Is PokerStars.es Pulling Its Casino Game Platform?

Just three months after introducing casino games to its site, PokerStars.es has now pulled its blackjack and roulette tables as it seeks to comply with Spanish regulations requiring it to make all blackjack hand histories available to players from directly within its software. Apparently this option is currently no longer available and so the operator is anticipating the games being offline for a few weeks while the “minor technical issue” is resolved.
In any case, that is the official word but many industry analysts are not so convinced, especially as they suggest it makes little sense to pull the whole casino platform while a quick software update fix could have allowed its operation to continue in the meantime. Instead, it has been suggested that the decision by PokerStars.es to introduce casino games has not gone at all well, and that the site may be reviewing whether or not to continue with the platform.
Initially, casino games were touted as a means by which PokerStars.es could maintain its dominance of the Spanish online poker market by enabling its customers to stay on site rather than having to go elsewhere whenever the wanted to play casino games. As PokerStars President for Southern Europe, Gino Appiotti, explained at the time:
“We know that many of our customers are enjoying online casino games on competing platforms and our offering will enhance their experience with PokerStars and provide a safe, trusted and convenient way for them to be entertained.”
A few months later, however, and the decision seems to have produced very little positive results, with just a limited number of gamblers apparently visiting its casino platform, while traffic to PokerStars.es poker tables has plummeted by 20% over the last six months. This has led to speculation PokerStars.es’ online casino games may be a losing proposition, and may soon be pulled altogether. Whether this is the case will be revealed within a few short weeks, but if true will have major implications on PokerStars’ ambition of introducing casino games across all its numerous domains.