• The Australian online poker industry might be about to change for the worse if an amendment to the country’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 comes into effect. Despite being something of a grey area for online poker since the industry started to boom, Australia has typically been a country of plenty for players and operators.
• 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.

Australia’s online poker players have seemingly lost another outlet for playing their game with the news that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ordered the blocking of the large grey-market offering Ignition Casino. The ACMA on Monday issued the blocking order to the country’s internet service providers (ISPs), specifying Ignition Casino and eight other online gambling sites that have continued to accept Aussie customers following that country’s official ban in 2017 on all forms of online gambling other than sports betting.

It’s the second time that the ACMA has issued such a blocking order. Last year, the ACMA ordered the blocking of another Aussie-facing operation, Emu Casino, which included multiple brands and domains. Emu Casino has since exited the Aussie online sphere while reaching a workaround deal with Aussie authorities that allows customers to retrieve their frozen Emu balances through separate means. The ACMA has ordered the blocking based on updates made to both gambling and telecommunications laws in Australia.

In addition to Ignition Casino, the ACMA also ordered ISPs to block these sites: Roo Casino, GW Casino, Wager Beat, Joe Fortune, Casino Dingo, AU Slots, Top Bet, and XBet. As is plainly evident, some of these sites specifically targeted Aussie gamblers despite the country’s ban on such services, while others may simply have failed to proactively block Australian players.

Top Australian Real Money Poker Sites. If you're looking to play online poker we have some good news for you. There are a great number of real money online poker sites with AUD for Aussie players to choose from. The choice is often tough because you need to pick a quality real money site you can trust.

“More than 79 complaints have been submitted to the ACMA about these services, which are available in Australia,” the ACMA declared in a statement. “ACMA investigations found these services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.”

The regulator also noted that “Website blocking is one of a range of enforcement and disruption options the ACMA uses to protect Australians against illegal gambling services. More than 90 illegal companies have pulled out of the Australian market since 2017 when the ACMA started enforcing new illegal offshore gambling rules.”

Ignition Casino is a spinoff of the Bodog/Bovada brand family. Ignition Casino was created in August of 2016 through the sale of Bovada Poker’s US customer base to Lynton Limited, an unknown entity with little previous track record. Despite its “casino” name, Ignition was created as a poker-first offering, and it remains operating as a skin of sorts on Bodog/Bovada’s software, and it appears to have accepted players from at least a few other countries as well, as evidenced by the current situation in Australia. The site is officially regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), based just outside Montreal, Canada.

The loss of a prominent and stable grey-market offering (given that no formal regulatory mechanism is even being considered) is likely to drive Australia’s devoted online players even farther underground in the virtual sense. One likely result should be an even greater shift to the “club”-based form of online poker generally available through agents and via smartphone apps. Such apps and games first surfaced in Pacific Rim countries ranging from China to Australia, and despite their high risks, they’ve become an option of last resort for certain categories of online players. No formal regulatory plans are on the country’s legislative horizon.

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The end of Australian online poker is coming quicker than most players anticipated. Of the two leading poker sites still operating in Australia, one is departing the market next week and the last on September 11. Within a few weeks, Aussie players will either make the switch to live poker, sign up with black market sites, or move to a country that offers legal online poker. The choices are not ideal.

PokerStars and PartyPoker have announced their official exit dates due to the final passage of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 on August 9. The law is scheduled to take effect in the middle of September, and it will unequivocally ban offshore internet gambling sites, including poker-only sites, from offering services to Australians. It leaves one of the most thriving and lucrative online poker markets in the dust.

Global online poker suffered greatly when Black Friday took the United States out of the dot-com market, and operators will see another dip in their overall numbers with the closure of the Australian market. The entire industry will feel the effects of the change.

They Fought a Good Fight

Poker players all across Australia put up a good fight to reject the bill or create an exemption for online poker as a skill game. Everyone from casual poker enthusiasts to the most well-known Aussie poker pro, Joseph Hachem, spoke up and drove the movement. Some of them banded together to create the Australian Online Poker Alliance, which served as a grassroots organization and lobbying vehicle to try to find a place in the conversation about online poker at the government level.

Thanks @RealKidPoker appreciate you taking the time to read my blog piece. #AusFight4Poker and @AustOnlinePoker appreciates your support!

— Joseph Del Duca (@Joey_Del) July 20, 2017

The AOPA even found a lawmaker who shared their views. Liberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelm became an outspoken advocate for the cause of saving online poker, even going so far as introducing an amendment to exempt online poker from the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016.

@DavidLeyonhjelm Thanks for the effort to keep online poker in Australia. You seem to be the only one in that mad house with common sense

— Diamond (@DiamondDerr) August 9, 2017

However, most lawmakers had already made up their minds. Human Services Minister Alan Tudge pushed hard for the bill in the fall of 2016 and never stopped. He felt that consumers in Australia were at risk (not realizing the dangers than lurk in the powerful unregulated market) and sought to strengthen the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001, a law that left enough loopholes for most online gaming operators to walk directly through.

Australian Online Poker News 2019

And Tudge got his wish on August 9 when the Senate passed the bill.

A Prolonged Black Friday

When Black Friday happened in the US, it was a sudden occurrence. While there may have been signs that it could happen, the day caught everyone off guard. The major poker sites – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UltimateBet, and Absolute Poker – were suddenly unavailable, and those who tried to view the sites saw only a US Department of Justice seal and a notice that the domains had been seized. News trickled in slowly as players awaited the fate of their pastime, careers, and cash.

Australia has been working on its exit from the world market for more than a year, and there was little doubt that the bill was going to pass. PokerStars went so far as to comment on it in November of 2016 and alert players that the legislation’s passage would force the company to block Australian players. And by the time 2017 got underway, 888poker had already made the decision to leave. Players received their notices on January 13, and the site was unavailable to Aussies as of January 16.

PartyPoker and PokerStars waited. They wanted the bill to pass before they made any sudden moves. After they confirmed the new law with lawyers after August 9, however, they knew the time had come.

Goodbye, PartyPoker

The first to go will be PartyPoker. Parent company GVC announced the exit of PartyPoker from Australia within days after the bill passed, and the ban for those players begins August 31, 2017. On the poker site’s blog, the message read, in part: “Sadly, because of (the Interactive Gambling Amendment Act), gambling firms licensed and operating outside of Australia will be forced to prevent customers resident in Australia from playing on their gambling websites.”

The company assured players that their funds were safe and could be withdrawn at any time. PartyPoker Managing Director Tom Waters added, “We regret that this day has come as Australia is a strong poker market. We will continue to work with the Australian player alliance to lobby the government to provide a safe regulated environment for residents to play online poker in the future.”

A last final table of online poker at Party Poker before its illegal in Australia in September. I thought we lived in a free county ! ??? pic.twitter.com/vRAHKFJy8z

— AusScorpion (@auscorpion) August 17, 2017

Goodbye, PokerStars

PokerStars sent emails to its Australian players to announce the withdrawal of services from that market on September 11, 2017. As with its competitor, the site confirmed that any monies in player accounts will remain safe and open for withdrawal. Players were also encouraged to use their StarsCoin and any rewards, and tournament tickets and money will be converted to cash and available for withdrawal as of September 11. The site encouraged players to compete on the play-money poker site and apps.

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And it seems PokerStars will remain active in lobbying for better legislation via the Australian government as well. “As supporters of sensible online gaming regulation and the most licensed poker brand in the world we hope that future legislation will be considered that will allow PokerStars to return to Australia. The Australian Online Poker Alliance has done great work lobbying on behalf of Australian poker players this year, so if you’re yet to sign up (for free) then it only takes a moment to do so.”

Online Poker officially dead in Australia! Lazy policy…. pic.twitter.com/WnvxE4An2l

— Herbert Hodgson (@herberthodgson) August 17, 2017

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The Australian Online Poker Alliance has a website that contains information about the movement going forward.

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