Italian players are no longer able to play on the international version of PokerStars due to changes that were made this week to their country’s online gaming laws.
Laws were passed in 2006 ordering Italian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to the approximate 600 gaming outlets from outside the country to all its citizens resulting in Italians only being legally allowed to participate in state-run companies.
After the European Union threatened fines and sanctions the Italian Government dropped the partial ban and allowed open competition for online poker rooms, sports books and casinos from all over the world.
A critical decision that was made by the European Union last February has resulted in many changes for Italian poker players. Players are now restricted from participating for too long and no cash games on the Italian-facing sites are allowed. These regulations as well as many others were implemented on July 27th.
PokerStars have explained to their players that the new law states that real money online poker games may not be offered by sites to Italian residents unless it holds an AAMS License, like the PokerStars.it site. According to the regulations Italian players may not play at PokerStars.com tables. If they wish, they can transfer the assets to PokerStars.it or else convert their PokerStars.com account into a PokerStars.it account.