888poker leave Australian and Slovenian markets
The online poker room pulls out of two large markets ahead of pending new regulation.
As of today Australian 888poker players will no longer be able to play on the site, but will be able to withdraw. They received the following email:
Following a business reevaluation, we’d like to inform you that 888poker’s services are not being offered to players residing in Australia and therefore your account will be closed as of 16/01/2017.
You can still withdraw funds from your bankroll at any time using our web cashier.
It is speculated that the reason for this is that it is expected the Australian Government will pass the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016 which requires online gaming companies to have local licenses. Those operating without could be fined as much as AUD$6.75 ($5 million) and as much as AUD$1.35 million ($1 million) per day to continue offering gaming.
Also last week 888poker withdrew from the Slovenian market just as PokerStars did last summer. The Slovenian government was also in the process of requiring operators to have licenses and PokerStars left with the intention of returning to the market with one of these licenses.
As yet there has been no official word from 888poker on either of these departures.
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There is no chance for that here. Really hope our lawmakers will come to a smart decision. I mean some money from online gambling would still be better than no income at all, just be reasonable, we're a small market.
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