Just a few weeks ago, online poker shared liquidity between Spain and France was launched, and the market has already become the third largest. The launch was a result of an agreement that was reached last summer between the two countries, as well as Portugal and Italy.

Portugal and Italy are expected to join at some point in the near future, but another country has already jumped in ahead of them. Players from the island country of Malta can sign up and play against Spanish and French opponents.

On Tuesdays, Italian poker news source AssoPoker, reported that players on Malta can legally sign up on PokerStars Europe, the new site created for online poker liquidity due to a loophole in Spain’s online poker regulations. That loophole says that players in other countries can legally register accounts on the .es gambling websites.

PokerStars was aware of the loophole and exploited it when the online poker portal launched PokerStars Europe, paving the way for players from foreign countries to participate.