Online Poker in Spain.

Hi.
Someone recomended Spain as a nice place to live due to the climate, but what is the legal situation for online poker in Spain ?

Online poker is legal everywhere in the country; on the downside, obtaining a licence in Spain is hard. Online gambling sites also pay a 15% tax on their gross game returns. However, all the major poker rooms are available – pokerstars, partypoker, etc.

Ringfenced pool.combined with france. Traffic low, rake high, plus you get taxed alot... all the Spanish pros move elsewhere

It's perfectly legal to play online poker.

Funny. All the Pros of Spain moves to UK.

Station_Master said:

Ringfenced pool.combined with France. Traffic low, rake high, plus you get taxed alot... all the Spanish pros move elsewhere

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Not true anymore. Im able to play on ps.es and winamax.es from mexico. There is a more or less new .es license which exists for some years already and more countrys are eligible now.

hjuosh said:

Funny. All the Pros of Spain moves to UK.

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Not funny at all if you were to read StationMaster's post above

Sunz of Beaches said:

Not true anymore. Im able to play on ps.es and winamax.es from Mexico. There is a more or less new .es license which exists for some years already and more countrys are eligible now.

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It is possible to open an account and play from canada as well. Not many pros do this today but I do know some who play on there during 'series', (they'll add in some tables from the .es site)

Sunz of Beaches said:

Not true anymore. Im able to play on ps.es and winamax.es from Mexico. There is a more or less new .es license which exists for some years already and more countrys are eligible now.

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But how did you register an account there? There are other nationalities playing there , but i always understood they would have registered from Spain or France.

Station_Master said:

But how did you register an account there? There are other nationalities playing there , but i always understood they would have registered from Spain or France.

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I think everyone who does not live in a regulated country can now play there. I registered just as i would register on any other site.

Winamax seems pretty ok and imo they got one if not the very best software on the market. But for now i did not play there too much. Stars.es has absolutely zero promotions if u are not from Spain and high rake if im not mistaken. They were very strict and did not accept my utility bill (that was accepted on like 6+ other sites). Only checked them out a bit and decided to not play there, lol.

On both sites u have to verify upon registration otherwise u cant play one hand.

Poker Orifice said:

Not funny at all if you were to read StationMaster's post above

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I said that because NotaDonk seems to be in London. Spanish players like Malaka, Mateos, Zeros, and others moved to the UK to avoid the regulations in Spain.

Poker Orifice said:

Not funny at all if you were to read StationMaster's post above

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What I really don’t understand maybe you @Poker Orifice have an answer with more experience. How players like Mateos, and many Russians and others from different countries, have their registration listed in Mexico while playing on GGPoker.

I investigated this without success. To register an account on GG from Mexico, they ask for a Mexican ID and proof of residence. So how could those players possibly have that in order to open an account from Mexico? 🤔 I pretty sure that those player even never visited Mexico.

10years ago there were many online poker players living in Mexico from the U.S.A. (today they still are... just not nearly as many). I know of some who go live in Mexico, CostaRica, Thailand for a couple of months at a time and play online poker while there (on multiple sites). There is also some players from the USA who are living in Canada to play online poker (years ago I had a bunch of players wanting to rent apartments from me). I'm not sure of the exact process. For players moving to Canada, I believe they just need proof of address and a bank account.

It wouldn't surprise me if players like Mateos had a condo in Mexico.

Sunz of Beaches said:

I think everyone who does not live in a regulated country can now play there. I registered just as i would register on any other site.

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Its kind of a confusing situation. If they dont have an issue with people from Spain playing against people from other countries, why dont they just allow them to play on the general international sites such as pokerstars.com like germany, sweden and many other regulated countries do? Is it all about tax collection, and does this mean, the operators also pay high taxes to the spanish government, if they have players from Canada or Mexico?

Poker Orifice said:

10years ago there were many online poker players living in Mexico from the U.S.A. (today they still are... just not nearly as many). I know of some who go live in Mexico, CostaRica, Thailand for a couple of months at a time and play online poker while there (on multiple sites). There is also some players from the USA who are living in Canada to play online poker (years ago I had a bunch of players wanting to rent apartments from me). I'm not sure of the exact process. For players moving to Canada, I believe they just need proof of address and a bank account.

It wouldn't surprise me if players like Mateos had a condo in Mexico.

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Kind of strange. I know from a reliable source that Mateos has never even visited Mexico. And it’s not just Mateos — I’ve counted almost 10 poker pros who show the Mexican flag on GG, but they’re actually from Western Europe and elsewhere.

I think some of them might not even know where Mexico is on a map 😂

hjuosh said:

Kind of strange. I know from a reliable source that Mateos has never even visited Mexico. And it’s not just Mateos — I’ve counted almost 10 poker pros who show the Mexican flag on GG, but they’re actually from Western Europe and elsewhere.

I think some of them might not even know where Mexico is on a map 😂

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It would surprice me, if GG Poker allowed high stakes players to register and play without any sort of proff of their place of residence. They are definitely breaking the laws of all the countries, where they operate, if they do this.

fundiver199 said:

It would surprice me, if GG Poker allowed high stakes players to register and play without any sort of proff of their place of residence. They are definitely breaking the laws of all the countries, where they operate, if they do this.

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It's a mystery to me, but I'm about to drop some proof! #StayTuned 😂

I’m joking — but it’s true. Let me find the evidence.

@fundiver199
GGPoker
players who are registered in or permanently relocated to Mexico can display the Mexican flag next to their screen name in tournaments and cash games. The flag is automatically assigned based on the player's registered location and cannot be manually changed.
Here is how players interact with the flag display on GGPoker:

• Automatic Display: When a player registers for an account, the flag corresponding to their country of residence (in this case, Mexico) is displayed.
• No Manual Selection:Players cannot choose a different flag or request a change unless they have permanently moved to a new country and provide the necessary verification documents.
• Player Identification: The flag serves as an indicator of the player's national origin in the game interface.
• Notable Winners: Mexican players have participated in and won major GGPoker tournaments, with their national flag displayed. For example, a player with the screen name "Ognyan Dimov," flying the Mexican flag, won the Event #23: PLOSSUS Bounty in the 2023 WSOP Online series on GGPoker.

Here are some examples of prominent players (mentioned earlier and others) who are known for being of another nationality but play under the Mexican flag on GGPoker:

• Adrian Mateos (from Spain 🇪🇸): He is one of the most important poker players in the world, with multiple wsop bracelets. Mateos, being Spanish, plays on GGPoker with the Mexican flag to compete in the global online poker market.
• Ognyan Dimov (from Bulgaria 🇧🇬): A Bulgarian professional who also frequently competes in GGPoker tournaments (where he has won multiple major titles, including the GGMillion$) and appears with the Mexican flag,
• Chance Kornuth (from the U.S. 🇺🇸): Although he is American, and the flag on GG is from Mexico to play on GGPoker, since the platform is not available in all U.S. states.
• David Peters (from the U.S. 🇺🇸): Another elite American player who has played GGPoker tournaments from locations such as Mexico.

I don't know the Americans players. if they be in Mexico or what. But I'm pretty sure than Mateos and Ognyan Dimov, never visit my country. And there are more other players with nationalities so far from Mexico playing with a Mexican flag. I could investigate if they visit Mexico.

fundiver199 said:

Its kind of a confusing situation. If they dont have an issue with people from Spain playing against people from other countries, why dont they just allow them to play on the general international sites such as PokerStars.com like Germany, Sweden and many other regulated countries do? Is it all about tax collection, and does this mean, the operators also pay high taxes to the spanish government, if they have players from Canada or Mexico?

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Yeah true, i have no idea how this new license really works and why they just not unite the pools. Probably not possible to allow spain and france to play against other regulated countrys.

@hjuosh

U dont need to be a mexican resident to register under the mex flag. Utility bill under ur name and a valid passport is enough. Those players most likely visit mexico on regular basis as tourists (or visited one time to open an account) and play from there from time to time. And when they are not in Mexico they still use their account from locations that allow mexico. Another option is that they play via agent on GG. U can google that or go directly to 2+2 to read more about agents GG used in the past to bring people on their site who were not able to play from their location.

Sunz of Beaches said:

Yeah true, i have no idea how this new license really works and why they just not unite the pools. Probably not possible to allow spain and france to play against other regulated countrys.

@hjuosh

U dont need to be a mexican resident to register under the mex flag. Utility bill under ur name and a valid passport is enough. Those players most likely visit mexico on regular basis as tourists (or visited one time to open an account) and play from there from time to time. And when they are not in Mexico they still use their account from locations that allow mexico. Another option is that they play via agent on GG. U can google that or go directly to 2+2 to read more about agents GG used in the past to bring people on their site who were not able to play from their location.

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It makes sense what you said. But to me, it sounds very strange to think of a Russian or someone from Belarus coming to Mexico just to open a GGPoker account. Maybe 2 players perhaps. But there are too many.

After all, proof of residence is not just a bank account. You need an actual document from a service in Mexico — like a CFE electricity bill or another contract in the person’s name. That's why I couldn't open a winamax account. My ID from Mexico is different from my place of residence even in Mexico.

hjuosh said:

It makes sense what you said. But to me, it sounds very strange to think of a Russian or someone from Belarus coming to Mexico just to open a GGPoker account. Maybe 2 players perhaps. But there are too many.

After all, proof of residence is not just a bank account. You need an actual document from a service in Mexico — like a CFE electricity bill or another contract in the person’s name. That's why I couldn't open a winamax account. My ID from Mexico is different from my place of residence even in Mexico.

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It was probably worth it for them as high stakes players because of tax reasons. Or someone else did it for them while they werent in Mexico, idk.

A bank statement can perfectly confirm your place of residence and on an ID there is normally no adress. But if there is indeed an adress on your ID, an adress that is different from your utility bill, i recommend you to send the passport instead so they dont confuse anything.

I opened my winamax account with the same documents i opened everywhere else:

-Id/Passport
-Utility Bill under my name. In my case it was a bill from an internet provider.

Pokerstars.es was the only site that did not accept my internet bill as proof and believe it or not but my bank statement they accepted (which basically tells me that bank statements are the most secure way to go to confirm your account(s)).

hjuosh said:

It makes sense what you said. But to me, it sounds very strange to think of a Russian or someone from Belarus coming to Mexico just to open a GGPoker account. Maybe 2 players perhaps. But there are too many.

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But they are not just 'someone', they are players who regularly compete against the best players in the World. Who knows... maybe they were over in Vegas next?
I know of micro & lowstakes guys who travel to live & play poker in other parts of the World. (ie. 'trytimepoker' on Twitch & some of his friends (not all are even winning players)).
There are some who left the USA after Black Friday and have never returned home. (I don't want to mention screen names in case they have tax issues).

hjuosh said:

• David Peters (from the U.S. 🇺🇸): Another elite American player who has played GGPoker tournaments from locations such as Mexico.

I don't know the Americans players. if they be in Mexico or what.

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Check out David Peters instagram. You'll see the places he stays at while playing in Mexico. (ie. Inti beach)

I dont know anything about the players mentioned or their whereabouts. But I dont see, why it would be particularly unlikely for professional poker players from all over the world to move to Mexico or spend significant time there. Its a country with relatively low costs of living and a warm climate, where you can play on most of the major poker sites.

As an added benefit Mexico is right next to the USA and its live poker scene. So its easy and cheap to go to for instance Vegas to play live poker and then back to Mexico to play online poker. Even back in the early days on online poker people moved to places like Thailand for lower costs of living, warmer climate etc. So this is nothing new or unusual.

fundiver199 said:

I dont know anything about the players mentioned or their whereabouts. But I dont see, why it would be particularly unlikely for professional poker players from all over the world to move to Mexico or spend significant time there. Its a country with relatively low costs of living and a warm climate, where you can play on most of the major poker sites.

As an added benefit Mexico is right next to the USA and its live poker scene. So its easy and cheap to go to for instance Vegas to play live poker and then back to Mexico to play online poker. Even back in the early days on online poker people moved to places like Thailand for lower costs of living, warmer climate etc. So this is nothing new or unusual.

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I don't really see why a known rich person wouldn't move into a literal war zone with a bunch of kidnappings, especially if they are Russian and don't speak Spanish.

Buddy wtf