PokerStars has withdrawn all of its services from Russia in response to the current geopolitical situation.
Important update: we are suspending all our services in Russia.
— PokerStars (@PokerStars) March 9, 2022
PokerStars Withdraws from Russia
The online poker giant joins a growing list of companies suspending operations within Russia in an attempt to put pressure on the government via the population.
Global brands such as Coca Cola, Netflix and Starbucks have all halted operations with pressure continuing to build for all household names to follow suit.
Regular people in Russia just want to live regular lives, this mass cancelation of all Russians is crazy
— Ryan Kesler (@RyanKesler14) March 9, 2022
The financial sanctions placed on Russian banks are already starting to bite for regular Russian people, but many claim that this mass cancelation will hurt just as many who do not support what is happening in Ukraine.
Poker Community in Disagreement
The poker community is as polarised as it ever was. Many support withdrawing services to all Russian nationals, and even those from Belarus, while others see this as nothing more than “cancel culture”, and pointless.
The EPT Sochi has been shelved indefinitely, and there are also murmurs of Russian players possibly not being able to play in major festivals in the near future.
Poker legend Tony G has been active in building support for Ukrainian refugees, while at the same time making it clear that common Russian people are not the enemy.
“Through my charitable foundation fund, I seek to help Ukrainians seeking asylum escape the hell of war and settle safely in Lithuania. I promise that every euro will be used for the benefit of the Ukrainian people.”
Help Ukrainians seeking asylum settle safely in Lithuania. 🇺🇦🇱🇹 https://t.co/QcNILZLVcW
— Tony G (@TonyGuoga) February 28, 2022
Ukraine’s most successful tournament player, Eugene Katchalov, has also been chronicling his experiences of evacuation from Kyiv.
Katchalov underwent an arduous journey to the Hungarian border to escape the fighting only a few days after Russian troops entered Ukraine.
There is currently no news on whether or not any other online poker platforms intend to follow suit and match PokerStars’ current policy.
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