Whats the Score with playing Skypoker in Spain?

GREGSTER

Hi All,

I recently returned from my summer hols in Ibiza and whilst out there played a couple of times on Skypoker. I wasn't sure if this was allowed at the time so read the T's and C's and it pretty much says it is your responsibility to find out the local country rules around online poker. So I read up a bit on poker in Spain and it seems to be fine, however I tried to play on the big sites app and that wouldn't allow play using a UK account in Spain.

So pretty much just wondered if I was ok to have played on Skypoker in Ibiza or not?

I don't play much on the big site, but don't recall seeing any Spanish players.

Cheers
Greg.

Snuffer

I'm pretty sure you can only play in uk, Ireland, Finland and Gibraltar.

IIRC a player was removed from a promo because they played on their holidays.

CraigSG1

Very odd. I was in Spain a few weeks back and tried out of curiosity to play on sky and another site but was not allowed. 

unknown_username

first and formost is your on holiday go bloody out and enjoy yourself.

GREGSTER

In Response to Re: Whats the Score with playing Skypoker in Spain?:

Very odd. I was in Spain a few weeks back and tried out of curiosity to play on sky and another site but was not allowed. 
Posted by CraigSG1

That's interesting. I was expecting to be blocked, but then read T's and C's and Skypoker seem to put it on the customer to find out, but says can close account etc if found to be playing where shouldn't be. Would of thought they should block IP addresses from countries where you aren't allowed to play.

GREGSTER

In Response to Re: Whats the Score with playing Skypoker in Spain?:

first and formost is your on holiday go bloody out and enjoy yourself.
Posted by MICKYBLUE

LOL - was only playing whilst waiting for wife to get ready to go out and kids were watching DVD's / playing ipads.

GELDY

all i know is if i found out i'd been found breaking the law, i'd be deleting my posts on the topic pdq

GREGSTER

In Response to Re: Whats the Score with playing Skypoker in Spain?:

all i know is if i found out i'd been found breaking the law, i'd be deleting my posts on the topic pdq
Posted by GELDY

I don't think I have been breaking the law and don't think the Spanish police will be hunting me down even if I have! This is what I found on Skypoker T's & C's:

6.3 It is your responsibility to determine the law that applies in the location in which you are present and to ensure that you are acting legally in that jurisdiction by using our Services. If you access any of the Services from a country other than the country specified as your country of residence in the customer registration procedure, it is your responsibility to check that accessing and using the Services are not prohibited and/or restricted by local laws. We accept no liability if your use of our Services is in contravention of the laws of the country in which you are located.
6.4 If we have reasonable information to believe, in our sole discretion, that you are accessing the services in a country in which the use of the services is not legal, we shall be entitled to immediately suspend or close your Account. In the case of closure any balance on your Account on the date of closure will be refunded to you as soon as it is practicable for us to do so.

Found this link that said ok to play in Spain (I have assumed Ibiza is same as Spain):

http://www.pokerlaws.org/europe/spain

Just wondered if anyone knew for definate what was allowed and what wasn't as stars wasn't allowing anything.

jordz16

It is hard to see why it would be a big deal, if you are British, and live here, then thats all that should matter, if you were doing it for a reason that gave you some sort of unfair advantage then it would be different, so as long as you arent breakibg a law that would realistically get you in trouble then im sure it would be fine. 

GELDY

hope you're right

6.3 It is your responsibility to determine the law that applies in the location in which you are present and to ensure that you are acting legally in that jurisdiction by using our Services. If you access any of the Services from a country other than the country specified as your country of residence in the customer registration procedure, it is your responsibility to check that accessing and using the Services are not prohibited and/or restricted by local laws. We accept no liability if your use of our Services is in contravention of the laws of the country in which you are located.
6.4 If we have reasonable information to believe, in our sole discretion, that you are accessing the services in a country in which the use of the services is not legal, we shall be entitled to immediately suspend or close your Account. In the case of closure any balance on your Account on the date of closure will be refunded to you as soon as it is practicable for us to do so.

IH8UButler

My friend tried logging in when in Europe and was unable to on the app, so the software does check your ip. May be different if playing through a web browser? If you were connecting via a VPN this might show up as a UK ip.

The legal issue will be due to sky's licence to operate in each country as well as legality of poker itself so sky has to show due diligence in terms of stopping access outside countries where it has no operating licence. 

Can't see sky closing your account over it, although posting on the forum about it may not be the best idea - maybe you have a friend who had a very similar situation? 

GELDY

Legally Licensed Poker Sites Operating in Spain - Does not include SkyPoker

• PokerStars.es
• Bwin.es
• LBApuestas.com
• 888poker.es
• GoalWin.es
• PokerMambo.es
• PokerLoco.es
• PXf.es

Tikay10

In Response to Whats the Score with playing Skypoker in Spain?:

Hi All, I recently returned from my summer hols in Ibiza and whilst out there played a couple of times on Skypoker. I wasn't sure if this was allowed at the time so read the T's and C's and it pretty much says it is your responsibility to find out the local country rules around online poker. So I read up a bit on poker in Spain and it seems to be fine, however I tried to play on the big sites app and that wouldn't allow play using a UK account in Spain. So pretty much just wondered if I was ok to have played on Skypoker in Ibiza or not? I don't play much on the big site, but don't recall seeing any Spanish players. Cheers Greg.
Posted by GREGSTER

Morning Greg,

That's a very good question.

The easy answer is "no, you should not", but it took me a while to add some substance to that.

I'll post below what I was  able to find.

Tikay10

Firstly, Sky Poker Terms & conditions, here.....


https://support.skypoker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/84/kw/which%20countries%20are%20allowed

....states specifically.....

"Am I allowed to register? - Which countries are allowed?

 We accept customers based in any of the following countries:

• United Kingdom
• Channel Islands
• Ireland
• Finland
• Gibraltar

Due to our products/services being prohibited and/or restricted by local laws we do not currently accept new accounts from any other countries."

And so you may well say that.....

1) You are not "registering" as such. You "registered (for your Account, when you opened it) in the UK. 

2) You ARE based in the UK, but "based" could, I suppose, mean temporarily. i.e., "this week".

3) New accounts are not accepted from any other countries outside of those listed - but yours is not a new account. 

So that does not seem crystal clear, or at least, not to me, it looks a bit "grey". 

If we then investigate further with the help of nice Mr google.... 

Tikay10

...we then find this......


 
http://www.pokerlaws.org/europe/spain

....which clearly states.....

"Online Poker In SpainOnline poker in Spain had been unregulated up until the passing of the Spanish Gaming Act, which was passed in 2011 and came into effect in 2012, and sought to regulate online poker that was being offered to Spanish residents.The conditions to get a license are the strictest anywhere though and among other things it required poker operators to meet certain conditions and also of course submit tax revenues to the Spanish government."


Well that is very clear - poker sites need a licence to operate in Spain.

Tikay10

So, I would surmise the following;

1) A licence is needed to offer Online Poker in Spain.

2) Sky Poker do not have that licence.


So you would be operating outside of Sky Poker T & C's, see.....

"3 It is your responsibility to determine the law that applies in the location in which you are present and to ensure that you are acting legally in that jurisdiction by using our Services. If you access any of the Services from a country other than the country specified as your country of residence in the customer registration procedure, it is your responsibility to check that accessing and using the Services are not prohibited and/or restricted by local laws. We accept no liability if your use of our Services is in contravention of the laws of the country in which you are located.

 6.4 If we have reasonable information to believe, in our sole discretion, that you are accessing the services in a country in which the use of the services is not legal, we shall be entitled to immediately suspend or close your Account. In the case of closure any balance on your Account on the date of closure will be refunded to you as soon as it is practicable for us to do so."



So the long winded answer is "no".

Tikay10

Or, using a modicum, of brevity, "absolutely not".

Now I don't think it is a hanging offence, & I am pretty sure your door won't be battered down later this morning by Special Branch, but it is clearly against the Rules, & you stand the risk of account closure, or confiscation of funds.
 
So no, please don't do it again.
 
My personal view (not official, I must be clear) is that it's no big deal, no offence was intended, & you have been honest in discussing this. However, you or others should not do this.

If you wish the thread to be deleted, let me know & I'll arrange it.  

  

GREGSTER

Morning Tikay - thanks for the reply and research. I didn't take into account the need for a licence,  just found the previous link I posted that suggested online poker was fine in spain. Happy for thread to stay up as didn't gain anything from playing, think I made about 20 poker points and a loss of about ten quid.

Always found sky reasonable and helpful so will take my chances that my account isn't going to be closed. I won't be playing abroad again then. To be honest, I wouldn't even have raised the question if the stars app hadn't said not allowed. Really think sky should be blocking where you can't play and not putting it on the customer. 

Cheers

Greg.