When changes occur in regards to rules and regulations involving the online gambling industry in a given market, it can give operators pause and possibly cause the iGaming provider to remove their services from the region. Take for instance last year, when changes to the gambling industry were being considered in Australia, several operators decided to shut down operations in order to avoid any issue. Popular online gambling operator PokerStars has announced they have exited the Colombian online gaming market, a newly regulated area, based on recent regulatory changes.

Just last week, Coljuegos, the regulator of online gambling activity in Colombia, made the decision to block 325 online gambling sites that are unlicensed in the region from operating. It is due to this decision that PokerStars informed their players of Colombia, that as of July 17th, they would no longer be providing real-money online poker gaming in the region.

It was in 2016 that Colombia decided to create new regulatory framework which alerted those who operated in the region unlicensed. Operators were given notice in March that they would have to stop operating in the country. The first license to operate online gaming in the country was just awarded this past June.

Aquila Global Group was the first to earn approvals for operation, offering a sports betting platform in the country under Wplay.co. While PokerStars has removed their services from the region, they do have plans to obtain licensing and will like to operate officially in the region in the future.