Thanks for the finding!
There's an interesting statement by the Lotos manager in that article (the translations are mine and loose, the phrases in brackets are my clarifying remarks, the bold font highlights are mine),
Quote:
According to our sources, a couple of unpleasant events related to the refusal of big networks to serve players specifically from Russia will happen in the near future.
These networks are iPoker and the MPN, aren't they?
Party has recently shown its commitment to Russia by allowing its residents to order the GoPlay prepaid Mastercard, and it does maintain a Russian mirror site. 888 is interested in the Russian market according to the same Lotos and also changes Russian mirrors regularly. WPN's CEO Phil Nagy stated when
he was a guest on Thrash370's Twitch stream that the WPN is working with secret payment agents in order to enter some black markets (not Israel, however). I think this might include Russia even when it regulates poker.
Winamax.fr and Pokerstars.fr are not networks, but of course I can foresee them pulling out of Russia (there have been some Russians who had made EU bank accounts for the purpose of playing at those two sites).
___________________________________
Another interesting statement by the Lotos manager:
Quote:
When I read the rules of the [GG] network for the first time, I was surprised myself. But in fact, it's not that scary there. Before we started preparing our migration to the GG network, we and our partners had done experiments - sent regulars to play there to make sure that they're not going to be banned, they're going to be allowed to withdraw their money, etc. So we've made sure that regs aren't being hunted on the network. We had discussed this question with the [GG] network management and asked to clarify its stance on winning players.
If you're a blatant bumhunter who only looks to play vs fish with 80/60 stats, then you'll have to hide your essence. But even then, if you play honestly, you'll be allowed to withdraw. However, it's worth noting that such situations [revocation of playing privileges from honest winning players] are rather rare. If your winrate is 4 bb/100 or bigger, then the probability of facing difficulties with the network management is about 5% (this conclusion has been made on the basis of informal interviews).
Last edited by coon74; 10-19-2016 at 12:02 PM.
Reason: 2nd quote added