Online Poker and Politics

[Fosterbio]

Good morning poker players (when you wake up, then it's morning ) I play on one of the rooms, all Russians and Belarusians were banned there. To be honest, I'm glad, BUT this is not the topic... I strongly ask you not to insult each other, those who have different points of view. The question is the following: how do you feel about blocking players from aggressor countries (according to international opinion)? After all, someone from the Russian Federation, for example, does not support the policy of his country and supports the opinion of the rest of the world, but he also falls under restrictions. No, I'm not from the Russian Federation, I'm interested in your opinion, I repeat, I ask without insulting the other side (I know the topic is very difficult, but at the same time these days it is as urgent as covid19 in 2020) and as constructive as possible

 

[dreamer13]

At the time, I was playing on full tilt poker and I thought it was all a lie that they were shutting it down. But then I saw people talking about it in the chat. I went to the poker room's website and, sure enough, there was a message that the domain had been seized by the US Department of Justice.Poker rooms make a lot of money, so the government has gone to great lengths to regulate and tax the industry.The state considers poker as a game of chance and regulates it through legislation. In recent years, there has been a tendency to legalize gambling, but with strict restrictions.The ongoing war in Ukraine is reflected in absolutely all spheres of society, and online poker is no exception.pokerstars has completely restricted access for players from the eastern part of Ukraine, specifically for residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.PokerStars has decided to permanently suspend its operations in the Russian Federation, the same decision was made by the GGPoker poker network, however, the PokerOK poker room continues to connect to this network. The partypoker room has stopped serving players from Belarus.

 

[fundiver199]

In general poker sites dont leave particular markets for "political reasons", but rather always for some kind of business reason. PokerStars for instance left Russia, because russian banks were banned from the SWIFT system after Russias invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which makes it difficult for them to pay out russian players. PokerStars also recently left Poland for completely unrelated reasons, but they are still operating in Belarus.

The idea, that it somehow violates the right of russians, that they can not play on certain sites, is totally ridiculous, since the same is true for everyone else. As someone living in sweden I can not play on PartyPoker for instance, since they decided to leave our market in 2024. So russians just need to play, whereever its possible for them, like the rest of us. Thats all, there is to it.

 

[hardongear]

Nothing burger topic in my opinion. I agree with fundriver 100%. Poker sites don't leave markets because of politics. They leave because of payment processors leave the market making it hard to impossible to get money on and off the site. It's either that or their the regulator/gambling regulations have changed forcing the site to leave the market.

Cheers!!!

 

[userX]

Good morning poker players (when you wake up, then it's morning ) I play on one of the rooms, all Russians and Belarusians were banned there. To be honest, I'm glad, BUT this is not the topic... I strongly ask you not to insult each other, those who have different points of view. The question is the following: how do you feel about blocking players from aggressor countries (according to international opinion)? After all, someone from the Russian Federation, for example, does not support the policy of his country and supports the opinion of the rest of the world, but he also falls under restrictions. No, I'm not from the Russian Federation, I'm interested in your opinion, I repeat, I ask without insulting the other side (I know the topic is very difficult, but at the same time these days it is as urgent as covid19 in 2020) and as constructive as possible

I used to think that poker and politics were unrelated. But after our people started getting killed by aggressive neighbours, I realised that politics affects our entire lives and literally every sphere of existence. Those who think that poker is outside the realm of politics are mistaken, but unfortunately, they will only understand this when bombs start falling on their heads.

 

[G0930]

Good morning poker players (when you wake up, then it's morning ) I play on one of the rooms, all Russians and Belarusians were banned there. To be honest, I'm glad, BUT this is not the topic... I strongly ask you not to insult each other, those who have different points of view. The question is the following: how do you feel about blocking players from aggressor countries (according to international opinion)? After all, someone from the Russian Federation, for example, does not support the policy of his country and supports the opinion of the rest of the world, but he also falls under restrictions. No, I'm not from the Russian Federation, I'm interested in your opinion, I repeat, I ask without insulting the other side (I know the topic is very difficult, but at the same time these days it is as urgent as covid19 in 2020) and as constructive as possible

If it was up to me any aggressor like Russia or Israel shouldn't have the pleasure to compete in anything.
Get your shit together then you can play with others ^^

 

[CoucH]

This obviously is not poker specific. Same thing happens in professional sports and esports. Personally I think that the people of the nation should not be excluded based on the action of politicians they in many cases did not even vote for. Take Russia for example. No free election and constant propaganda. Hard to blame the people for their politicians actions. Its also hard to draw a line. Would you have banned americans for invading the middle east, or was that justified? This btw is not me posting a political take on comparing those wars, im just putting up the question of who should draw the line where. Imo holding the people accountable for the actions of politicians and the super wealthy is very hard. Sometimes necessary and correct, but we should be careful with that, especially if they are not living in a working democracy making their right to participation a lot more limited

 

[Fosterbio]

I see such thoughts that the market was supposedly limited because of SWIFT or the impossibility of deposit or cashout. In my humble opinion, this is not so. PokerStars left the Russian market before SWIFT was disabled. As for withdrawal and deposit: I beg you.)))) A person from any point on the planet can withdraw or deposit to any point in the world, but not directly, but through many intermediaries, but it is possible, the main thing is desire.

 

[Fosterbio]

I used to think that poker and politics were unrelated. But after our people started getting killed by aggressive neighbours, I realised that politics affects our entire lives and literally every sphere of existence. Those who think that poker is outside the realm of politics are mistaken, but unfortunately, they will only understand this when bombs start falling on their heads.

I feel very sorry for the people of Ukraine I live in the region of Moldova that is the twin of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, with an adjustment of 33 years. And I have had no illusions since birth. Politics directly affects our lives. It is important to understand this, if they understood this, then perhaps there would be much fewer wars

 

[fundiver199]

I see such thoughts that the market was supposedly limited because of SWIFT or the impossibility of deposit or cashout. In my humble opinion, this is not so. PokerStars left the Russian market before SWIFT was disabled.

This is not true. Russian banks were kicked out of SWIFT on 26.02.2022, which was just 2 days after Russias full scale invasion of Ukraine. PokerStars pulling out of the russian market was announced on Pokernews.com on 09.03.2022, so two weeks after, that russian banks were kicked out of SWIFT. If this was the only reason, or if they also considered their image, I obviously dont know.

And I dont care much either. Since Russia is still under international sanctions, I dont think, ANY western/international companies should operate there, unless they offer essential things like medicine, which it would be unfair to deprive the russian population access to. But other than that doing business in Russia or with Russia is essentially the same as helping or at least legitimizing the russian war effort.

And lets get one thing clear here. Russian players are not "banned" on PokerStars. If they live in a country, where PokerStars offer their services, they are free to play there just like anyone else living in those places. PokerStars like other sites dont care a bit about their players nationality, they only care, where they live. So its not like, russian poker players are being treated any different from for instance american poker players.

A person from any point on the planet can withdraw or deposit to any point in the world, but not directly, but through many intermediaries

Unlike many of their competitors PokerStars have generally stayed clear of financial transactions in cryptocurrency or via e-Vallets, at least to my knowledge. So it makes sense, that they did not want to introduce this to their platform just to keep offering their services in Russia, when a lot of other companies were pulling out. And of course it makes no sense for them to come back to the russian gambling market right now, while the war is still going on, and russian banks are still banned from the SWIFT system.

 

[steve01991]

i think the whole reasons for the bans are to put pressure on that government, if enough people complain or are against the government, that is the only way for change to occur.