PokerStars secures nationwide German poker licence
Flutter-owned brand becomes the fifth online poker licence holder in the tightly regulated market
PokerStars has been awarded a licence from the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), Germany’s gaming regulator.
The GGL’s latest ‘white list’ shows Reel Germany Limited, which operates the PokerStars brand, has been issued a licence to offer online poker and slots in Europe’s largest economy for a period of five years.
PokerStars, a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, becomes the fifth different poker operator to be granted a licence in the country.
A spokesperson for Flutter said: “We are happy that we have been awarded the German Poker and Slots licenses and we will soon provide a locally regulated offer to our German customers. We will activate the licenses in the next few weeks and players are being informed about the changes. We will ensure that we offer the best player experience and our competitive Poker and Slots portfolio.”
Entain was the first to receive an online poker licence in November 2022 for its bwin and Ladbrokes brands.
Since then, both 888 and GGpoker have been awarded poker licences from the regulator.
Despite this, the German market has been deemed unsustainable by some due to the restrictions put in place by the Fourth Interstate Treaty On Gambling (IST), which came into force in July 2021.
The tough regulations, including an €1,000 monthly deposit limit across all sites, led to international firms like Kindred Group withdrawing from the market in June 2022.
Rather than taxing GGR, online poker in Germany has an exorbitant 5.3% tax on turnover, which has forced operators to only offer more profitable poker variants rather than a full suite of games.
While Germany doesn’t ringfence liquidity like markets such as Italy, meaning German players can join global player pools, the players can end up paying more rake than their opponents seated at the same table but residing in regulated markets with more reasonable gaming tax regimes.
The same turnover tax rate is also applied to online slots, leading to operators and suppliers reducing RTP rates from the typical 95%-97% to around 90%.
The GGL, which took over full control of regulating the market in January 2023, has already stated that it is going to adopt a strict stance on regulation and will be quick to act if licence holders violate its rules.
The regulator also recently hit out at the country’s sports betting trade body – the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) – over their black market claims and instead argued that channelisation in Germany is more than 95%.