GreySnowPoker Goes Live as Isle of Man’s First Tribal Gaming Site

November 12th, 2018 | by Kaycee James

The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has launched GreySnowPoker just six months after pulling the plug on PokerTribe.com.

The Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma has launched GreySnowPoker in an attempt to increase awareness of its community and gaming interests. (Image: crazycrow.com)

According to the operator’s LinkedIn page, GreySnowPoker.com was founded in 2017 and currently has its headquarters on the Isle of Man. However, the site, as it is now, came to life in May 2018 after the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma took down PokerTribe.com.

New License, New Rake Structure

Following a beta testing phase, GreySnowPoker is now live in certain markets thanks to a license from the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission. The site’s main selling point is a “rake-free” structure that’s designed to offer a fair environment for players of all skill levels.

Instead of charging a small amount of rake on each hand, players will pay a flat three percent “service fee.” That fee is designed encourage more action by reducing the amount it costs to play multiple pots during a single session.

Upon launching GreySnowPoker last week, the operator declared that it was the first Native American site to obtain an Isle of Man gaming license. Back when news of the site broke back in May, local media outlets sent requests for more information about the company.

Being a privately held entity, GreySnowPoker exercised its right to plead the fifth with regards to certain details such as where the site’s servers are located and who provides its software. However, what is known is that the games are live and licensed in regions where national regulators don’t take precedence.

In practice, this means players in countries such as the UK, France and the US can’t use GreySnowPoker.

Tribal Interest in Poker Remains High

This isn’t the first time a Native American tribe has entered the online poker market. In 2014, the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel announced the launch of PrivateTable.com.

Claiming tribal sovereignty and certain provisions under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), the tribe wanted to use the site as a way of combating local unemployment rates. However, despite attempting to offer online poker to Californians, the site has since been taken offline.

Outside of launching their own sites, tribes have also been at the center of regulatory efforts in states such as California. With some tribes supporting recent regulatory efforts and others opposing it, talks have stalled and eventually broken down.

Rather than opposing online poker itself, certain tribes are more concerned with the potential loss of revenue their own casinos could see if outside operators are allowed to serve local residents. If the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma can achieve success with GreySnowPoker, it would provide a template for other Native American tribes to further their own gaming interests.