Is this some kind of strange level? I live on the other side of the world, and it took me about 5 seconds to find the Australian election date of September 7th.

Might not fold under a Coalition Govt. If they can regulate the online poker industry and thereby easily draw tax from it and make a dollar, then it might just be around for a while yet.

You can guarantee that online pokers future in Oz will basically become a function of how badly the coalition need Xenophon's vote in the Senate. It's not that the coalition are hell bent on regulating/banning online poker its more that Xenophon's vote maybe crucial for them to secure their agenda. The policy put out by the libs is purely to keep Xenophon onside imo. They have a million other more important things to do in the first term than regulate poker. If they win the Senate outright, which I agree is unlikely, that would probably be the best outcome for players.

Independents hold way too much power it's absurd

Nice comeback. Was wondering if he sharkscopes every poster

I'm a close relative of the CEO of Clubs Australia and we've had plenty of chats about all this stuff. Not saying Clubs don't have a position on online poker but I'm not overly concerned about the whole situation.

93 election? Hewson was an even bigger favourite to win than Abbott. But Keating won comprehensively. Almost no one I know is planning to vote for Abbott, and the polls are rigged by Rupert Murdoch. This election is far from over.

http://www.sportsbet.com.au/blog/hom...-2013-election

I guess you should put a grand on Ruddy then.

http://www.abc.net.au/technology/art...28/3835684.htm

Sportsbet are run by PaddyPower, a company that offered odds on Obama being assassinated, how many women would die of illegal abortions in Poland and when the Polar Bear will be extinct. They are a disgraceful company with no moral compass. They were almost definately paid big money by Right-Wing scum that want a Coalition win to do this. No betting company should ever be taken seriously when it comes to politics.

decent article.

Hahahahaha, Far out thats scummy.

Regardless, i think it's somewhat unlikely they would be paying 11.5:1 if Kevin rudd stood a chance. Which is a shame.

julia bishop according to what i was told by her office when i rang them today, it is a plan but isnt a priority if they make government, would be in a time period of 2-3 years before anything serious got moving.

You must have been out of the country during the Howard years

Well you should ask him why in a submission on changes to the IGA, Clubs argued the following:

“There remains a concern that moves to legalise the remaining online segment would provide online gambling with a sense of legitimacy, resulting in increased participation in online gambling activities and problem gambling prevalence levels.”

But look, this is sort of missing the point. Clubs aren't the issue here, as they aren't running hard on this. The only point i'd make about lobbying is that banning casino gaming will be popular with the public and there will be no high-profile, organised campaign against the ban.

The issue is that Abbott is a conservative catholic, whose personal philosophy is not particularly at ease about gambling. His party, a week before the election, specifically said they were going to enforce the IGA, and even singled out poker.

The Greens and Xenophon are both opposed to online casino gambling, including poker.

The most likely outcome of the election is a Liberal victory, with either Greens or Xenophon holding the balance of power in the senate. This is the problem.

The best ally poker players have now in Australia is indifference. The hope that as this is not a high-order issue, we'll stay under the radar. That's my hope.

Its not about gambling, its not even about poker, it's about oz being on the top end of the spectrum when it comes to affluent countries. Allowing online poker is allowing their cash to go outside the country. That was of course what the whole ban in the US is about and new legislation will prove it.

Oz is learning from the US's mistake before it goes to far.

nah was only him. thought from his overreaction, wording, cluelessness of the situation and the fact he has never heard how easy it is to reloacte inspite of the fact he is a pro that he was maybe not as pro as he thought.

obviously he rebutted that and confirmed he is a high stakes hu baller though

This is irrelevant. Laws making online poker illegal have already pass by the Howard Government I believe. All that stands between us and poker being banned is a government willing to enforce the legislation.

Going after the illegal online betting operations will be an easy way for the government to appease anti gambling groups without doing anything that will offend Australia's very powerful anti gambling interests. Seems like pretty good political strategy for a liberal government to get rid of it.

Rudd isn't Paul Keating unfortunately

I don't understand how you can involve the Greens or Xenophon in this equation if the legislation is already in place to ban online poker and all they have to do is enforce it which means throwing more money at the regulatory body ACMA who is responsible.

Our one saviour perhaps is the state of the budget that the labor party left us in which means unlike Labor the liberals will most likely do a cost/benefit analysis of the cost of banning the sites vs. the benefits to the social fabric of our society.

So, in a way, online poker players can thank the deplorable state of our finances to give the liberals, should they win, other areas to prioritize in terms of reform and the areas like enforcing the ban on online poker will need to go through a further analysis to see whether it is truly worth doing it.

This is correct. What we need to realise is that Nick Xenophon is the anti-gambling crusader. His vote may or may not become critical to the coalition. He seems entrenched in South Australia. Curse you South Aussies. Put him last.

Not happening - he is to South Australia as Brian Harrandine was to Tasmania.

Urgh. Both at potentially what's coming and also at some posts itt.

I actually found this article quite insightful too for anyone who hasn't read it yet...

http://www.pokermedia.com.au/news/63...overnment.aspx

I live in Adelaide and have never heard anyone say a good thing about Xenophon.