What is Ring Fenced Poker?

Ring fenced poker is an online poker term to describe a group of players that are only permitted to play against each other. To explain further let's look at a large operator such as Bovada and use them as an example. There was a time when operators would simply offer up one url and that would usually be a dotcom, however due to changing regulation in many countries you will now see many url variations such .es, .it etc. These came about due to laws differing in each jurisdiction, and they are a way for the network to simplify things. Now for example, all .es players only play against other .es players helping the network stay within the online poker laws in Spain. There are benefits to ring fenced poker besides the legal side, keep reading to find out more....

Benefits for the Operator

The obvious benefit for the operator is that it actually allows them to offer their product in a country or jurisdiction where they may have been previously excluded. It is also easier to monitor different areas progress and therefore helping allocate marketing costs etc. It he helps localize the product offering too meaning that the operator can learn what players from different countries like and focus their efforts on improving that side of their product rather than offering a one size fits all product they can really drill down into lets say, Italian players habits and offer what they believe that Italian player may like. It helps in many other ways too, staffing, languages, finance and tourney management to name but a few.

Benefits for the Player

The benefits for the player are that firstly and fore mostly they get to play at a poker room they may otherwise have not been able to, and it doesn't end there. They get to play on a recognized brand that is catering for them specifically. PokerStars.es for example uses the Spanish national hero Rafa Nadal for its main promotional purposes. Other benefits are that the player can chat in their own language, the bigger tournaments are at times that suit them and the cashier may offer payment methods that they instantly recognize. With localized promotions it makes the player feel at home, and that they are actually being thought about.