UKGC Cracks the Whip, Places PokerCent under Review and Suspension

ukThe UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published a press release last August 29, 2014 about its decision to place a lesser-known online poker room called PokerCent under review and interim suspension.

The UKGC cited Sections 116 and 118 of the Gambling Act 2005 as bases for the decision to instigate a review. The decision is in light of concerns that the Internet-based poker room owned by a company registered as Silverline Interactive Technologies Plc is not operating in accordance with the licencing objectives of the UK regulatory body.

Under Section 116, the UKGC has the authority to conduct a review, if the Commission has reason to suspect that —

  • the activities being carried out by a UK-licenced gambling facility is not in accordance with the conditions of the licence;
  • the holder of the licence has acquired a criminal record of some kind related to the permitted activities;
  • the licensee may be unfit to continue the activities prescribed by the approved licence;
  • There is reasonable ground for conducting a review, to which such reasons may involve complaint/s brought against the licensee, which may or may not be related to the licenced activities.

Section 118 on the other hand, states the authority of the UKGC to suspend a licence previously granted at the time of deciding to commence with a review; or at some time during the review or after a review. It likewise states that a suspension may last on or after the expiry of a period specified by the Commission, or it may last until such time that a specific event takes place.

In the case of PokerCent, the British Gambling Commission stated that the review is being conducted to ensure that gambling activities are being carried out in a fair and transparent manner, as well as to make certain that the online poker room is still fit to carry out its licenced activities.

Although the Aug. 29 press release did not state what gave rise to UKGC’s decision to commence with the review, PokerNews.com provided explanation that one of PokerCent’s registered players brought to the attention of the Commission, his unresolved complaint against the poker site. The complainant claims that he was unable to withdraw funds from his PokerCent account, while the poker site’s customer service is inept and non-cooperative.

PokerNews.com added that prior to UKGC’s suspension of PokerCent’s licence, they had already taken down the positive review, which the website had previously published about PokerCent. They had also removed the online poker facility from its published rankings as way of withdrawing their promotional support. Accordingly, the poker news website had also received complaints from players and that PokerCent had breached its display contract with PokerNews.

However, the PokerCent Team gave notification to its players about the suspension of its licence, albeit claiming that the Gambling Commission is requesting a new certificate for their poker software. The site further gave notice that during the software’s testing by an approved testing lab, the online card room will not be operational.

The PokerCent Team estimates that operations will resume on Oct. 01, 2014. Players seeking for a refund of deposit can put forward their request to the site’s support email address, although their live support service will remain available during the software’s testing period, everyday from 11 am up to 3 pm.