Why do Greek accounts register early for online poker tournaments?

A common question in the poker forums, why is it that when you look at the lobby for future tournaments it is full of Greek players?

One of the most common non-strategy questions you see in poker forums is why do players from Greece register early for online poker tournaments? This question gets asked even more during a series like SCOOP or WCOOP.

For example, at the time of writing SCOOP 78 is just under a week away. It has a $2,100 buy-in, it hasn't had any satellites yet, but there are 55 Greek players preregistered. 

Are we discovering an unusual Greek custom for showing up on time for poker tournaments? Or is something else going on?

The answer is a lot simpler than that. Residents from Greece are subject to the Player Withholding Tax (PWT). At the end of a gaming session, Greek players are subject to a tax on any profits they make in that session, which is 15% on profits between €100.01 to €500, and 20% on any profits over €500. Profit is determined by the player's poker room balance at the end of the session. 

When you see Greek players registering days early for a tournament what they are doing is attempting to delay this tax by 'wagering' the buy-in for the tournament. In the example above, if a player has a $2,000 winning session and they register for the $2,100 tournament, it looks like a $100 loss in their poker account. They can then play the tournament later, or more likely unregister. 

However, if they unregister at a later date, the recredit of the buy-in would then appear as a profit in their account, which would then be liable for tax. So if the player is a winning player they would have to realise their tax liability eventually. This juggling act that Greek poker players partake in has jokingly been referred to as 'Taxes Hold'em'. It also means that Greek players cannot play satellites to live events. 

Did you know this interesting factoid? Let us know in the comments: