms such as DevilfishPoker.com, Redbet.com and Victor Chandler.
When September 29 rolls around, there will only be three online poker networks of significance that accept worldwide action. The Merge Network (currently ranked as the twelfth largest network in the industry), Bodog.com (thirteenth, but will quit accepting American action at the end of the year) and the Cake Network (eighteenth) will be the only sites in the industry’s Top 20 that do not block countries from playing. There are six other sites in the Top 50, according to PokerScout’s rankings, but they are lagging far down on the list.
” As of the beginning of September, Entraction Holding AB was still offering online poker to American customers, even after the actions by the U. S. Department of Justice on “Black Friday.””
That line is wrong, no one on Entraction accepts US players to my knowledge. If so please email me their names, I wish to signup.
Hey Grind,
Duly noted and admittedly my mistake. Have corrected and thanks for reading!