Today (2019-01-21), the poker room Winamax.fr sent a letter to all Lithuanian players regarding the cessation of operations in the country. Registration in this poker room will be prohibited, and all accounts registered in Lithuania will be blocked on January 31. Account location is determined by address, bank details, and IP addresses, so using a VPN to bypass this block will not be effective.
In the official letter, Winamax.fr announces that this decision is due to the lack of a license to provide gambling services in the Republic of Lithuania. No additional information is provided, but Winamax.fr never had the mentioned license, and gambling laws in both the European Union and Lithuania have not changed for many years. The real reason for the withdrawal remains unclear.
Due to the closure of the Winamax.fr room, the biggest impact will be on Spin & Go (Winamax Expresso) format players. Winamax was the most popular room for this poker format due to its wide field, good rakeback, fish/reg ratio, and convenient software.
There are several alternatives for Spin & Go format players:
PartyPoker – the largest Rakeback offer and a better multiplier structure than Winamax.
888Poker – a different Spin & Go structure. The game is played 4-handed and has a time limit, after which all players are automatically pushed all-in.
Pokerstars – the best multiplier structure and the widest field.
Pokerstars.es – higher rake than Pokerstars.com, but a much weaker field.
