Finnish gambling company Paf will close its Spanish online poker room on the Ongame network February 25, a Paf spokesperson has confirmed with pokerfuse.
A “Farewell Satellite Paf Poker Challenge” will take place on the 24th to allow players to use any remaining tournament tickets.
The Ålandic operator will continue other gambling business in Spain, including sportsbetting, and the group is “investigating other options” for opening another online poker room, although there are no immediate plans.
The Ongame Network has struggled to build any traffic in the competitive and high-tax regulated market in Spain. After the departure of Paf, only one operator remains on the network.
Sources close to the matter informed pokerfuse that Ongame will close its Spanish-facing poker network following the Paf departure, though Ongame denied any specific plans and stated that it was not a network decision.
“Ongame does not make those kind of decisions,” Carl Zide, Communications Manager for Ongame, told pokerfuse. “Our partners decide when we are entering a market and they would also decide if we were to leave a market. No such decisions has been made.”
Ongame.ES first went live on June 5 with the opening of the Spanish regulated market, debuting with Paf, which struck a deal with Unibet to accommodate its Spanish players. It was later joined by two Goalwin brands, Goalwin.ES and PokerMambo.ES, in mid-October.
Two other unnamed operators, which Ongame announced in June 2012 would soon launch, never materialized. Recent industry reports have hinted at growing pessimism in the new market, with some operators considering renouncing their licenses.
The network has failed to gain any traction in a tough market dominated by a few major independent brands. PokerStars makes up almost 70% of the cash game activity, according to latest industry figures, with 888 picking up 15% and PartyPoker, also operating the bwin brand, about 6%.
Following these three are the poker networks, all of which have struggled with player liquidity. The most successful is iPoker.ES, and has seen growth lately thanks to some big iPoker brands like Bet365, Titan and recently launched Betfair in Spain.
Boss Media, Microgaming and Ongame have had less fortune, and failed to generate any traction. Ongame currently registers an average of just 2 active cash players over the last week.
16/2/2013, 10:08 pm