PokerStars suspends services in Russia
Russian poker players are experiencing their own version of Black Friday after PokerStars suspends their services to them.
PokerStars is the latest global company to suspend its operations in Russia following the conflict in Ukraine. No major statement from the company, just a simple tweet to inform people:
Important update: we are suspending all our services in Russia.
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) March 9, 2022
Payment processors have already suspended their services to Russian players making it near impossible to get money on or off poker rooms. We reached out to PokerStars to find out what will happen to player balances while they are unable to withdraw them:
We have assured our players that in line with our customer protection standards and regulatory obligations, their balances remain safe. All funds and balances are kept in segregated accounts and are never used for operational expenses. They remain ready to be refunded when the situation changes.
The Russian Black Friday
So it appears that there will be millions of dollars in player balances in limbo for the foreseeable future, a situation much like Black Friday in 2011.
Whether this was a gesture in solidarity with Ukraine or an inevitability for regulatory purposes, this will hit PokerStars hard in the short term. pokerfuse has reported that cash game traffic is down 15% since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and now it will be even more significant. This comes just as they are poised to host a $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million, which looks destined to overlay now.
PokerStars had already seen another major disruption to services in the form of the cancellation of EPT Sochi last week.
This announcement has proven especially divisive in the poker community. Many support the move in solidarity with Ukraine but many others sympathise with the Russian poker players who are now experiencing their own version of 'Black Friday'. At the time of writing, PokerStars are the only poker operator to suspend services following the conflict.
