Online Casino Blog

The Australian Government has rejected the Australian Productivity Commissions recent report by stating that it has no plans at present to open up online gambling in the country by liberalising Australian gaming laws.

 

The Australian Productivity Commission recommended that the 2001 Interactive Gambling Act be repealed so that online gambling in Australia could be controlled and therefore taxed.

 

There are many supporters of the report who feel that the Government should look more closely at the report because it makes some very valid points.  If the Government is concerned about responsible online gambling they could see that these concerns are, in fact, addressed in the report.

 

Australian gambling laws, along with some other countries, notably America, are very restrictive as they stand currently.

 

Only Government approved providers are legally allowed to offer internet poker, casino gaming and sports betting.  As a consequence most Australians play at offshore casinos, some of which may not be well regulated, but all of which pay no taxes to the Australian Government.

 

With an estimated $1 billion spent by Australians each year on these sites, this is a huge loss of potential tax revenue.

Internet gambling is as open to attempted fraud as any other occupation where money is involved.

 

Dylan Johnstone, a 23 year old man from Victoria, recently pleaded guilty to 362 offences relating to online sports gambling.  The offences took place between November 2009 and January 2010.  He was found guilty and sentenced to three and a half years in jail.

 

Johnstone had found a supposed flaw in TOTE Tasmania's internet payment system.  He used this to make false payments of about $750,000 into his TOTE online gambling account.

 

Johnstone was a heavy gambler and his occasional success led him into believing that he could always come out ahead of the game.  At times his TOTE account reached $2.5million.

 

However, it wasn't long before he was in well over his head, his fraudulent scheme being extremely unsuccesful, he was quickly found out.

 

As well as the jail term, Johnstone will also have to serve a two and half year parole period, and he has been ordered to pay back TOTE's losses, which amount to about half a million dollars.

 

Online gambling has made making a bet, or playing games, such as poker online, much more accessible, and there will always be people who feel that can beat the system.  However, in the main, being able to use a computer to do these things has made these pastimes a very much easier and more enjoyable experience than it was in the past.