Police raid at an affiliate conference in Barcelona

Keynote speaker at the Annual Conference of the Online Gambling Industry "Casino Affiliate Program Euro" (CAP Euro) was Jimmy Gold, winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. The event took place in late September at the Princess Sofia Hotel in Barcelona.

Gold, invited to the conference as a guest, was to read a talk on the possibilities of poker in the social sphere, charity events and other social activities in the gambling industry. But everything turned out differently.

As part of the conference, a poker freeroll tournament was held, and then the incredible happened - heavily armed policemen burst into the hall. A police raid was carried out. According to the latest press reports, all game equipment was confiscated and the organizers of CAP Euro were detained. The conference participants watched in disbelief, Jimmy Gold was simply dumbfounded. Neither the media representatives nor the conference participants themselves received any clarification about the reasons for the police operation. Attempts to explain that this is just a freeroll have failed. This was a rather harsh intervention by the authorities.

A little later, information about the arrest of the CAP organizers was again denied. Whether the organizers were released, or whether they were not arrested at all, but only confiscated the equipment is not yet clear. No additional official statements on this matter have been received.

Spanish law states that only one casino can operate in each province, and that gambling is prohibited outside the walls of that casino. Only in some regions have recently been allowed the activities of private gaming operators. In this case, you need to apply for a permit.

Spain is considered a desirable market that is growing rapidly. Perhaps this was the reason for such a harsh reaction. However, the exact reasons for what happened at CAP Euro are not yet known.