Belgium to Open its Online Poker Market, Estonia Bans Foreign Operators
22.03.2010 -As of 2011 the Belgian Government will be issuing licenses to foreign online gaming operatos. The New Belgian Gaming Legislation was voted last by the parliament last month and will take effect next year.
According to the new regulations, gaming operators can offer services out of Belgium after acquiring a license for land-based gambling in the country. All hardware has to be located within Belgian territory as well. The limited number of available licenses though will most probably go to local operators before any foreign company is allowed.
At the same time the Estonian Tax and Customs Board has practically made foreign operations of online poker sites illegal. All websites without a license issued in Estonia will be banned. These are in fact all currently operating site except for one – the Estonian Olympic Casino.
Of course, Estonian poker players are not too happy about the new regulations. Harrei Genam wrote in his blog: "(The ISPs) will get fined ~600 euro as for the first time. WHAT THE F*CK ---> if we were to get caught using proxies, we get fined for ~2600 euros along with the ISP."
Poker Rooms
