Partypoker To Continue To Lobby Australian Government

Published on August 22nd, 2017 2:26 pm EST

Earlier this month, the Interactive Gambling Amendment Act was given royal assent in Australia, which means that it is set to become law in short order.

Based on the terms of the Act, only local firms that are licensed and operating in Australia will be able to offer their online gaming services to residents of Australia. This means that 888 Poker, Pokerstars and partypoker are all heading out the door, at least for now.

888 Poker announced that they were leaving Australia before the Interactive Gambling Amendment Act had been granted royal assent.

Pokerstars held out until the last minute and recently revealed that they would be leaving Australia as of September 11th.

Earlier this week, partypoker set the timeline for their departure from Australia, as they revealed that they would discontinue offering real money poker to residents of Australia as of August 31st.

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As we've mentioned before, the Australian market is a tough one to lose for the global online poker market, as the country loves to gamble and has a great deal of disposable income.

Australia's exit will make the games tougher, similar to what happened when the United States left the global market, just on a smaller scale.

Companies like Pokerstars and partypoker will continue to lobby for Australian poker players, though don't expect things to change anytime soon.