Death Knell Sounds for Australian Online Poker

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Sunday, August 27th, 2017 | Written by Shane Larson

Poker players in Australia are bracing themselves for the end of their long and drawn out battle to have the country’s proposed blanket ban on online gambling make an exception for the game of poker, the argument being that as a game of skill, poker should not be roped in with other gambling games mentioned in the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill. Unfortunately for them, they have now lost their struggle after the Senate passed the suggested amendments on August 9, 2017, with the new rules now expected to go into effect starting September 9th.

Background

The bill had been on the table since the end of 2016, when Alan Tudge, the Human Services Minister, decided to target offshore internet gambling sites in order to better protect the people of Australia, who are known for being amongst the world’s biggest gamblers. With the bill having been voted for earlier this month, the new rules are now expected to take effect on the thirtieth days following its passing.

Australians are therefore preparing to go through their own Black Friday scenario, and have already seen major sites like 888poker leave the market, with PokerStars also having informed its Australian customers of its imminent exit from the market. As an extract from an email sent to its Aussie customers subsequently read:

“We’re proud to have seen the Australian poker community grow so strong over the last decade. We do respect the Australian Government’s decision in taking steps to protect consumers and hope that in time we’ll be able to serve real-money poker to you again.”

Lucrative Aussie Market

This all happened after online poker operators had got used to catering to Australian players over a number of years using a loophole in the law, as the original Interactive Gambling Act (2001) had made no provisions for online gambling which was not considered a factor back then. Needless to say, the holes in this bill stopped the government from enforcing its ban effectively, thus allowing operators to subseqiently exploit these loopholes and continue operating their businesses in the country’s gambling market.

In 2005, Australian poker pro Joe Hachem won the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event for $7.5 million, and quickly became a poker celebrity in the country, which was further magnified after he became a sponsored player for the world’s biggest online poker operator, PokerStars. Because of that event, online poker became more popular than ever in Australia, and it inspired PokerStars to launch its own sponsored Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), which soon became one of the most anticipated and exciting live series of the entire year.

Poker Site Exodus

Not long after the bill was originally introduced in November 2016, PokerStars made sure to tell its customers that it may have to eventually leave the market. At the beginning of 2017, 888poker took its announcements a step further by emailing its customers to start withdrawing their funds as the operator would soon be quitting the market. In March, the Senate subsequently passed the initial amendment of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill, which was then sent to the House for consideration.

Many people had been depending on more time before the law went into effect, but now it is a moot point, and poker players everywhere in Australia are preparing for the worst, with the development representing quite a significant loss for both the customers who enjoy playing the game as a hobby, and the operators who profit from it.

Addiction Concerns

One of the main reasons cited by authorities for the online gambling ban which goes into effect at the start of next month is concern over the high rate of gambling addiction in the country. As mentioned, Australia has for many years been the country with amongst the highest rate of gambling and addiction problems anywhere in the world, with Australian authorities coming under increasing pressure to reign in the number of pokie machines, as well as unregulated gambling sites operating in Australia. Commenting on the issue and the recent poker ban, Federal Communications Minister Mitch Fifield stated:

“With the law being clarified, it is evident that a number of these operators have begun withdrawing their services from Australians. Whilst I appreciate that this is not welcomed by those individuals who have been using these services, it is a fact that online poker has always been a prohibited service under the act. It is not something that this bill is enacting. Whether online poker should be legal in Australia or not is a separate debate.”