The poker industry Poker

888poker pulls out of Australia

Written by Ben Blaschke

The future of online poker in Australia looks bleak after leading site 888poker announced it was pulling out of the market due to an anticipated change in Australia’s online gaming laws.

An amendment to the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act – which prohibits unlicensed offshore sites providing online gambling to Australians – is expected to pass in the coming months, closing loopholes that have, until now, been exploited by operators.

Those that choose to remain face fines of up to AU$1.35 million per day for individuals and AU$6.75 million for companies via the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

888poker ceased offering their services to Australian-based players on 16 January, sending out an email to players the previous week that stated, “Following a business reevaluation, we’d like to inform you that 888poker’s services are not being offered to players residing in Australia and therefore your account will be closed as of 16/01/2017.

“You can still withdraw funds from your bankroll at any time using our web cashier. Please check your email for more information.”

The world’s number one online poker site, PokerStars, is expected to follow suit if amendments to the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act are confirmed, as expected.

Ironically, Australia has traditionally been renowned as one of the poker world’s strongholds and was a popular destination for US players after the FBI shut down their country’s online poker industry in April 2011 – a day commonly referred to in the poker community as Black Friday.