Entraction Poker Network to Block Players From Five Countries

The Entraction Poker Network announced this weekend that they will be prohibiting players from five countries from playing poker on their affiliated poker sites. The move, which affects players from Canada, Israel, Norway, Russia and Turkey, will take effect on September 29.

According to early word from individual poker sites on the network, it wasn’t immediately clear why this change in policy was taking place. However, it’s possible that a change in management could be a factor. In May, game manufacturing company International Game Technology (IGT) purchased the Entraction Network. It is possible that the American company is attempting to bring the network in line with local regulations in other countries in order to keep themselves on the right side of US authorities. Doing so could give them a leg up should online poker regulation come to pass in the USA.

Looking at the nations that were targeted by the move suggests that this may have been the case. While Canada has no laws preventing players from playing online poker or other gambling games, the other four nations involved – Israel, Norway, Russia and Turkey – all have restrictions on online gambling.

The move is likely to cut significantly into the player base at Entraction Network poker rooms. PokerScout currently lists Entraction as the 11^th-largest online poker room, averaging around 1,250 real money players at any given time. It is unclear how many of their players currently come from the affected countries, but it’s likely that they combine for a significant percentage of the current player base. Players from the United States have been blocked from playing at Entraction sites for some time now; in fact, none of the 11 largest online poker sites currently accept American players, though several slightly smaller networks do (including the Merge Network and the Cake Poker Network).