PKR Exits Italian Poker Market
With a notice published on Tuesday, Oct. 7, PKR Poker announced its decision to cease operations in Italy and abandon the country's regulated online poker market.
"We regret to announce that PKR's Italian platform will be closed starting from October 7," the message said.
PKR informed Italian customers that it will be closed for an indefinite period of time. "Starting from Oct. 7, it will no longer possible to proceed with new deposits or to play at the room's tables."
According to a message sent to the room's poker affiliates, the "difficult decision" is motivated by the poor performance of Italy's regulated poker industry. The room's management believes that "[the] Italian poker market is not viable for PKR at this time."
"We will now focus our efforts on markets which can more efficiently drive our business forward," the notice continued.
Existing PKR players in Italy are now invited to withdraw all the funds available on their accounts, or to contact the room's customer service via email at [email protected] for further information and assistance.
PKR's decision to end its operations in Italy comes only few days after the latest market data showed that in August the country lost 11.7 percent in poker tournament revenue compared to 2013, generating a total revenue of nearly €50 million.
To complicate things in an market that has never found a way to grow since it was regulated in 2006, poker rooms suffer from very limited liquidity and PokerStars' dominant position.
PokerStars.it managed to increase its market share by earning approximately 70 percent of the country's total tournament poker revenue in August, and nearly 60 percent of ring games.
PKR is the second room to fall "victim" to the crisis of Italy's online poker industry in a very short time span.
On Sept. 29, Amaya Gaming announced to have modified its plan for an expansion in Italy and have decided not to launch a 'dot-it' version of Full Tilt in the country's regulated market.
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