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Best poker sites allowed in Turkey
With over 80 million inhabitants, Turkey is one of the biggest Asian/European countries, with its large part located on the Balkan Peninsula, which makes it transcontinental. Almost 15 million tourists visit the country annually to admire the views, rest on world-class beaches or set foot on multiple historical sites and beautiful locations. Unfortunately, online poker in Turkey is not an easily accessible entertainment as it is highly restricted on the legislation level. This article is a great source of up-to-date information for eager Turkish poker players as it provides an overview of the best poker sites, available withdrawal methods, and details on the legal aspect at 2024.
Best online poker sites for Turkish players 2024
While it might be challenging to find a Turkish online gambling platform considering the situation with all the restrictions, we got you covered. Before mentioning any platforms in the article we looked into the range and quality of its services, the availability of all the popular games such as Texas Holdem, Omaha; payment methods, and its reputation among players.
7XL Poker
The world's largest poker network caters to Turkey players via a unique skin: 7XL Poker, including local payment methods and cryptos. After registering you can get a massive welcome bonus of up to $600 or $100 in tickets, and there is not much to say about traffic: you will find any game around the clock: cash games, MTTs, Spin&Go, among unique formats like All-in or Fold.
Pokerking
With a matching bonus of 100% available for the first deposit up to 2,000 USD, the website can also boast of 65% rakeback (through the VIP program). Hold’em and Omaha events with a millionaire weekly guarantee will draw the attention of professional players interested in MTTs. While there is no native mobile app, the client of the room is available on both Windows and Mac OS. To deposit or withdraw players can use e-wallets like Skrill Neteller and ecoPayz as well as Bitcoin cryptocurrency (recommended).
PPPoker
PPPoker and other club-based apps are a great solution for countries with complex regulations like Turkey. Thanks to the agent and club scheme, there are no country restrictions. Our deal includes access to several global unions, an agent cashier with cryptocurrencies working 7 days a week, massive rakeback deals, and money guarantees.
Online poker in Turkey
As of 2024, citizens of the country cannot officially access any major platforms because local internet service providers block all foreign unlicensed gambling sites. This, however, does not concern tourists that can freely gamble while being in Turkey. Even though some of the platforms still continue accepting Turkish players, it is illegal for citizens to use their services. The government imposes a fine on unlicensed operators that promote their gambling services and support payments from Turkish citizens as well as on players that use those services.
State-owned gambling platforms have a clear monopoly in the industry, as they are the only entities that can provide games of chance services online. Since only lotteries and sports betting is officially legal in the country, the only functioning operator (IDDAA) does not include online poker in the list of available gambling activities on its platforms.
Turkey legal poker background
When it comes to land-based casinos and gambling halls in Turkey, the period when their activity was legal lasted only for 14 years, from 1983 to 1998. As for online poker, it was prohibited along with every other online gaming activity in 2007, when the Turkish government updated the legislation. After the ban, only state-owned platforms can provide gambling services on the internet.
Even tougher restrictions were introduced in 2013, blocking all offshore operators that started to gain popularity as alternatives to local services. Thus, in 2022, online gambling in Turkey is illegal, and the only exceptions are the platforms belonging to IDDAA, the only Turkish entity that can officially provide online gambling services in the country. This was announced with changes to regulations by the Ministry of Finance in 2019.
According to article No 228(1) of the Turkish Criminal Code, “Any person who arranges a place or facility for gambling is sentenced to imprisonment up to one year, and also imposed a punitive fine.” Breaking the law by trying to bypass the restrictions, gamblers and operators risk being fined 100 – 500 thousand Turkish lira (around 6,700 to 33,700 USD as of 2022).
Every legal form of lottery, game of chance, or social game is subject to regulations imposed by the Milli Piyango İdaresi (Ministry of Finance and the National Lottery Administration). Even though the law limits IDDAA to providing only lottery, sports betting, and horserace betting, Turkey still retains great potential as a market for online poker.
However, players from the country can join offshore poker websites with rakeback deals granted by Worldpokerdeals.
Available deposit and withdrawal methods
Bitcoin and some altcoins are the main payment options for Turkish players that try to access online poker rooms from offshore operators. However, recently, the country’s ISPs started to ban cryptocurrency gambling websites as well, which caused even more inconvenience. Of course, TRY payments haven't really been an option for depositing or withdrawal since legislation changes. Only IDDAA platforms offer Turkish citizens to make payments in TRY.
Getting into online gambling, it is essential to know tax rates, which in Turkey are set by the “Law Regarding Taxes, Funds and Public Charges Levied upon Gaming”. Players who access foreign poker sites and win cash have to pay personal income tax of 15% to 35% (depending on the income threshold of the current year). This is not applicable when using a cryptocurrency wallet for withdrawing credits.
The most famous Turkish poker players
Turkish poker players have managed to win over 47 million dollars in the live poker circuit since 1993. According to TheHendonMob ranking Turkey has 531 professional poker players, 290 of which are ranked as of 2022. Currently, some of the most renowned are:
- Orpen Kisacikoglu ($6.7M in poker profits, WSOP Circuit champion);
- Selahaddin Bedir ($1,3M in poker profits, SHRB Europe Event 04 champion);
- Akin Tuna ($1,4M in poker profits, EPT champion);
- Onur Unsal (almost $1.3M in poker profits).
As poker is officially illegal in Turkey, it is quite challenging to track the results of professional online players from the country. However, still, we can mention Ozgur "PhapLap" Arda (WPT champion), “idontmind”, “mertge” “nmbrone1907” among the best ones. Many of the players mentioned in this article have migrated to more gambling-friendly countries like the UK. However, some of them still play from Turkey, taking advantage of the offshore poker room portfolio.
Summary
Turkey is a world-renowned tourist destination, but it is definitely not the best country for poker enthusiasts. Online poker, along with many other gambling activities, is banned by the legislation, which is why only some smaller internet casinos continue to accept Turkish players. Despite the regulations, Turkey shows promise in the poker industry as a lot of its professional gamblers make it to famous international rankings.
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FAQ
Now let's summarize the most common questions about playing online poker in Turkey.
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