"Coljuegos initially published Agreement 04, on May 24, 2016. In that document, basically they make it clear that the entity is authorized by Law 643 of 2001 to regulate all activity associated with the operation of games of chance" .

"In June, Coljuegos issued a resolution in which it puts in firm the measures with which it will intervene in the operation of what it considers games of chance and chance in Internet. That resolution focuses essentially on sports betting, but we had the misfortune that, because of ignorance of these officials, online poker was included as a chance activity, something that we practice this discipline we know is completely wrong.

One of the most damaging conditions that Coljuegos wants to impose in its regulations is the grouping of Colombian players in an internal market, restricted to a national domain (.co). This would make the operation for the platforms practically unfeasible, due to the small volume of players that would intervene in the most valuable tournaments, so that the interest of big brands such as PokerStars, 888poker, PartyPoker and FultTiltPoker against the Colombian market , To mention only the best known.

The resolution leaves empty as to how that national domain would operate for the Colombian grinders: "It is not specified in the regulations that are about to enter into force if the players are in the same situation that has been lived in countries like France and Spain , Where the grinders can only participate in the tournaments or tables that open for competitors of the same country, or if, on the contrary, they will have the freedom that is lived in others like Denmark, where despite having a national domain (.dk ), Where you can be enrolled in it and from there continue to participate in all the offer of skills and cash that is included in the global platform "

"In France and Spain, the approach to regulation, in which poker was considered a game of chance, led to the impossibility that exercising it would continue to be viable as a profession. On the other hand, in other countries like Brazil, the regulation has had a more positive perspective, in which the sport recognition of this discipline has been promoted and has been obtained the support of entities like the Ministry of Sport ".

He totally disagrees with the tax provisions that will fall on both online poker operators and their practitioners: "Coljuegos intends to impose a VAT (value added tax) on online poker.

We are talking about the buy-in in each tournament, or entry to a cash table, would cost the Colombian player at least 19% more than initially stipulated by the platform. That is absurd. I think that the bank of any regular player would withstand this punishment and that companies that back players would leave Colombia or would require them to move to another country, surely, "alarms the promoter of the Colombian Confederation of poker players.

But there would not stop the sandstorm that seems to be looming for online poker practitioners in Colombia. "Coljuegos also wants the operator to charge the winners in their events the withholding tax, which corresponds to the so-called occasional gains in the country. If I am well informed, that would be at least 20%, which would be discounted directly to the players, deducting it from the payment of the prize. As can be seen, it is a very high tax obligation for the professionals of this branch.

"It would be as if a professional in the field of business was reduced by 20% the utility that leaves an investment"

The regulation would also impose a ban on transfers of funds between players and possible loans of money made by online poker operators to grinders, which would force them to seek as the only possibility of collecting their prizes to transfer the balance of their User accounts to a national bank.

This will be detrimental to the possibilities of banking for professionals: "Now it will become much more complicated for those who play with the sponsorship of the stables or individuals to reintegrate to investors the percentage that would correspond to them of the profits that we obtain in the Tables ".

It is pertinent to recall the character of professional activity with which most regular players approach the practice of online poker: "For us, poker is not just a hobby, but it is our trade and our main source of income. Because of the high participation costs involved in poker, we use labor contracts with international backing companies (sponsors) and since it is impossible for these sponsors to cover all these additional expenses, Coljuegos will end up leaving us only two alternatives: unemployment or exile "

The improvisation and the obvious ignorance with which Coljuegos associates poker with what he calls games of luck and chance: "Faced with an impediment that restricts Coljuegos to regulate only those games in respect of which he has already issued a regulation of public knowledge, The entity generated rules to condition the operation of online poker, in which there are huge gaps and inconsistencies, typical of the lack of knowledge of these officials regarding our activity. In addition, it is a regulation made to the convenience of the entity that issues it, without any reconciliation with the Colombian poker community, something that leaves us in undeniable disadvantage ",

* Colombian professional poker player