Online poker is still illegal in Australia, despite being legal in many developed countries.
As a result, two men and one company that run online poker rooms are facing heavy fines.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has announced that it will pursue two individuals and one company for violating regulations on online poker.
Rhys Edward Jones allegedly operated the site from March 2020 to March 3. It is said that a company called Diverse Link launched the platform when Jones ended its operation and is still operating.
Brenton Lee Buttigieg has been at stake in promoting both operations.
Online poker is reviving in the United States, France, Spain and elsewhere, but Australia isn't there yet.
The 2001 Interactive Gambling Act (IGA) banned online cardrooms, but the Australian trio ignored the rule.
They are now held accountable for their actions and face a $ 100 million fine.
House of Cards collapses
After launching a detailed “investigation”, ACMA explained that it identified PPPFish as an illegal poker website.The company later became Shuffle Gaming and then renamed Redraw Poker again.
Players were able to participate using a variety of downloadable apps, bank transfers and cryptocurrency chips.Conversely, players could withdraw funds in the same way.
In a Reddit thread, PPPFish is described as “a sic club group working together in Australia…”.
According to a poster using the nickname PPPFish, there may have been more than 15 active clubs at one time.Even today, there are international organizations linked to PPP Fish.
It wasn't just operated in Australia.The contributor added that Brazil, Israel, India, and the United States have similar settings.
Redraw Poker is the third version of the platform, calling itself the "Global Poker Union".It still has a relationship with the PPP Fish name – see the app named PPP Poker for instructions on how to download it.
Time to pay Piper
ACMA imposes civil penalties for IGA violations on Jones, Diverse Link and Buttigieg.Their willingness to break the law comes at a great price, just as the fines are considerable.
The per capita violation amount is A $ 166. For a company like Diverse Link, that's five times that.
Regulators have already filed invoices in Australian federal courts, which will attempt to enforce them in the future.It is not clear how many violations are included.However, if PPP Fish operated multiple clubs in Australia, the amount could be an astronomical number.
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