Weekly Roundup August 11 2017
Australia Online Poker Ban Passes Senate
Online poker players in Australia received bad news this week. he country’s senate passed a bill that effectively outlaws online poker in the country by amending the Interactive Gambling Act. The law makes it illegal to offer betting to Australian players. The ban also includes live betting on sports.
The previous version of the bill only banned the presence of servers in Australia. That did not stop the activity because poker sites simply placed servers in other countries. All it did was keep Australian companies from entering the industry. 888, Partypoker and 32Red left the Australian online poker market already in anticipation of this action. PokerStars remained in the Australian market but stated that it would likely leave if this legislation passed in the country.
High Stakes Database Published Bizarre Winning Poker Network Warning
The High Stakes Database (Highstakesdb.com) published a hit piece on the Winning Poker Network this week. False claims in the article stated that there was evidence that the Winning Poker Network was struggling paying players. The article took quotes from players out of context and appears to have failed to contact sources used or the company itself.
Professionalrakeback.com was the first to call out this rogue tactic. Others that lashed out at High Stakes Database included commenters on the company’s Facebook page and the article. Posters at the Two Plus Two poker forum were also not amused by this attempt to spread misinformation about Winning Poker.
Winning Poker has a history of paying players on time. It is closely related to Bookmaker.ag, a top U.S.-facing sportsbook.
High Stakes Database is owned by 180Vita. That is the same company that owns Pokertube and PokerVIP. 180Vita is an affiliate company that has repeatedly been on the controversial side of the online poker industry.
New Jersey and Nevada Discuss Online Poker Liquidity Sharing
New Jersey and Nevada are once again talking about the merging of online poker player pools. This would permit companies based in New Jersey to open up to Nevada players and vice versa. Nevada already shares liquidity with Delaware. WSOP.com Nevada and the three Delaware racino sites share a platform powered by 888.