Tasmania Ban Poker as Illegal Gambling, Except in Casinos 2023
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Poker games outlawed in Tasmania except at Casinos –
Tasmania has recently introduced a series of measures to curb the harmful effects of poker machines, also known as pokies, on its residents. The state government has announced that poker games will be classified as illegal gambling unless they are hosted by licensed casinos, and that gamblers will have to set limits on how much they can spend on pokies per year.
The restriction appears to be based on what constitutes lawful gaming in Tasmania. Despite operating without incident for years, organisations such as the Tasmanian Poker League and the Australian Poker League (APL) are supposedly no longer allowed.
With the assistance of the Tasmanian Liquor & Gaming Commission (TLGC), the state’s gaming regulator, the government determined that poker is only outlawed in clubs and taverns. There’s no problem as long as a casino organises a game. “Poker is a game that anyone can and does play and compete at, from seniors, the deaf and hard of hearing community, people with a disability, male, female, young, old, it doesn’t discriminate,” said Abernethy.
According to reports, the prohibition only applies to games that use the product purchase system as the buy-in. The Tasmanian Poker League, on the other hand, said on its Facebook page that it was cancelling a freeroll, an event with no buy-in, due to the prohibition. Although after the TLGC became aware of the issue, they stopped off that practise as well, leaving thousands of players in the dark. As a result, the TPL announced the cancellation of a freeroll.
Entain, which just bought the APL, is also projected to see a large drop in income. According to Entain, around 25,000 individuals participated in APL’s poker games organised at pubs and clubs in the previous year. All of them will be influenced in some manner by TLGC’s decision.
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