Hello TwoPlusTwo
YOU WANT TO READ THIS, Specifically
Australian poker players, its been a long time, firstly i in no way consider myself a smart person, and would like
YOUR HELP in doing something about this news. I will try my best in finding out
who we need to contact but i also need YOUR HELP.
I was made aware of disturbing news a few days ago, my initial reactions were... I can't believe what i just read, and i must do something about it because i know nobody else would.
So if you are
Australian and
care about being able to play Online poker your first step should be to
write letters, call, contact, email every politician about how you don't want the Liberals to take away Online Poker.
Poker players are generally very lazy, but put it this way
is spending a few moments of your day emailing, calling, lettering, faxing someone
worth keeping the luxury of being able to
play poker online???
We should not have the mentality of "Oh its not gonna happen" we should have the mentality of "Prevention is better than cure"
Before you send a angry letter or cuss them out you need to know what you are talking about, and state your argument clearly. Last year i wrote a submission when they were making a review of the IGA
I targeted that the whole purpose of IGA and Internet Poker was to
help problem gamblers, underage gamblers, and money laundering. My argument was that if Online Poker was legal it would be much more easier to regulate, help problem gamblers and money laundering.
How would it be easier?
If there
Online Poker was legal, and under regulation, the government could
stop problem gamblers by putting them on a
blacklist. And that problem gamblers
would be worse off in an unregulated illegal online market because;
1. Problem gamblers are always going to gamble
2. Since they can't play Online poker anymore (where you can risk as low as 2cents) They're
going to go to the brick and mortar casinos (where there is a
risk of losing even more money because casinos don't have games that charge as low as 2cents)
3. The government
can't stop internet sites in the short-term,
new ones will
open up, players will deposit on these sites, because
respected sites like Pokerstars are ousted from Australia, some will either go
bankrupt before the Australian government find out, and players might be
victims losing deposited money to offshore scammers.
Companies like
pokerstars, should not be taken out to protect consumers --- which
under the the ACMA compliance, enforcement and obligation to Australians is broken (Shown Below) 1.community interests are met 2.consumers are protected 3.industry growth is encouraged(Not sure about this one)
4. Some Online Poker players are
professionals, who earn their living, support their family, children, with the money they earn, and they
pay tax. However if they lose the ability to play poker, the
government has not foreseen how this would affect this majority of Australians.
They would
lose their Jobs, their money that they have on the site, (
If its not on a respectable site then maybe
never see this money again)
They would then need to
go on centrelink, increasing unemployment, because poker players are generally not good at anything else.
Also some Australians would
need to relocate, the
Americans after blackfriday as an example, not only would the
government lose tax revenue they would see
Australians spending money aboard rather than in Australia which is
not good for the economy
5. I stated and compared the law to other countries such as
England where it was legal, and how
America was in the process and has already legalised about 3 states.
6. Government
would benefit from taxing Online poker rather than making it illegal, and losing all revenue from Poker sites that will pop up and likely scam Australians
7. Why is Online Sports Betting, not regarding as gambling, and Online Poker is?
If online sports betting is allowed, Online Poker should be allowed, the law contradicts itself.
8.
Australians have the right to gamble with their money, therefore should have the
right to gamble online, A few bad apples should not spoil it for other Australians who view Poker as recreation or a Job.
"If someone drinks and drives and kills someone else driving a car, should it be made illegal to drive for all Australians?"
9. This is a stretch, but i tried arguing that poker was a
game of skill, i even tried, contacting the Australian Sport Committee to get poker get recognised as a game of skill not luck (the lady basically laughed in my face and didn't even say goodbye while hanging up)
10. I already mentioned
blacklist for problem gamblers blocking them from playing, but i forgot to mention a very good point brought up by the Pokers Players Alliance, it was that, while playing on the internet if regulated,
Poker sites could create a POP UP message informing about how much was lost, unlike brick and mortar casinos where there is no sunlight, and no clock, Internet Poker provides better protection
11. To address money laundering, if made legal, Online poker will be regulated, regulations should include a
3rd party that makes sure online poker sites
protects Australians, and no money laundering occers, a body
like ASIC. Same can be said about underage gamblers, regulation helps prevent this.
None of this can happen without a regulated market
Fell free to use my arguments in your letter, email, or phone call.
Please add more if you think of any, this was a summary of my letter to everybody, Rudd, Gillard, Tony Abbot, I went through every Australian Politician when the IGA went up for review luckily they heard our side that day.
WHO TO CONTACT =
EVERYBODY STARTING WITH THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR YOUR AREA TO TONY ABBOT
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_M...=-1&gen=0&ps=0
I went through the entire list, and wrote a
hard copy letter to each one, and rang about a 3rd of them, and emailed them all.
BECAUSE I ENJOY AND SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO PLAY POKER IN AUSTRALIA JUST LIKE YOU DO
Also
After doing a bit of research ive come across
The Australian Communications And Media Authority OR the ACMA. And that the people to talk too are the "Officers of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy"
They are
Australias regulator for the internet, their
compliance and enforcement is:
The Australian media and communications landscape is diverse and complex.
Obligations are placed on industry to ensure that:
1.community interests are met
2.consumers are protected
3.industry growth is encouraged
Contact them here:
Australian Communications and Media Authority
PO Box Q500 Queen Victoria Building NSW 1230
TEL: (02) 9334 7700
FAX: (02) 9334 7799
gambling@acma.gov.au
Heres the link:
http://acma.gov.au/Industry/Internet...ernet-gambling
If OP reads this or if there is a moderator, please include the contact details to the OP
If you have anything to add please do so
I would also like to request permission to start a new thread with my response as OP, because i think it would be better for all Australians.
Last edited by OzPoker3DomFighter; 09-09-2013 at 10:56 AM.