As the children told me what part they played in their school production of The Wizard of Oz, my role, way back in 1985, seemed like a chicken carcass to a king.
I played the role of Toto the Dog.
I guess you can call me a bad actor.
GGPoker doesn’t want that label. The fastest-growing online poker room this side of the nearest alien, has never operated in the U.S., so it won’t be easy to pin that particular tail onto this thoroughbred, but GG is not taking any chances.
The Head of GGPoker, Jean-Christophe Antoine, has announced plans to withdraw from 12 markets coloured with grey felt tip. Typically, it’s been a hush-hush process, with little in the way of pomp and circumstance, expected, considering GGPoker’s desire to stay away from the bottom of the mortar and the mighty pestle of the governments that are likely to crush them for fiddling in no-go zones.
If you play on skins that use the GGPoker Network in Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland then you need to find somewhere else to create some scars.
But don’t worry.
Like Arnie, GGPoker will be back.
Antoine told someone (I can’t find the root source), that then became a lot of people, that GGPoker would work hard at acquiring the necessary licenses in those jurisdictions as well as trying to obtain new ones.
Like the U.S.?
I keep banging on about the U.S. because GGPoker has signed Daniel Negreanu, and I can’t think of a better way to legitimise your operation than by signing arguably the most famous poker player this side of Groot’s Donkey Kong.
According to reports, players on Natural8 have been told to close their accounts, and withdraw their dineros. In 2013, partypoker poured boiling water on 18 grey markets, before re-entering 21 European and South American markets in 2016, so GGPoker folks, keep your powder dry (thanks to CardsChat’s Daniel Smyth for the grind on those stats).
The Nutshell History of GGPoker
GGPoker began life in the Asian markets where skins such as Natural8 grew in popularity (Kitty Kuo, Michael Soyza and Danny Tang are brand ambassadors).
As the network became more popular, GG focused its attention on the European market and obtained a license from the UK Gambling Commission. After signing Bryn Kenney as their only brand ambassador, the All-Time Money Leader helped them create the most delicious menu of online high stakes multi-table tournament (MTT) action in the market, with $25,000 buy-in events more popular than mugs of tea in Stockport.
High Rollers Week
To prove that they’re no Toto The Dog, GGPoker is hosting a $10m GTD High Rollers Week. The shebang runs Dec 1 to Dec 9, and it will compete alongside PokerStars $11m GTD High Roller Series, the Winning Poker Network’s (WPN) $6m GTD Venom tournament, and partypoker’s $20m GTD MILLIONS Online extravaganza.
Here are the deets: