PokerStars Will Leave Alberta Poker Market on Oct. 13
Players can withdraw funds and receive tournament refunds, but PokerStars has given no timetable for a licensed Alberta return.
PokerStars will stop serving Alberta poker players on Tuesday, Oct. 13, ending the temporary access the province allowed through its international site after the regulated online-gambling market opened in July.
The cutoff coincides with the end of Alberta’s three-month grace period for operators without a local licence. PokerStars’ message to customers, first reported by Pokerfuse, did not say whether or when a locally licensed Alberta poker room might launch.
Players registered in Alberta will lose access to the site, with PokerStars using both IP-location data and account-registration information to enforce the restriction. The operator said customer funds will remain protected and withdrawable at all times.
Tournament entries for events starting on or after Oct. 13 will be refunded to player balances. Non-promotional rewards will be converted to cash and credited to those balances.
As covered in July, PokerStars initially kept poker available in Alberta after removing its casino and sportsbook products when the province’s competitive market launched on July 13. The poker exit now removes that remaining international PokerStars product from the province.
A return would require a licence from the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Commission. PokerStars operates in Ontario under the PokerStars on FanDuel brand, but there is no clear indication that an Alberta version of that arrangement is planned.
The unresolved question for regulated poker is player liquidity. Interested parties argued for and against international player pooling at an Oct. 7 hearing, where counsel for Alberta’s attorney general supported it. No definitive answer had emerged, and Alberta’s eventual rules on pooling with Ontario or international markets are expected to shape the province’s online-poker outlook.
