Poker Players in France Protest Higher Rakes - 07-17-10

July 17 - The French government has imposed new regulations on the country's online poker industry, including a significant tax.

Poker sites who are passing on the extra costs to players have found many of their players protesting.

The poker sites who are passing on the tax to the customers in the form of a higher rake are crying poverty, however, players are not amused and are staging protests similar to the Tea Party grassroots movement in the US.

The new French regulation includes a 2 percent tax on cash games, tournaments and re-buys. Operators such as PokerStars are passing on the new tax to their players in the form of an extra 2% rake.

This extra rake will apply even to the hands that feature folding all around to the big blind, meaning that the player in the big blind seat may win the hand and not even collect a full small blind.

Players are not impressed with the poker room's claims that the sites are loosing money under  the new French gaming rules and that the extra rake is necessary.

They are voicing out their displeasure by participating in semi-organized sit-ins in which they sign into the offending poker site and occupy seats while they sit the hands out.

By blocking the seats at the cash tables, the protestors are costing the pokers sites a lot of money.

The participants have no remorse - they claim that the poker sites brought it upon themselves since the extra rake can mean that players see their number of hands available for a given buy-in drop by as much as a quarter.

In contrast to the developments in France, eGaming reported that Sweden actually lowered rakes to drive tax collection The lower rakes resulted in an increase in players which more than made up for it.

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