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“They are going to shutdown all poker app on June 1st which means no more poker in China.. A lot of people ask me how I feel, I feel I just want to cry…”
The Chinese government announced, that from June 1st, all apps offering any form of poker will be banned in China. Even though the legal framework is yet to be published, the effects of the law can already be seen. One of the biggest players in the Chinese market, the owner of WeChat application, Tencent has already removed its WSOP app. Google Play, Apple Store, and other app stores will also be forced to do the same. It will be also forbidden to promote poker in general via social media.
The game has been gaining popularity in the past years in China. Since live poker evolves extremely slow and the options are limited, these apps were the main fuel of the growth of the poker industry in China. Online giants like Alisports (Alibaba), Ourgame or Tencent all had their own poker app which helped the live tournaments by advertising them and increasing the player pool with satellites to the events.
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Ourgame, the company that bought WPT back in 2015 for $35 million has released a statement in which they announced to re-adjust their poker-related activities in China to not violate the new law. Their schedule outside of China will not be affected.
Guo Duong, a well-known professional from China has also reacted on WeChat: “They are going to shutdown all poker app on June 1st which means no more poker in China.. A lot of people ask me how I feel, I feel I just want to cry…”
With the information being this limited, it is hard to predict what the long-term consequences will be for apps like PokerMaster [4], the poker industry in China and globally.