PokerStars is the biggest online poker website in the world and is reported to have close to 50 million players across the globe. One of the reasons why PokerStars has dominated the global market is because the company is always looking to expand and enter new markets.
While there has been a lot of resistance to both online poker and PokerStars in the United States, the European market has been more open to PokerStars. The company recently confirmed that it was launching operations in Bulgaria and will incidentally be the first ever online poker website in Bulgaria.
It was back in Feb 2014, that the State Gambling Commission in Bulgaria issued PokerStars with the first ever online poker license.
PokerStars had to carefully customize its software to ensure that it adhered to all the stipulations set forward by the State Gambling Commission in Bulgaria. Now that everything is in order, PokerStars has confirmed that PokerStars.bg will be open to online poker players in Bulgaria.
In a recent statement, Eric Hollreiser, the head of corporate communications for the Rational Group that owns PokerStars said
We believe in the potential of the Bulgarian market and that is why our company has invested in the local license. Regulation provides peace of mind for players and ensures that local regulators can protect consumers and collect much-needed revenue. PokerStars strives to be first-in-market when online poker licenses are made available. We are proud to be the first locally licensed poker site in Bulgaria.
Bulgaria appears to be a lucrative market for online gambling companies. Betfair is another company that has obtained a license but is yet to launch an online poker website. There is a lot of interest with regards to poker in Bulgaria but only time will tell how successful online poker turns out to be.
During the last few years, there have been quite a few players from Bulgaria who have done extremely well playing poker. Atanas Gueorguiev and Simeon Naydenov have managed to win over $1 million each, while Dimitar Danchev has earned in excess of $3.5 million playing cash games. Their popularity and winnings have been well documented in Bulgaria and has fuelled further internet in the poker market.
Another key reason why Bulgaria is an attractive market for online poker companies is because local players are permitted by law to collaborate and play with an international database of players. They are also permitted to join tournaments and cash games and compete with international players from across the world. This makes the competition a lot more attractive and the prizes a lot more appealing.
