Earlier this week, we reported that Australia had finalized plans to change online gambling rules in which online poker gaming will be banned in the country. For years now, operators of online poker and casino gaming sites had been operating due to a gray area where the gaming options were not legalized or necessarily illegal. With the Royal Assent of the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill 2016, operators are starting to leave the country, with PokerStars now announcing they will leave September 11th and partypoker joining the ranks of operators leaving the country.
According to forum at Reddit, PokerStars announced their leave date in an email to players. In the email it says that player funds will be safe and available for withdrawal. Stars Rewards Chests that have yet to be opened will need to be opened before a withdrawal is made. StarsCoin can also be spent in the Rewards Store and cashed in for cash. Tournament money and tournament tickets will also be transferred to cash for withdrawal.
While they will no longer be offering real money game play, PokerStars will be providing play money poker action via the main client on mobile, desktop and web. They will also be offering a new app titled PokerStars Play which can downloaded on Android or iOS devices.
Taking to their blog yesterday, partypoker has announced they will be leaving Australia by August 31st. The online poker company regrets this decision but will be following the new regulations set forth by the Australian government. Tom Waters is the Managing Director of partypoker who stated that the brand will continue to work with the player alliance of Australia in the hopes that the government will provide a safe environment with regulations in place for Australians to be able to enjoy the game of poker online in the future.
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