Australia’s Next Target Could Be Online Poker Sites

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Tuesday, May 24th, 2016 | Written by Shane Larson

Recently, the Australian government issued a statement detailing an intent to crackdown on sports bets that are placed online during live matches. So-called in-betting is illegal in Australia, but many sites have been operating under the radar. Based on the findings of a report submitted to Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the country is now poised to change that. Meanwhile, many people familiar with the political system in Australia believe that the country has also set its sights on online poker as the next area of concern.

Online Poker and the New Report

The report submitted to the Australian Prime Minister analyzed online poker as well as online sports betting. Based on the findings of the investigation, the report recommends that the Australian Communications and Media Authority uses its influence to require Internet service providers to completely block access to sites that are illegally accepting cash bets from Australian players.

The hope is to force offshore operators from countries like Malta out of Australia. These sites have been rampant despite the fact that online poker sites have been unable to legally operate on Australian soil since 2001.

In order to sway lawmakers, the report discusses gambling addiction at length, stating that unregulated sites do little to discourage problem gambling. Critics of the report argue that in a country where slot machines and certain types of sports betting are already legal, it is disingenuous to blame online gambling alone for addiction. Some skeptics believe that the desire to eliminate online poker is actually coming from land-based casino lobbies located in the country.

Recommendations of the Report

The gaming report provided to the government of Australia makes a number of recommendations regarding online poker. In addition to recommending that Internet Service providers be required to block access to offshore sites, the report urges lawmakers to:

– Prohibit websites from extending credit to gamblers
– Create a self-exclusion list that would allow people with gambling addiction to limit their own access to gambling sites
– Establish a set of standards for gambling site advertising
– Make a register or black list of illegal offshore poker sites currently accepting players from Australia
– Partner with credit card companies to block transactions from illegal offshore poker sites

PokerStars May Be On Its Way Out

PokerStars is one of the sites that is known to be operating illegally in Australia. Now that the company is poised to re-enter the U.S. market with their first site in New Jersey, it is likely that the operator will have to choose between continuing to provide illegal service in Australia and legally operating in the U.S.

It’s easy to understand why there is cause for concern about online gambling in Australia, as the country has one of the highest rates of gambling per capita of any in the world. Still, players who are currently enjoying access to foreign sites worry what the future holds, and based on what has happened with sports betting, it seems they have a good reason.

Gambling Down Under

There are 400 casinos, race courses and trotting tracks located throughout Australia, including two of the world’s largest casinos, the Crown and Star City, based in Sydney. Australians are also known as the world’s biggest gamblers, and each year lose on average AUS$1,380, with one favorite gambling outlet being the numerous fixed-odds poker terminals (pokies) found almost everywhere on the huge continent of 23 million people. According to Dr Sally Gainsbury from the Centre for Gambling Research at Southern Cross University, pokies generate around two-thirds of all annual gambling losses in Australia which total $9.8 billion each year.

As far as internet gambling is concerned, while it is not illegal per se for Australians to gamble online, it is considered against the law for international offshore operators to offer gambling products to Australian citizens. That is why companies may fall foul of the law, while Aussies themselves remain free from prosecutuion. Looking ahead, Director at RightCasino.com, Samuel Miranda, envisions positive developments in Australia’s gaming future, and as he explains:

“The development of Australia’s iGaming scene deserves special attention since, if new legislation was to be introduced, a huge new market could open up. People have long talked jokingly about ‘BrisVegas’ but Australia’s best casinos are a match for those in Nevada. Expect Queensland to be the next major gambling hotspot – casinos will be developed to cater for the influx of Asian high rollers, especially ones from Mainland China where gambling is prohibited.”