By Ben Blaschke
A motion to establish an inquiry into online poker in Australia, which supporters hope to have excluded from the revamped Interactive Gambling Act, has been approved.
Senators David Leyonhjelm from the Liberal Democratic Party and Cory Bernardi from the Australian Conservatives put forward the motion to the upper house on Tuesday, with parliament giving it the green light to proceed.
If successful, it will open the door for operators such as 888Poker – which stopped offering its services to Australians in January – to return to the Australian market. The world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars, has stated it would withdraw from Australia once the updated Interactive Gambling Act comes into effect.
The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 was first put forward following a review of illegal offshore wagering and closes a number of loopholes that previously allowed unlicensed operators to offer their services to Australians. While the bill is specifically aimed at protecting licensed sports betting agencies – one of the few forms of online betting allowed in Australia – it covers all online gaming sites including poker.
“It’s [now] prohibited,” Senator Leyonhjelm told reporters this week. “The stupid government has made it virtually impossible to play poker online. As a result, thousands of Australians who play poker for fun can’t play it online, or they won’t once the bill takes effect. It’s insane.”
Senator Leyonhjelm’s motion this week follows a concerted campaign to save online poker led by the Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA), which has received widespread support from the local poker community.
In an interview with Inside Asian Gaming earlier this year, AOPA spokesman Joseph De Duca said, “Our goal is to provide a voice for the hundreds of thousands of Australian citizens who enjoy playing online poker as a hobby. The message we are trying to convey to the government is that a safe, licensed online poker market is a far better outcome for Australia than the government pushing players into the hands of unscrupulous black market operators.
“Speaking with politicians it has become clear that many simply do not know anything about the differences between poker and house games. Once we have sat down and explained the differences to them, explained it is a skill game and a game where the house doesn’t even play, let alone win, and the fact that most gambling researchers see no significant link between online poker and problem gambling, they become a lot more receptive.”
Australian authorities prosecuted their first online site under the revised act earlier this month, with WSOP bracelet winner and owner of pokerasiapacific.com Luke Brabin fined AU$10,000.
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