PokerStars Spain Hit by SEPA Withdrawal Delays as New Payment Rules Kick In

If you play on PokerStars Spain and your last cashout seems stuck, you’re not alone, and it’s probably not about your account. Since the start of November, a number of Spanish players have reported delays on SEPA bank transfer withdrawals. PokerStars has now confirmed what’s going on.

There are really two stories here. One is a technical fault that should be temporary. The other is a permanent change to how money moves in and out of every licensed online poker room in Spain. The second one matters more over the long run, so we’ll explain both.

What PokerStars Has Said

PokerStars Spain paused its service on November 3 and 4 for a technical update. While the work was going on, players couldn’t log in and new accounts couldn’t be opened. When the site came back, many players found that the cashier had changed.

On November 4, the Spanish account posted on X that it had carried out a major migration, that a few things still needed fixing, and that it knew some users were running into problems. The replies made it clear that withdrawals were the main frustration.

Two days later, PokerStars published a fuller update on withdrawals and payment methods. In short: SEPA withdrawals are still available, but a technical problem in its payment provider’s systems is affecting some of them. PokerStars says the fix depends on the provider, that it is working with the provider’s team to speed things up, and that it will update players when there’s news.

This matters for a simple reason. Your money hasn’t been frozen because of your account, and you don’t need to send in more documents to fix this particular delay. It’s a problem in the processing chain between PokerStars and the banks.

Royal Decree 813/2026: What Changed on October 28

The cashier changes come from Spain’s government, not just PokerStars. Royal Decree 813/2026 was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Spain’s official gazette, on October 8 and came into force 20 days later, on October 28.

It’s a wide-ranging financial regulation, but one part targets online gambling directly. It amends Article 21 of Spain’s anti-money-laundering rules so that licensed operators must check that the person who owns the gaming account is the same person who owns the payment method used for deposits and withdrawals.

Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 says the aim is to fight identity theft. According to the ministry, cases rose in 2025, and the people behind them tended to use cards and e-wallets whose owners were hard to check in real time.

In practice, you can’t fund your poker account with your partner’s card, a parent’s PayPal or a friend’s bank account anymore. Every payment method has to be in your own name.

The six-month transition

There is a grace period for players who already had an account before October 28:

• Until April 28, 2027, you can keep depositing with your existing payment methods and keep playing.
• You cannot withdraw any winnings or balance until the operator has confirmed that the withdrawal method is in your name.
• If the deadline passes and you still haven’t verified, the operator has to close your account, report it to the DGOJ (Spain’s gambling regulator) and return your balance, including any unpaid winnings.

So nobody loses their money, but anyone who leaves this until the last minute could end up with funds stuck in an account they can’t cash out from.

PokerStars Spain Payment Methods: Before and After

This is the part most players will notice. Here’s how the PokerStars Spain cashier works now:

Payment Method	Deposits	Withdrawals
Visa	Yes	No
Mastercard	Yes	No
Bank transfer (SEPA)	No	Yes
PayPal	Yes	Yes, after a previous PayPal deposit
Skrill	Yes	Yes, after a previous Skrill deposit
Skrill 1 Tap	Yes	No
Neteller	Yes	Yes, after a previous Neteller deposit
PaysafeCard	Yes	Yes, after a previous PaysafeCard deposit
Apple Pay	Yes	No
Bizum	Yes	No

A few things stand out.

Cards are now deposit-only. In the past, many Spanish players deposited with Visa and had their winnings sent back to the same card. That option is gone. If you deposit by card, your cashout will most likely go by bank transfer.

Bank transfer is now the main way out. SEPA is the only method that works for withdrawals but not deposits. With cards, Apple Pay and Bizum all deposit-only, most players’ withdrawals now go through SEPA. That’s why a fault with the SEPA provider hits so many people at once.

E-wallets need a deposit first. PayPal, Skrill and Neteller still pay out, but only if you’ve already deposited with that same wallet. The deposit is effectively how PokerStars confirms the wallet is yours. If you’ve never funded your account with PayPal, you can’t suddenly ask for a PayPal withdrawal.

PaysafeCard is a surprise. Prepaid vouchers usually don’t support withdrawals because they aren’t tied to a named person. PokerStars lists PaysafeCard withdrawals as available after a previous PaysafeCard deposit, which suggests the cashout goes to a verified, named PaysafeCard account rather than a voucher.

Why This Hits Poker Players Harder

For casual casino players, a slower cashout is annoying. For poker players, it can affect how they play.

Bankroll management across sites. Many Spanish regulars move money between rooms, from PokerStars to another operator in Spain’s shared liquidity market or to a live series. If withdrawals take longer, that money sits idle and can’t be used elsewhere.

Live tournament travel. With the EPT Prague festival coming up in December and plenty of domestic series on the calendar, players who planned to cash out online winnings for buy-ins may need to plan further ahead.

Shared accounts are finished. In Spain it’s common for a family to share a bank account or for a player to use a partner’s card. Under the new rules, that player can’t withdraw until the account in their own name is verified. If that’s you, sort it out now, not in April.

What You Should Do Right Now

1. Check your payment methods. Log in, open the cashier and look at which methods are linked to your account. Anything not in your name needs to be replaced.
2. Choose your withdrawal route on purpose. If you want fast e-wallet cashouts, make your next deposit with PayPal, Skrill or Neteller so that route opens up for withdrawals.
3. Add a bank account in your own name. Even if SEPA is slow right now, it’s the main withdrawal option for most players. Make sure the IBAN is registered in exactly the same name as your PokerStars account.
4. Don’t cancel and resubmit again and again. If a SEPA withdrawal is pending, keep a record of the transaction ID. Repeatedly cancelling and re-requesting usually doesn’t help when the problem is with the provider.
5. Contact support with details. If a withdrawal has been pending well beyond the normal processing time, contact PokerStars support with the amount, the date and the transaction ID.

Is PokerStars the Only Operator Affected?

No. Every operator with a Spanish licence has to comply with Royal Decree 813/2026, and several have already published guides on verifying payment methods. PokerStars stands out because of the timing: it moved its Spanish platform to a new system in the same week the rules took effect, and a problem with the payment provider made things worse.

There’s more regulation coming too. From December 5, 2026, gambling advertising in Spain will have to carry health-style warnings. Spain is clearly tightening its rules for online gambling, and players should expect more changes like this, not fewer.

Our Take

Strip away the frustration and the picture is fairly clear. The SEPA delay looks like a teething problem from a big platform migration, and PokerStars has acknowledged it publicly rather than staying quiet. The rule change behind it is permanent. Name matching is now the law in Spain, and every licensed site has to follow it.

Spanish players should treat this week as a reminder to tidy up their accounts. Make sure every method is in your name, decide how you want to withdraw before you need to, and don’t wait for the April 2027 deadline. Once the provider problem is fixed, players who have done this should be able to cash out with little delay.

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