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- New prohibition under consideration could force PokerStars out of Australia
- PokerStars parent company had already stopped sponsoring Aussie Millions tournament
- Gaming Act in Australia prohibits advertising to locals
PokerStars is considering whether to block those poker players residing in Australia as a result of proposed new restrictions in that country’s gambling law.
PokerStars parent company, Amaya Gaming, had already stopped sponsoring the uber popular Aussie Millions poker tournament this year.
“In Australia, we currently offer poker and are reviewing the applicability of proposed legislation to player-vs-player games of skill. At this time, it would appear likely that if the legislation passes, we would block players from Australia.”, Amaya CFO Daniel Sebag said.
The Australian government has had a recent history of flirting with Internet censorship and shunning gambling activities.
They were notorious for failed attempts to block pornography and other sites deemed “detrimental”, and in doing so managed to instead block a number of legal online gambling sites as well as one belonging to a dental facility and a church.
Gambling sites based out of Australia were among the first in the industry, most notably Centrebet and Canbet to name a few. A 2001 law changed all of this, at least for the locals.
The Interactive Gambling Act, passed by the Howard-Government in June 2001 with the intention of ‘protecting’ the public from the harmful effects of gambling over the Internet, prohibited the following:
Offering ‘real-money online interactive gambling services’ to Australian citizens.
Advertising ‘real-money interactive gambling services’ to Australian citizens.
Meanwhile, the list of restricted countries at PokerStars has become expansive over the years.
Here is a full list:
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Cuba
- Egypt
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kuwait
- Malaysia
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Palestinian Territories
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
- Vatican City
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
