Gibraltar-based online gambling operator 32Red announced plans to gradually withdraw its services from the Australian market as of today, 3 April, 2017. The decision of the operator was prompted by the turn which recent gambling regulations in the Land Down Under have taken. Australian lawmakers have moved closer to reaching an agreement on prohibiting offshore gambling operators without Australian licenses from providing their services to players, based on the territory of the country.
The online gambling operator, which was acquired by the Kindred Group earlier this year, currently offers a number of interactive betting products, including an online casino, a poker room, and a sportsbook. As of today, none of these services will be available to new Australian players as became evident by the email the Gibraltar-based operator sent to its affiliate partners and customers.
The operator informed registered members on its decision not to accept any new registrations from players residing in the country. The affiliate partners of 32Red, on the other hand, are expected to cease the promotion of all product offerings of the brand to players from the country with immediate effect.
Thus, 32Red’s affiliates are to remove all hyper links, banners and other promotional materials of the brand from their websites. The Gibraltar-based gambling operator went on to disclose that affiliates would continue to generate revenue shares from referred Australian players, who have existing accounts, until further notice.
In March 2017, the Australian government moved closer to closing the long-existing loopholes in the country’s current legislation in regard to online gambling. The current regulations allow interactive gambling operators that are licensed and based outside Australia to exploit the loopholes in the law, still offering their products to Australian players.
The Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 passed its third reading on March 21 and aims at dealing with the said loopholes by prohibiting offshore gambling providers without licenses from offering their products in the country. The plans of the lawmakers include blocking IP addresses, imposing civil penalties on offenders and creating a blacklist of unlicensed operators. The new bill has already moved for a vote in the House of Representatives and if it passes in the lower house, it would most likely become the law within a few months.
Unfortunately, 32Red is hardly the only operator to announce plans for a withdrawal from the Australian market. The past twelve months were marked by the exodus of several other key operators like William Hill, 888 Holdings, and Vera&John.
If the amendment is given the stamp of approval, PokerStars will be the next one to leave the market. PokerStars’ customers were also informed via email that if the bill goes into effect, they would have their accounts suspended and registrations will no longer be accepted from Australia.
However, the bill is unlikely to be voted before the start of the next governmental session in May 2017. This will enable Australian poker fans to at least take part in the upcoming Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), hosted by PokerStars. The event is expected to be the largest in PokerStars’ history and offers over $55 million in guaranteed prize money.
- Author
Daniel Williams
