Tis will enable the Sazka group to capitalise on acquisition and growth opportunities in Europe and North America with a focus on lotteries.
PLAYER TAX INCREASES
When the new Gambling Act came into force in 2017, there were some restrictions for the live game tournament sector (basically poker) which caused some concerns.
Section 59 stated that: a) A guaranteed tournament cannot be held
unless at least 50 per cent of the guarantee is collected in advance of the game starting.
b) If the guarantee is met or the tournament does not have a guarantee, then no more than 95
per cent of money collected can be paid back to the players.
Lukas Horak of the Asociace Hracu Pokeru a Kurzovych Sazek (Czech Poker Player Association) said: “Tis created a lot of problems as most guaranteed tournaments usually pass the 50 per cent of prize pool collected in the late registration period, not before the start.
“Landbased casinos found ways around this and still held guaranteed tournaments, although with unconventional rules added sometimes. It was much tougher for online poker, as modifying tournament rules for all players in the world just to comply with Czech law was not an option.”
Later an agreement was established between
the Ministry of Finance and online operators so Czech players could register into guaranteed tournaments although they had to wait until the 50 per cent condition was met.
“So we could not play tournaments right from the start and had to wait for the late registration period. Tournaments that missed their guarantee by a bigger margin and paid big overlays to players were completely unavailable. Also some higher stakes tournaments, which traditionally collect a smaller fee, were prohibited, as they pay out more than 95 per cent of the prize pool to the players.
“Te same problem arose with Sit and Go tournaments, those were considered guaranteed and the fee is often less than five per cent. Operators just removed all the problematic
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P47
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