Poker News – If there will hardly be a pan-European online poker market before 2015, it’s about time Spain’s brick-and-mortar casinos start investing more in developing their online offer. A few months away from the new opening of the country’s regulated market, DLA Piper Spain partner and gambling specialist Albert Agustinoy Guilayn spoke to PokerNews about the future of the national gambling industry, highlighting some interesting opportunities for the future.
Right when eGaming Review published a report that shows how over 40% of Spain’s online poker players are still active on non-licensed operators, Agustinoy Guilayn explained how the nearest future of the regulated market might pass more through a better cooperation between operators than by the opening to shared liquidity among European countries.
This is because what should have been Europe’s answer to Macau thanks to Sheldon Adelson’s “EuroVegas” is today a country with a complex fiscal system and a business environment that does not seem to favor the entrance of new international gambling companies.
PokerNews: Mr. Agustinoy, the director of Spain’s gambling regulator Carlos Hernandez Rivera often publicly spoke in favor of an online poker market with shared liquidity. Considering how his Italian counterpart has been pushing the project for years, I wonder: How far are we from moving from words to action?
Agustinoy Guilayn: I think what you say reflects more of Mr. Hernandez’s personal views than the institutional ones. I think this is something on the table, even if I don’t feel it is a priority either for the Spanish authority or for the Italian one.
Both Italian and the Spanish regulators are working to reach a wider agreement with other regulators, even if the process became harder after the French parliament voted not to be a part of it.
Spain’s authority is currently dealing with the regulation of slots and the future reopening of the market, while the Italy’s is struggling with some tax issues. My perception is that this is not going to happen during the course of this year and it is more likely to happen during 2015.
