Digest \ Sep 12, 2018

Online poker setback in China

Online poker took a serious hit this week when tech giant Tencent announced the shutdown of its massively popular poker app, "Everyday Texas Hold'Em" (https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/23206-chinese-technology-giant-shuts-down-poker-game-at-government-s-request).

 

The move comes amidst an ongoing process of marginalizing online poker in China, which debuted with authorities retracting the status of poker as competitive sport. Further, promotion of poker via social media has been banned, with Texas Hold'em as main target of the outkasting campaign.

 

China's change in policy dates back to April and has been referred to as "Chinese Black Friday", as it abruptly outlawed social poker and left both players and operators utterly befuddled.