The Australian Federal Government is seriously investigating complaints that several online casinos are openly flouting the Australian online gambling laws. The government has been warned that over $300 million in bets is being taken by offshore cyber casinos despite legal prohibitions.

Australian legislation forbids offshore casinos from taking bets placed by Australians at online poker rooms and casino games. Those continuing to do so may be fined up to $1.1 million per day. Despite this, several online gambling sites continue to allow Australian gamblers to place bets.

The sites under scrutiny are no small fish but are in fact some of the biggest players in the industry. Industry leaders Full Tilt and PokerStars may be breaking the law. While 888 Poker goes a step further using Australian icons such as cricketer Shane Warne and boxing champion Jeff Fenech to promote their services. 888 Poker is also openly advertising the poker Ashes. However, 888 is not an Australian company, it is based in Gibraltar and is even listed on the London stock exchange.

Australian betting giant Betfair has made a submission to the Productivity Commission which will inquire into and investigate the gambling process and set up in Australia. According to Betfair, current legislations and rules are being ignored by offshore companies, resulting in the federal government losing out on a significant chunk of tax revenue that is usually payable by Australian gambling operators. Betfair also said as these offshore casinos are not answerable to the commonwealth; players are at a slightly larger risk of being defrauded.

The chief flaw in the online gambling laws is probably that the legislation was constructed at least a decade ago. As gambling online was only in infant stages at the time, the current popularity could not have been apprehended.

Melbourne-based Betfair is demanding for an immediate review of gambling practices by offshore companies and is also calling for legislation that allows Australian companies to offer gambling opportunities to Australian players. In addition, Betfair is also hoping to put an end to “in the run” betting where players can bet even while a match is in progress. While Betfair does not offer this, it claims most offshore companies are making a quick buck by not preventing Australians from placing such “in the run” bets which are most popular in sports.

If Betfair is successful, errant offshore operators may have to empty their pockets to the Australian government. However, Australian gamblers will also probably be deprived of some good gambling options.

A recent article the Courier-Mail, has revealed that online payment processor Intabill, managed by Daniel Tzyetkoff owes a good $30 million to four online poker sites.

According to this article, Intabill derived half its business from online gambling sources. Intabill once had the reputation of being one of the leading payment processors in the industry with over 5,000 business clients. It ran online poker rooms and airlines and many other ventures in between. However, today it owes $30 million and the poker sites the money is owed to are well established gambling sites. A detailed explanation of the hows and whys of Intabill’s fall from grace is given in the Courier Mail article for those who are interested.

It is alleged that the large sum of $25 million alone is owed to PokerStars and FullTilt Poker, without a doubt the largest online poker playing sites in the world. According to the Mail, PokerStars is a North America based website run by Isai Scheinberg while Full Tilt Poker is based in Dublin and is jointly run by several big wig industry names such as Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivery and Mike Matusow.

A further $3 million is owed to CEREUS Network operated site Absolute Poker and sister site Ultiate Bet. The merging of these online poker sites in November 2008 led to the formation of CEREUS which is currently the seventh largest poker network in the world with at least 2,200 players on average, playing every week. The final $2 million that brings the tally up to $30 million is owed to Golden Palace.

Intabill used the services of offshore independent processing company Impact. It is believed that due to large amounts of debt piling, Impact decided to pull the plug and bring Intabill’s operations to a halt.

A quick inspection of PokerStars shows that Intabill is no longer offer as a payment option to players. Players can continue to use checks, bank transfers, credit cards and other online payment methods such as Neteller, Click2Pay etc.

This is not the first time a payment processing company has been in trouble. Neteller has previously been in trouble as a result of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Citadel Commerce also exited the gambling industry some time in 2007.

Based in Australia, Intabill is owned by BT Projects Pty Limited and what happens to its debts and whether it will ever bounce back from this mess remains to be seen.

Even though this isn’t technically gambling. This article might be of interest to some of you.

Australian gamers are out of luck thanks to an uptight Ratings Board. The obviously archaic board has previously censored several M-rated games but the latest blow it delivers is banning a WiiWare game.

Sexy Poker, by Gameloft has the Board saying a big emphatic no. The reason? Nudity of course.

According to the Classification Board, their justification for the action is that Sexy Poker presents nudity as a reward in the interactive poker game. The Board believes this is inappropriate and the decision to ban the game is in keeping with the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games which prohibits portraying nudity as an incentive.

The Board is of the view that the nudity in Sexy Poker is much too strong even for a MA15+ classification which is usually restricted to adults. It yet again pointed out that sexual activity and nudity must not be portrayed as incentives or they would not qualify for the MA15+ rating.

However, that does make one wonder why movies have an R18+ classification and games are limited only to an MA15+. This is especially surprising because the average Australian who plays these games is about 28 years old.

This is not the first time a game has been banned due to the myopic view of the Board. Games that have previously been banned are Fallout 3 for way too many references to drugs, Dark Sector for excessive violence and wait, hold your breath, Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure for…*drumroll*….promoting graffiti!

Anyone else think it’s a bit much? It’s just a game of strip poker – that’s all!

PokerStars is the number one poker room to play at if you want a shot at playing in the prestige World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which takes place every summer in Las Vegas, Nevada. PokerStars sends hundreds of players to the WSOP each year through satellite qualifiers. Players can participate in a variety of different WSOP satellites for a chance to win the WSOP prize package worth $12,000. No matter the size of your bankroll at PokerStars you will be able to find a WSOP satellite you can play in.

PokerStars is not only giving players the WSOP prize packages, but players who qualify for the WSOP through PokerStars will receive 100,000 VPPs, entry into a one million dollar freeroll and an opportunity to win a cash bonus of one million dollars.

You can take advantage of the Pokerstars WSOP satellites and million dollar freeroll by using the Pokerstars Marketing Code PAWT7 when you create your new account at pokerstars. Using that code will entitle you to the maximum pokerstars bonus of $50 free.

Players who win a seat through PokerStars will have their PokerStars player account credited with 100,000 VPPs. VPPs are the frequent player points awarded by PokerStars for the VIP players. These VPPs can be used to purchase special items in the PokerStars store, or enter exclusive tournaments with. When PokerStars awards WSOP qualifiers with the 100,000 VPPs they will automatically become a Supernova VIP.

The one million dollar freeroll that players will automatically receive entry to when they qualify for the WSOP through PokerStars has not yet been announced. Basically PokerStars has only said that it will be a series of freeroll activities where they are giving away a total of one million dollars. This million dollar freeroll series is exlcusive to players who won a WSOP prize package from PokerStars.

The one million dollar cash bonus is very simple – If a player who won their WSOP seat through a PokerStars satellite wins the WSOP Main Event they will be awarded with a $1,000,000 cash bonus from PokerStars. Is PokerStars not the best poker site? Not only will the player win a couple million from the actual tournament, they will receive a very nice million dollar bonus from PokerStars.

What does the $12,000 WSOP satellite prize package include from PokerStars? Included in the prize package that PokerStars awards is the $10,000 Main Event buy-in, $1000 cash for travel and expenses, eight nights accommodation at the Palms hotel and casino, a shuttle bus everyday to and from the Rio Casino, a PokerStars bag and VIP invitation for two to the PokerStars Player Party which takes place on July 9th.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for PokerStars at PokerStars.com!

A gambling addict is never good news but when the addict begins to blame others for his addiction, the story gets interesting.

According to several reports, Melbourne’s Crown Casino played devil and lured a former property tycoon by offering him several irresistible gambling temptations.

Harry Kakavas, former property tycoon, self-confessed and well known gambling addict is suing the Crown Casino for losses experienced between 2004 and 2006. The gambling addict ended up losing almost his entire property portfolio due to his excessive gambling and has listed damages worth 50m AUD in his suit against the casino. The actual amount lost by Kakavas during his 2004 – 2006 gambling spree however is 20m AUD.

The 42-year old gambler says he banned himself from Melbourne’s Crown Casino and instead took to flying to the world’s gambling capital – Las Vegas. However, Kakavas alleges the casino then began offering various incentives so he would continue gambling at the Melbourne hotspot.

Kakavas has claimed that he received financial as well as luxury benefits and incentives from Crown so he would continue to play. He said he flew to Melbourne from his Gold Coast home, free of charge at least 30 times, to gamble at the Crown. In addition, he claims to have also been aboard the casino’s VIP executive jet several times for trips to and from the Gold Coast.

Kakavas also says he was forcefully handed large wads of cash to jumpstart his gambling excesses at the baccarat tables.

Whether Kakavas is telling the truth or this is a ploy to recover his million dollar losses is still to be found out.

Pub poker games may be a popular draw for guests but it seems these popular games may be under threat of extinction in South Australia.

Believe it or not, according to the SkyCity Casino and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA), these games could potentially be illegal. The AHA has warned pub owners they might be irresponsibly flouting gambling laws with these “cash buy in” games of poker.

Several operators of these games run these so-called “free” poker tournaments at various pubs across the state. Operators are usually sponsored by a local club or pub to run these games. The games are technically free but for a player to acquire the necessary chips to play, they must buy food or beverages at the pub. This is now being regarded as a way to coerce customers into spending at the club.

Illegal or not, these cash-entry games have really made it big in the recent past with several flocking to local pubs to try their hands at the poker games. The popularity of the games has further increased due to the endorsements by several celebrities who have glamorised the cash entry poker poker games and created an international phenomenon.

The Advertiser reports that the South Australia State Government has received a request from the SkyCity Casino regarding the matter. The casino has confirmed that it has requested a review of the poker games being played at pubs and argues that pubs are probably flouting gambling laws. The Office of the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner will be conducting the review.

The impending review of these pub games should not come as a surprise as it coincides with the new and increased police interest in the games as well. Detectives are scheduled to investigate a hotel in the northern suburbs after several people complained of illegal gaming practices on the premises.

The AHA has notified over 500 hotels of the possible breach of laws. General Manager Ian Horne said by promoting these cash entry games, hotels could be going against the Lottery and Gaming Act and the matter will be investigated.

However, it seems most game operators do not believe the game could be illegal. They insist that any money collected as “entry fees for these games was not pocketed by the pub owners. They were simply redistributed to the winning players. Operators believed this practice was reason enough for the games to qualify as perfectly legal gaming options. Other organisers also commented that the games were a good way for people to socialise.

Gambling addiction is as serious an addiction as any other and the Responsible Gambling Awareness Week in Tasmania seeks to address exactly this problem, but with a twist.

It is believed that it is 10 times more likely that those who work in the gambling and gaming industry will develop problems related to gambling. Keeping this in mind the Responsible Gambling Awareness Week in Tasmania has chosen to particularly focus on gambling staff for the event.

The awareness week was inaugurated and launched by Human Services Minister, Lin Thorp. The Minister said the State Government of Tasmania is enthusiastically backing and supporting the awareness week, which has been running for the last four years.

The aim of the week is self explanatory in the name – “Awareness”. The task is to educate gamblers and potential gamblers as well as promote safer gambling practices. The theme of this year’s event is: Know Where To Run When The Bets Are No Longer Fun. Thorp said the theme was meant to be a message to gamblers and gambling staff that they always have access to support if they do need help.

An Australian study about workplaces was conducted to learn more about the influence the workplace has on employees. It was during this survey that it was found that gambling industry workers are more easily prone to developing gambling problems. This is due to the fact that gaming venue staff are excessively exposed to the various activities of gambling and the gambling culture. In addition, they also receive several product benefits and incentives which makes it harder to forego gambling.

The Tasmanian government spends about $750,000 every year treating people affected by gambling problems and addictions. However, Thorp said there continued to be a stigma attached to seeking help for these problems and as a result almost 90 per cent of the gamblers still did not seek help and these awareness weeks seek to close the gap and make support services more easily accessible and approachable so they are effective in the long run.

The Tasmanian gambling helpline is open 24 hours every day of the year. Freecall: 1800 858 858.