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Gambling has been an established part of Australian culture since way back. Consequently, this country boasts in its renowned record as a population who bet on anything including the smallest of the odds. Reporting evidence that 90% of Australia residents having gambling habits is an expenditure with a total amount AUS $20 billion per annum. Thus, casinos are to be found in all Australian metropolises and districts.
But, it is not all bullying on the hill, and on the contrary, that widespread involvement in gambling has contributed to a lot of problems, mostly online gambling, and the frequency of gambling addiction.
Compared to the popular gambling destinations such as Macau and Las Vegas, the country of Australia never boasted the same degree of reputation , but it has still come to be known as a country that has the biggest support of poker players worldwide. This is reflected by the fact that a huge number of poker tables are found in Australian casinos and is further underpinned by major poker events that occur in the country such as the Aussie Millions. It is generally accepted that the booming of poker in Australia is a result of Joe Hachem defeating the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Therefore, when one mentions poker, Australia is the first place that stands on the gambling arena.
Prominent Poker Personalities from Australia
In the list of well-known Australian poker players, Joe Hachem rules over the Australian all-time money list with the total career earnings of $12 million, in which $7.5 million are awarded for the 2005 WSOP Main Event victory. And then there is a close-up of Kahle Burns with the championship money pocketed to the tune of $10.732 million. The third belongs to Michael Addamo, a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, with the earnings of $8.303 million which were accumulated mostly in online high roller games. On an international level, Salty Dog also has the well-deserved title of WSOP Player of the Year for 2019. He won two bracelets during this year. However, on pinnacle of Australian Matt Kirk who is one of the greatest names in Pot Limit Omaha cash games.
Laws Regarding Live Poker in Australia
In Australia, gaming regulations are decided officially by each state, though overall it is legal to play, which also includes live poker. To begin with, many top level poker tournaments are organized in the country in order to serve the wishes of poker players.
Nonetheless, a lot of attention is directed at legislative initiatives because of the widespread use of gambling which implies problems related to gambling addiction. Reports obtained point out that in Australia there are about 80,000 and 160,000 cases with the gambling problems and the biggest problem and annually the amount of it becomes about 4.7 billion dollars. Cap it all off, regulations have been introduced to govern the gambling area. However, these restrictions do not directly address the behaviors of individuals and their gambling activities. So, the Australian government has issued prohibitions on the game operators themselves to cut the promotion of their operations.
Live Poker Scene in Australia
Australia is home to over 130 poker tables located in more than 20 poker rooms, and the number of poker machines is counted to be a staggering 180,000, which is five times that of the number in the US. Cities like Melbourne and Darwin, Queensland are home to both casinos as well as interested poker partygoers. These are some of the many popular cities where poker is played. Live poker is unrestricted and welcomes both locals and tourists alike. Furthermore, Australia is a home of many poker tournaments from the international and local stage like Aussie Millions, ANZPT, as well as the WSOP, WPT, APT, and APPT tournaments which are played regularly.
Online Poker Legislation in Australia
In 2016, the government officially recommended installing more watchdog provisions of the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001(IGA)in order to fight remote wagering (Offshore betting was mostly presented by the Review of Illegal Offshore Wagering made by Hon. Barry O’Farrell). The Interactive Gambling Act of 2016 came into force in 2017. The objective of this act was to address mostly the illegal matter of sports betting. However, the wording was not subtle enough to exclude also the offshore online poker sites.
As a whole, the Australian parliament had yet to pass the bill, but Poker 888, one of the biggest players in the Australian online market, already made the decision to withdraw. Regulation policies gave impetus to the pair of PokerStars and PartyPoker to leave the Australian market. The majority of owners of biggest and most familiar brands are going away from Australia, foreseen huge fines of more than AUS $1 million. However other poker sites continue to serve Aussies, like Intertops, and Ignition Casino. However, in early 2020, those foreign sites remaining were blocked by the local government.
By looking at the word interpretation of the IGA, supposedly Australia is rethinking the registration of Australian online casino poker sites as the onshore poker operators, so as to enable them to do business and to give service to their customers in the country. In the same matter, The minister for communications, Mitch Fifield, firm up the idea that “the government is inclined to quickly the idea of online poker” licensing. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat, Senator David Levenjelm, reaffirmed “Australian online poker players deserve to be in a regulated environment where they can play and not be constrained to go offshore.”
There are no regulatory measures one can possibly talk about implementing for the Australian online poker licensing program which still does not exist to this day and age.
