Earlier this week, the Senate of Australia decided to approve legislation that will stop offshore online poker operators from providing their services within Home Online Poker. AUSTRALIAN online poker players are worried the game they love could soon disappear under new rules set to be passed in the coming weeks. It’s not the intent of the bill to ban online poker.

It’s a disappointing day for the fans of online poker in Australia as it would appear their days are numbered being able to play at any of the reputable poker sites. Yesterday, as part of an update to the Internet Gambling Amendment Bill, the Australian Senate voted to include online poker in the ban on online gambling.

The Fight to Keep Legal Gambling

This is a crushing blow to the country’s poker players, who had been very vocal in trying to convince politicians that poker should be exempt from the amendment. In a similar move to the United States, an advisory group was formed, and that group, the Australian Online Poker Alliance, was invited to speak in front of a committee researching the impact of the bill. This group, along with other industry experts, attempted to explain that sending the online gambling business underground would ultimately make it harder to sniff out problem gamblers and shady operator practices, however, in the end, the Senate decided to keep the poker ban in place.

The amendment to the original Internet Gambling Act is standard; the bill originally enacted in 2001 had some loopholes that needed closing given the vast changes in the Internet landscape over the last 15 years. However, once online poker made an appearance in the text of the amendment, the argument over whether or not poker is a game of skill or chance came to the forefront. This is a debate that has raged on around the world since the game first started; there is no general consensus, and there isn’t likely to be one anytime soon.

How the Bill Came About

Poker was not the single target of this amendment. It was originally written to stop people from gambling on sports in-play from their phones, a technology that didn’t exist when the laws were originally written. With the overwhelming majority of the Senate voting to approve the amendment as it is written, there isn’t much more that poker players or operators can do to save their game.

The bill passed the first vote back in March 2017, and at that point, with the writing on the wall, many of the operators including giants 888 decided to close up shop and stop accepting Australian players. Similarly to the events of 2006 in the United States, Pokerstars decided they would stick it out until the decision was final. While there has been no comment from PokerStars on this news, back in March the company did allude to the fact that if the amendment was passed in full, they too would likely be leaving the market.

The new law states that sites wishing to accept Australian players will need to be regulated and licensed. The issue is that there is currently no licensing process in place for companies even to apply. Furthermore, any site found to be accepting online poker players from the country will be fined 6.75 Million AUD per day.

So, What Does This Mean for Players?

Well, the legitimate sites have 30 days to close down their operations and refund player money. In the meantime, unlicensed sites (like America’s Card Room) will likely swoop in with some promotions to try to attract homeless Australian poker players. These sites will be doing so illegally, but that hasn’t stopped them from taking U.S. players since Black Friday in 2011. As for the fate of the Aussie Millions, the premier poker event in that country, it is difficult to say today what the impact will be on the size of that event.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

Aussie poker players are fearful the major poker sites will vacate the Australian market with the passing of a new bill.Source:Supplied

AUSTRALIAN online poker players are worried the game they love could soon disappear under new rules set to be passed in the coming weeks.

The changes will mean offshore gambling sites will be forced to jump through strict new regulatory hoops in order to operate in this market. The amendments to the existing rules are expected to be voted on during parliament’s next sitting.

Sydney investment banker Joseph Del Duca enjoys playing online poker in his spare time but is worried his favoured hobby will become inaccessible under the changes.

The amendment is designed to protect problem gamblers and prevent offshore companies skirting current regulations around live in-game betting.

However Mr Del Duca fears the wording of the bill is too broad and will force the big poker sites from the market.

“The intent of the bill is admirable. It’s not the intent of the bill to ban online poker ... it’s just an unfortunate by product of the wording of it,” he told news.com.au.

Mr Del Duca, who once worked as a media and communications adviser to federal Coalition members of parliament, has created the Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) in an effort to lobby the government to make changes to the bill in order to preserve “skill based player-to-player poker games”.

He described the group as a bunch of local players keen to save the game.

“Offshore operators aren’t allowed to provide services in Australia unless they’re licensed but these poker sites can’t get licensed in Australia because in relation to the Act, poker is considered a prohibited game,” he said.

While poker is not singled out in the legislation, the likely interpretation of the wording in the amendment will see offshore poker sites unable to continue to operate for Australian users.

Australians could soon find it far more difficult to join international poker tournaments. Picture: Karen BleierSource:AFP

Poker site 888Poker.com has already pulled out of the Australian market in anticipation of the law passing, Mr Del Duca said.

Since January 16, Australian players have been prohibited from joining cash tables on the site. It’s expected that popular services PokerStars and PartyPoker may follow suit.

Eric Hollreiser, the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Amaya Inc. which owns PokerStars told news.com.au that Australians will be blocked when the changes come into effect.

“Amaya continuously monitors the regulatory environments of the countries in which it operates, and where a regulatory model exists always seek to comply with it. While Amaya currently offers poker to Australian customers through PokerStars under its Isle of Man global gaming license, if proposed legislation passes into law players located in Australia would likely be blocked from playing on our sites,” he said.

“As always, customers would be kept informed and their funds would remain secure and accessible for withdrawal.”

Mr Del Duca fears the only sites that will stick around will be the dodgy ones.

“These large companies aren’t set up offshore to try and flout Australian laws, they’re large multinational companies that are publicly listed on stock exchanges ... and offer services worldwide to players from every country,” he said. “These are the companies we want to be dealing with because they’re publicly listed, they care about their image. These companies will pull out of the market if this law comes through as it is, and that will only leave companies that don’t particularly care about their image — more of your black market operators — which the bill is trying to protect us from.”

While some players will no doubt employ a virtual private network (VPN) to shield their location and continue playing, Mr Del Duca said most players he speaks with don’t have the computer knowledge to do something like that.

However for those that do, Mr Hollreiser said his company has ways to combat VPN use.

“PokerStars, and other reputable sites, have strong capabilities to undermine VPN usage and identify the true location of players. We use this effectively in markets, such as New Jersey, Spain and Italy, where player access must be restricted as a core licensing requirement,” he said. “Players face seizure of funds if they’re found to be in violation of the restrictions.”

One top site has already vacated the Aussie market.Source:News Limited

The bill — which will give the ACMA the power to issue warnings, infringement notices, civil penalties and injunctions against gambling sites — falls under the Communications and Arts portfolio. But it’s Human Services Minister Alan Tudge who has spearheaded the overhauling of Australia’s $20 billion online wagering sector.

Mr Tudge has not responded to repeated requests for comment on the bill’s intended impact on poker sites, but in the past has said the amendment is all about “taking tougher action” on predatory offshore wagering providers.

“The tougher laws will seriously disrupt illegal offshore providers from acting unscrupulously or targeting vulnerable Australians,” he told The Guardian in November.

A previous review of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, which the new bill seeks to amend, suggested the Act be changed to pave the way for the regulation of online poker sites.

As a change.org petition launched by the AOPA is quick to point out, Sally Gainsbury from the University of Sydney observed in her submission to the review in 2012 that online poker appears to have relatively low likelihood of leading to gambling problems.

The UK has previously passed legislation that allowed the government to regulate international poker sites while maintaining access for British citizens, keeping them in the international players pool. And Mr Del Duca would like to see Australia take a similar approach.

Australian Online Poker Band

“The government reviews (into the Interactive Gambling Act 2001) have suggested that online poker be looked at as a separate entity and that it be licensed and regulated. We’re just calling on the government to do that,” Mr Del Duca said.

Australian Online Poker Banner Maker

“Instead of just putting through this ban which is going to get rid of the freedom of thousands of Australians who like to come home from work occasionally and play a hobby on their computer.”