Hills and PokerStars added to Bulgarian blacklist
Operators deny targetting Bulgarian players as number of blacklisted domains rises to 48
William Hill and PokerStars have been named in the latest group of operators added to Bulgaria’s egaming blacklist, which now contains 48 domains.
Both operators saw multiple domains added to the list, with Stars’ dot.com and dot.bg sites joined by the Full Tilt brand which was acquired by the operator’s parent company Rational Group last year.
The three William Hill sites on the blacklist are the flagship dot.com site, joylandcasino.com, and the 21nova offering (renamed from 32Vegas following a legal dispute with 32Red). However Hills states in its terms and conditions that it does not serve players from Bulgaria, among other territories.
The Bulgarian State Gambling Commission first drew up a blacklist earlier this month, with operators including bet365, Betfair and Ladbrokes among those included from the outset. Bet365 has now seen two further domains added “ allsport365.com and 28365365.com/bg “ while PartyPoker and Titan Poker are also among the new additions.
Gambling Commission chairman Ivan Enicherov said the first 20 operators were added to the blacklist “on a very simple principle”, namely that “[They] offer a menu [in] Bulgarian and directly target the Bulgarian consumer… without a license from the [Gambling Commission].”
However, not all of the sites named appear to fit these criteria and a spokesman for PartyPoker said its site does not target customers in Bulgaria and does not have a Bulgarian language option on its site.
Some sites included on the blacklist are understood to have been added due to their inclusion on blacklists set up in other jurisdictions.
Last year a motion was passed in Bulgaria permitting internet service providers to block unlicensed egaming sites, with the country’s Gambling Act being published last July. Echinerov said an estimated 700m Lev (£304m) is wagered online in Bulgaria.
The chairman also revealed in an interview with Bulgarian newspaper Capital Daily that, since drawing up the initial blacklist, the commission has already received “a letter of intent” from “one of the largest web poker organizers” with regards to the potential award of a Bulgarian egaming licence.
Latest additions to Bulgarian blacklist in full:
evobet.com/
williamhill.com/
playmillion.com/
betsafe.com/
intercasino.com/
interpoker.com/
simbagames.com/
pokerstars.bg/
pokerstars.com/
titanbet.com/
770.com/
partypoker.com/
fulltiltpoker.com/
winner.com/
royalvegascasino.com/
platinumplaycasino.co.uk/
gigglebingo.co.uk/
vegaspalmscasino.com/
21nova.com/
joylandcasino.com/
eucasino.com/
spinpalace.com/
allsport365.com
millionwin24.com/
goldenrivieracasino.com/
pokertime.eu/
28365365.com/bg/
bg.sportingbeteurope.com