A few months ago the Merge Gaming Network temporarily allowed Australians to play online poker for real money, but after the developments of April 15th (“Black Friday”), they backed out and banned them again. It is quite funny though that the Merge Gaming Network is also based Down Under as well.
According to latest rumors the same might happen at PokerStars as well and there have been discussions on QuadJacks and Chris Levick claims to have a reliable source. It is yet to be confirmed by PokerStars or any media contact closely to them but might come into effect by August 1st 2011.
It looks like PokerStars has insight that one of their subsidiaries (GP Information Services) based in Erina Heights (suburb of Gosford in New South Wales), has been under the radar by the Australian authorities. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, GP Information Services is owned by the Oldford Group which is one of the business entities involved in “Black Friday”.
GP Information Services provides marketing services for Pokerstars for the Australian market and the IGA law from 2001 clearly states that it is not allowed to run marketing campaigns in any way, shape or forms and thus GP Information Services potentially is in direct violation of it. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is currently investigating 46 complaints and appears to be as strict as the FBI.
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Another remarkable development Down Under is the closure of the Poker News Magazine, they recently took over Bluff Australasia and the magazine will cease to exist and probably just remain as normal newspaper. Advertising for the online poker market in Australia has dropped significantly and thus this is a direct result, since they basically can’t afford it anymore to keep it going.
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As you can see, not only the US is influenced by the actions of Black Friday and we are yet to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Whereas PokerStars appears to be back to somewhat normal and also already pays out US customers, there is no significant positive news from FullTilt and AP/UB. As soon as this is officially confirmed, we will of course keep you posted.
2 comments:
In this state, it will be hard for online poker to get back on its feet.
It is difficult to predict, which direction online poker will take. After France and Italy, Spain will now be following the regulation of online poker / gambling as well and I am sure more governments want to take advantage of the huge potential revenue in the future as well. If there is a reasonable regulation, it should not be a problem ... but that actually requires that all parties talk and no actions are taken out of the blue.
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