In February of 2007, the Turkish government passed a bill that formerly outlawed all forms of online gambling in the country. The law placed a ban on all domestic and foreign providers of online poker sites for real money. This ban was bad news for all online poker players in the country, making it seemingly impossible for them to enjoy the exciting game of online poker in their home countries.  While many governments in countries around the world have officially outlawed online gaming, very few have been successful in actually curbing the play of online poker within their jurisdictions.

Citizens in Turkey and most other countries which have outlawed online poker are still able to access foreign online poker sites and continue making real money poker deposits.

Turkish Poker Sites And Deposit Options

However, Turkish government officials have been far more strict than most of these other countries in an attempt to stop online gambling within the country. In early 2008, Turkish police forces started an initiative to charge people who had been violating the national ban against online gambling. Approximately 3,500 Turkish citizens were targeted as frequent online poker players, and were reportedly charged 100 Turkey New Lira (about $85) for each online game they had played. Since most online poker players play many games each day, it is likely that these fines became insurmountable. As of yet, there has been no data released detailing whether anyone has been forced to pay these tremendous fines for violating the online gaming ban in Turkey.

Since the passing of the Turkish ban on online gaming, most international online poker sites have stopped providing access for Turkish citizens. CarbonPoker.com, one of the most popular foreign online poker sites, no longer allows Turkish citizens to register with the site or make online deposits. Other sites have stopped processing deposits from Turkish citizens, and most Turkish banks and credit card companies no longer allow deposits to online poker sites.

The banning of online gaming in Turkey has caused a serious dip in revenues of many online poker providers.  Furthermore, the government of Turkey is missing out on millions of dollars in tax revenue that they could be generating from online poker playing. As Turkey is about to be entering the European Union, it is likely that they will see pressures to lift their ban on Internet gaming, as the European Union has strict policies regarding the promotion of free trade and services between member states. Because most countries in the European Union do allow online gaming and online poker sites, it is likely that the ban will soon be lifted.

Until then, however, Turkish citizens must face the reality that playing online poker could potentially cost them hundreds or even thousands of dollars in fines from the Turkish government forces. Furthermore, finding access to a legitimate online poker site located in Turkey will prove to be difficult for Turkish online poker players, however there are options to seek sites that are based outside the jurisdiction that will allow Turkish gamers to play poker online.