Australia's proposed change to online gambling

And our American friends think they are the only ones with online poker problems.....

GAMBLERS who lose money playing internet poker or online casino games would be able to void unsuccessful credit card bets under legislation to be tabled in Parliament next month.
In a bid to crack down on illegal internet betting, the independent senator Nick Xenophon will also propose stricter advertising controls on companies with wagering products and their affiliated sites.
Although laws prohibit gambling houses from allowing Australians to play poker or casino games for money online, the Herald understands that no firm has been prosecuted for breaching these regulations, despite an estimated $1 billion bet domestically on these sites each year.
"With voided credit card bets, I have to say there's something appealing to me about online casinos losing their shirts rather than the punters," Mr Xenophon said. ''It would certainly make online casinos think twice about accepting Australian cards.''
The government is preparing for a bitter fight to introduce pokies reform under which the maximum individual bet would be slashed from $10 to $1. That change is part of a deal the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, struck with the independent MP Andrew Wilkie to ensure his support after the election last year.
Issues surrounding betting sites hit the headlines last weekend after America's Federal Bureau of Investigation laid charges against the major players in the global online poker industry - pokerstars, full tilt poker and Absolute Poker - alleging bank fraud, money laundering and breaches of US gambling laws.
They also sought to recover more than $US3 billion ($2.8 billion) as the proceeds of crime.
Although these firms cannot advertise in Australia, some use affiliated sites - where people play for fun rather than money - to sponsor sports teams sides, with NRL clubs Cronulla and the Roosters signing such deals.
Companies offering prohibited poker and casino betting can also operate from within Australia, with the Sydney company GP Information Services, which is a subsidiary of PokerStars, running a 200-strong office in Chatswood.
Craig Meagher, a former general manager of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust who now works for GP Information Services, refused to discuss online betting with the Herald.
Companies that breach the law can be fined up to $1.1 million a day, but none has been prosecuted, although a spokesman for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy said "a number of instances … have been referred to the AFP''.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/te...ne-gambling-20110422-1drgj.html#ixzz1KIxjgMyS

The stupidity of politicians astounds me, Xenophon was elected on an anti pokies (slot machine) ticket and is trying to make a name for himself as his term in office is coming to an end.

1) It is NOT illegal for Australians to play online poker it is illegal for Australian based poker sites to let Aussies play on their sites.

2) ANY FOOL who attempted to withdraw funds after losing would NEVER get on a site again.

3) This reporter has turned this story about credit cards into an attack on the poker sites

Online poker is a special case and must be legislated and regulated as such but how do we get this fact into their stupid heads?.

What disgusts me the most about the Australian government position on all of this is that it's got nothing whatsoever to do with sensible public policy, protecting problem gamblers or any of that other nonsense that Nick Xenophon drivels on about.

You can bet on just about anything online here 100% legally. Hell, betting odds are routinely included in mainstream sports coverage. Australians love a punt and you can place a sports bet legally just about anywhere, including online.

Our casinos, on the other hand, pretty much all operate as geographic monopolies. There's one in each major city and most have an agreement with the relevant state government guaranteeing that nobody else will be allowed to open another casino in the area (Crown Casino in Melbourne has at least another few decades on its agreement IIRC).

I'm convinced online poker is only banned here because the casinos, who pay huge amounts to the states in taxes, want it that way. It's certainly not because we as a country are against gambling either in general or online because we're obviously not.

As for the actual proposal, surely all the sites will do is stop accepting Australian credit cards and force people to deposit through some other means?

Did I read that right? He is going to encourage people to do mass chargebacks on credit cards? Sounds like a really smart guy, the credit card companies are going to be happy with that......

OzExorcist said:

What disgusts me the most about the Australian government position on all of this is that it's got nothing whatsoever to do with sensible public policy, protecting problem gamblers or any of that other nonsense that Nick Xenophon drivels on about.

You can bet on just about anything online here 100% legally. Hell, betting odds are routinely included in mainstream sports coverage. Australians love a punt and you can place a sports bet legally just about anywhere, including online.

Our casinos, on the other hand, pretty much all operate as geographic monopolies. There's one in each major city and most have an agreement with the relevant state government guaranteeing that nobody else will be allowed to open another casino in the area (Crown Casino in Melbourne has at least another few decades on its agreement IIRC).

I'm convinced online poker is only banned here because the casinos, who pay huge amounts to the states in taxes, want it that way. It's certainly not because we as a country are against gambling either in general or online because we're obviously not.

As for the actual proposal, surely all the sites will do is stop accepting Australian credit cards and force people to deposit through some other means?

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Yep your casino idea is spot on but governments go even further.

I used to live in the ACT and the government there banned live poker with the excuse that live poker, even free poker tournaments "may lead to problem gambling".

The ACT Labor Party's election coffers are mainly funded through it's Labor Clubs and their websites show how hypocritical the "may lead to problem gambling" line was.

If you take a look at the tiny Weston Creek Labor Club's website they advertise 63 poker machines and thirty two, yes 32 television to watch horse racing.

http://www.laborclub.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113&Itemid=120

With political parties running gambling dens such as this and locking out any competition for the gambling dollar what hope is there for gambling reform in this country?

You may wish to check out the Australian Productivity Commissions report on gambling. Chapter 15 is about online gambling and mentions that online poker is a special case and should be legislated as such.

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/95682/gambling-report-volume2.pdf

Nick said:

Did I read that right? He is going to encourage people to do mass chargebacks on credit cards? Sounds like a really smart guy, the credit card companies are going to be happy with that......

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yep that's his idea, and he sounds so smug about it when he says:

"With voided credit card bets, I have to say there's something appealing to me about online casinos losing their shirts rather than the punters," Mr Xenophon said. ''It would certainly make online casinos think twice about accepting Australian cards.''

So, basically the fool is giving Aussie (online) gamblers the chance to destroy their own credit rating.

Nick said:

Did I read that right? He is going to encourage people to do mass chargebacks on credit cards? Sounds like a really smart guy, the credit card companies are going to be happy with that......

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Yep, he's that clever. He basically got elected on a platform of "pokies are bad, m'kay" and he's been fuddling around ever since trying to find other things to occupy his time. The apparently is the next thing.

The depressing part is if it gets passed it might actually work in restricting people's access to online poker in this country because both the sites and the credit card companies could just throw us in the "too hard / too risky" basket.

If that's the intent then I might have to begrudgingly admit he's played a nice hand...

Bloody hell I knew this was going to happen. For some reason the Aussie government are in bed with the US government and love to copy them, heck we went to a corrupt war for the US afterall.

**** sake, I hate this nanny state country

deucem said:

yep that's his idea, and he sounds so smug about it when he says:

"With voided credit card bets, I have to say there's something appealing to me about online casinos losing their shirts rather than the punters," Mr Xenophon said. ''It would certainly make online casinos think twice about accepting Australian cards.''

So, basically the fool is giving Aussie (online) gamblers the chance to destroy their own credit rating.

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How dumb. Did that man forget about direct wire deposits, checks, money orders, Moneybookers, virtual visa, etc. duh !

ruth99 said:

How dumb. Did that man forget about direct wire deposits, checks, money orders, Moneybookers, virtual visa, etc. duh !

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Probably not.

That said, even just implementing this measure for credit cards would have a reasonably large effect and the worst part is it's the losing fish that would be the most likely to give up on online poker if they couldn't deposit using whatever credit card they have in their wallet.

ruth99 said:

How dumb. Did that man forget about direct wire deposits, checks, money orders, Moneybookers, virtual visa, etc. duh !

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There are sooo many ways to move cash on the web. I think FT has about 7 - 8 different deposit and withdrawal methods.

Personally I don't give a fig about online casino's my main concern is getting my fix of online poker but this Senator is making noise in order to "protect" us from ourselves because of the 1%(?) of people who get online and can't control their gambling.

OzExorcists point of.........

"The depressing part is if it gets passed it might actually work in restricting people's access to online poker in this country because both the sites and the credit card companies could just throw us in the "too hard / too risky" basket"............

is a frightening reality now especially when the media (the reporter of this story has mistakenly called online poker illegal) and the single issue politicians (anti - gambling) start feeding off each other.

There MUST be a way poker players can co-ordinate their activities and lobby for regulated, global access to online poker sites.

To me poker IS a special case and so to paraphrase the senator I have to say there's something appealing to me about the thought of every online poker player in the world e-mailing and snail mailing this and every other politician / reporter in the world who have misguided objectives in relation to poker / online gambling or simply have their facts wrong.

Good to see us Americans aren't the only with idiot politicians...

The rest of the world has stupid politicians as well...

The government is preparing for a bitter fight to introduce pokies reform

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Isn't this more to do with slot machines than online poker?