Online Gambling Australia Poker
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The poker community is thriving in Australia. This has been the case for decades. And poker will continue to be popular with Aussies for the foreseeable future.
Poker Boom and Gloom
Poker has been proven over and over to be a game of skill. It sets itself apart from. The complex laws behind online poker in Australia Written by News Company In recent years, the Australian government has tightened laws around gambling, particularly online gambling through the. Join the world's largest poker site, PokerStars, with new player promotions, the biggest tournaments and more players than anywhere else online. Australia has a vibrant online poker community, with a number of huge sites offering fantastic social games in which you can compete against friends and poker fans from around the world.
At one time, however, Australia experienced a poker boom. It coincided with the global poker boom, building on the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event win of Chris Moneymaker. But when Australian Joe Hachem won the 2005 WSOP Main Event, the Australian poker market grew in popularity as in few other places around the world.
That whirlwind of poker greatness began to unwind over the past few years, however.
The closure of the United States market in April 2011 was one factor, as it reduced the size of the global player pools on sites like PokerStars, PartyPoker, and 888poker. Some other countries, mainly in Europe, followed suit in the subsequent years.
But it wasn’t until the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 that the Australian market suffered. Its passage in 2017 prompted most major online poker operators to withdraw from the market and ban Aussie players.
Can Small Efforts Garner Support?
Live poker remains very popular in Australia, as shown by big numbers this year at the 2020 Aussie Millions in Melbourne. But those who want online poker are forced to find their way to offshore sites.
There have been some efforts in the past two or three years to amend the current gambling laws to declare poker a game of skill and exempt it from current prohibitions. None of those have found enough support to move forward.
The most hopeful sign for poker fans is the reemergence of Joseph Del Luca, a public relations expert who has long worked to legalize online poker in Australia. He and a group of others once associated with the Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) are beginning another push to amend the Interactive Gambling Amendment (IGA). They want a carveout for poker.
Time will tell if they will find success. In the meantime, it is important to look at the top reasons that online poker should be legal in Australia.
Game of Skill
Poker has been proven over and over to be a game of skill. It sets itself apart from other casino games in that there is no house edge and it is solely a player-to-player game. Studies and analyses have shown – even in various courts around the world – that poker contains a skill component not found in other casino games. It is the reason that skilled poker players continue to win over the long run.
Revenue
If Australia ever wonders about new sources of revenue, lawmakers should look to online poker operators. They have shown time and again that they will pay taxes and fees to obtain licenses from countries around the world in order to offer their online poker games to players within those borders.
If Australia chose to legalize online poker and offer licenses, there are a number of sites that would immediately apply and pay fees to do so. They would likely agree to most tax rates and contribute significantly to the nation’s revenue.
Oversight
A regulatory body that issues licenses to online poker sites would have the power to regulate the industry. It could require certain contributions to organizations that work to prevent gambling harm and ensure that operators abide by all of the rules established by the government of Australia.
This has worked out well for countries like France, Italy, Spain, and even various parts of the United States like New Jersey.
Player Protection
While many offshore online casinos and poker sites are honest businesses, there are some that can trick players or not protect their funds for later withdrawals. Oversight by the Australian regulator can prevent this. By establishing guidelines and auditing the companies for compliance, players can rest assured that they are protected by a governmental body.
This doesn’t even require the Australian-facing poker sites to close the market to outside players. The UK market is an ideal example of how to regulate sites while allowing them to connect to player pools in other parts of the world.
Online Gambling Australia Poker Sites
Casino Benefits
When countries regulate online poker, they often partner with land-based casinos. This is the case in states in America. This has been shown to benefit the land-based casinos, as the online sites bring players to the casinos, where they may play other games and use the restaurants and other facilities.
With poker, land-based casinos also benefit by hosting tournaments, which again bring players from the online realm to the live poker rooms.
If Australia structures the market to partner online poker with land-based casinos, there are opportunities for cross-promotions and growth.
In recent years, the Australian government has tightened laws around gambling, particularly online gambling through the introduction of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill in 2016. While these changes help to protect players from unlicensed online casinos, they have caused some confusion amongst Australian players about what casino games they can still legally enjoy online.
This post explains how online poker rules have changed, explores the gambling industry in both the UK and Australia, as well as identifying how the industry has adapted and how Australian citizens can continue to play their favourite casino games online.
Differences between the gambling industry in the UK and Australia
Playing casino games has long been a popular pastime in both the UK and Australia, with the industry having a significant contribution to both of their economies. In Australia, gambling is regulated by The Australian Communications and Media Authority and in the UK, it is overseen by The Gambling Commission. Both countries have extensive gambling regulations to help protect its users, and while Australia’s interactive gambling laws may have become more restrictive, there are still a wide range of online games and websites available to players.
In the UK, gross gambling yield is around £11.3 billion. In comparison, Australia’s gross gambling yield is around £14.1 billion, with an average spend of $916 per person, per year. Playing with physical machines, known as pokies, proved to be more popular than online gaming in Australia. Interestingly, it has been reported that there are more ‘pokies’ in New South Wales than there are Koala Bears living in the whole of Australia. These machines are regular features in hotels, clubs and casinos.
These figures suggest that, as the UK’s population is nearly three times the size of Australia’s, Australians spend considerably more on average on gambling than their UK counterparts. This may be due to gambling being a part of the countries entertainment heritage, with a culture of acceptance and gambling availability having developed over the decades.
Recent changes to Australian gambling laws and regulations
Originally introduced in 2001, the Interactive Gambling Act banned Australian websites from offering products to Australian customers. Due to the policies wording, offshore companies were exempt and as a result more money was being spent overseas.
The Interactive Gambling Bill was amended in 2016 to prevent loopholes such as this from being exploited by some gambling sites. Under these latest reforms, it is now illegal for all prohibited or unlicensed online gambling products to be offered to Australian consumers by either domestic or offshore companies.
However, it is important to note that the Bill does not penalise Australian citizens, instead it imposes fines of up to $1.1 million for companies breaking its rules. Individuals placing bets at an online casino will not receive a fine or face legal action.
Types of gambling including auto-racing, sports betting and online lotteries are still perfectly legal and are allowed to be played online, providing that betting is not done in-game.
Ways Australians can still play
Interest is games such as poker continues to be widespread in Australia, spurred on by the increased broadcasting of live casino tournaments and televised poker events. More than 80% of adults in the country enjoy some form of gambling. Despite the new interactive gambling regulations, there are still many online casino sites accepting Australian players.
Both practice modes and real money options are on offer, ensuring that casino games can be enjoyed by just-for-fun players and experienced professionals alike. As in the UK, winnings from poker are not taxed in Australia, so serious players of online poker games can take advantage those who are less experienced, without worrying about losing some of their winnings!
Practice games give users the chance to prepare their pattern identifying techniques, familiarise themselves with tournament structures and try out different games and formats. Deciding to go all-in is a much less nerve-wracking decision when your actual money is not at stake.
Some players have resorted to using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) hide their location and access online casinos no longer available to them. Some have also made use of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as Australian currency is no longer accepted. Using a VPN is discouraged as it is likely to go against user agreements and websites are finding ways of identifying and preventing this. Casino enthusiasts should remember that these regulations are not in place to put an end all gambling, instead they are there to hold online casinos accountable for their conduct and protect the interests of their consumers.
Gambling Poker Sites
New interactive gambling regulations have posed significant challenges to both online casinos and the Australian customers who enjoy them. However, the industry is continuing to adapt to these changes. With list of online gambling websites available to citizens of Australia ever expanding, players are gaining more and more choice and game diversity.