PokerStars withdraw from Chinese poker market

The industry leader will no longer serve Chinese customers following a much tougher stance on grey markets from Flutter Entertainment.

On Monday poker players in China, Taiwan and Macau received emails informing them that PokerStars would no longer be operating there from September 1 .

No explanation was given for the departure, only options to withdraw poker balances. 

This comes less than a week since the PokerStars parent group Flutter Entertainment announced they would be exercising tighter control over unregulated gambling markets. China in particular has been aggressively going after gambling companies, with anti-gambling government messages and tighter control over payment processors. 

Chinese players do not make up a huge part of the PokerStars liquidity but China has always been seen as something of a sleeping giant in the poker industry, with the potential to create a second boom. 

This news will have players in other 'grey market' jurisdictions nervously wondering if they will be next to be removed from the PokerStars player pool.