Online poker in the middle east isn t a very important market compared to other markets worldwide but it is without doupt one of the most potential markets for the future especially when u look at the influence the game has in countries like my own (LEBANON) or egypt or tunisia , morocco ... the truth is with the amount of unemployment in these country online poker could be the NEXT BEST THING to make a living and this was proved correct in lebanon where 50% to 60% play online poker and the percentages are on the rise .
However to our shock in lebanon all major online poker sites were suddenly restricted in the country so we all cnt access them through any engine anymore .
does anyone have an idea on what happened ????

Hezbollah must have put a lot of pressure to block offshore sites owned by Israelite interests...

bonne chance

lol, sorry man, but really? charbel? can you get any more Lebanese!

Feel for you though, I used to live in the UAE, and they shut it down like 2009 or something, I moved to the US, and then they shut it down. Sorry americans my curse came with me.

rmhumr just pls don't come to UK

Interesting to see the growth in poker there. Gov stepping in to stop it I guess.

So Lebanon not providing many fish since everyone there is busto and has no money to lose? Just nits trying to grind $2 a day to feed their kids. Damn, we'll miss you guys.

Damn, looks like I'm going to have to withdraw my Visa request. Maybe Phillipines now?

Was that necessary?

OP,
Can't find any news on this at all.

now we know that no one can make money in lebanon ahahhahhahahah i swear we have the biggest *******s in the world harassing us yestrfay it became official no more online poker in lebanon

Here's what I've got so far after three days of investigation.

A month or so ago, the PokerStars and FulltiltPoker websites were unreachable from any connection in Lebanon. Though the clients were accessible, it felt a bit strange and I was worried of an online crackdown in Lebanon. I sent an email to PokerStars support, but I got no information on the matter back then.

I woke up Saturday, June 15 and could not open my Pokerstars client. A few other sites were unreachable either (Fulltilt Poker, Bet365, 888, Betfair...) After contacting my ISP, they informed me that Ogero is blocking access to online poker sites as requested by the ministry of justice.
On Sunday, June 16. Only one site was officially functioning, Starsofholdem. Owned by Lebanese, hosted in Costa Rica and operated by Stars of Holdem Group @ London - United Kingdom. As the info shows on their website.
Today I contacted StarsofHoldem support and they assured me that the online restriction in Lebanon will not affect their operations because THEY PAY TAXES TO THE GOVERNMENT!!!!
Do you see where this is going?!!

As for Pokerstars, I've had this issue escalated with their management but till now I have no official information and my funds are held up there until further notice.
It's possible to setup a VPN and connect to their site. However, Pokerstars are very strict about IP fraud and such action could lead to them locking your account or confiscating your funds. So I would not try anything at this point until we have further information from PokerStars on how we can cashout our funds.

What's the future of Online Poker in Lebanon? Well, not so bright I figure.
It's either going to be monopolized or Pokerstars provides a skin for Lebanon and pays the government. I'm not sure how much crowd they could get off the Lebanese market though.

Hard one for the Lebanese enthusiasts, even harder for the ones who were living off it!

I just played in the Casino Du Liban last month. Believe me, there is plenty of gamble in that country. $2-$5 played like a deepstack $5-$10.

But there was not a law voted against the online gaming.

Its only a personal initiative of a politician as always in Lebanon.

Another "suit" did not get his cut or wants more. Yadda Yadda Yadda!

To answer the initial question of why are all poker sites blocked in Lebanon, and after thorough investigation, this what I found out. (I went through the trouble of investigating cuz I'm a pokerstars player): four Lebanese persons defrauded pokerstars by approx $700,000. Pokerstars forbids players sitting on the same table to connect from the same IP. Their system automatically blocks the players connecting from the same location. To get around this block, They bought access to remote servers that made them look as if they were each connecting from a different location. So they entered the highest stake cash tables (blinds 50-100) and during several months were playing on the same table and cheating money away from other players. Anecdotally, their remote IP servers made them look as if they were in Israel and pokerstars initial suspicion was that the players were in Israel. Their scheme got finally discovered (I don't know how) but they, in person, haven't been caught yet. They prolly used fake IDs. So, in the end, the Lebanese government, as a response to this event, blocked access to all online poker (and even betting sites).
Finally, I've found smaller poker sites that haven't been blocked cuz they slipped under the radar. 5000 players instead of pokerstars 100,000. So, basically, the honest players ended up paying for the crimes of others, cuz we basically can't play almost anywhere

why the goverment will block access to ps and other betting sites, neither ps or other sites have to do if some players cheated.
lebanese players and/or ps should make an action with the goverment to allow again access to the site. and it should be easy i think bcs decisions are drastic and they should be easily changed...

lol poker should be their last concern. wait till world war 3 brakes out over there. good luck playing while you're dodging rockets.

That sucks!

Seriously, people still live in Lebanon?

dont think anyone is missing this lebanon lucky nits

especially i will not miss Sira al aziz hopefully he even cant cash out

he is portuguese, so you can still drop money to him on a regular basis...

It is spreading for sure - no denying that

i had a player from lebanon at pokerstats yesterday. just interested of these somewhat cheaper countries around the world. north africa has players on pokerstars. even south africa. and so on, but the exact laws are another thing even if its technically legal to play, moving money in and out for gambling might not be, or in the best of cases it isnt illegal, just made more difficult and the sites blocked, though i didnt know they can block also the software.

but one can keep moving, just taking care its legal, many places in africa, though the near sea bigger cities are not cheap as africa is about as rich there than like bulgaria, romania, albania plus, mexico and more or less south america. places with english are not cheap, counting out india, thats tricky as its legal but fema law is against money transfers to other countries, though its an unclear law, and then its tropical or on mountains. and so on.

UK the gambling epicentre. No restrictions and tax free. Just tie yourself under a wagon in France and hang on tight

bitcoin pokerrooms created for these cases. yes, it's a small, but you need to start playing now, for better times in the future.

won't happen imo