The sound of a tinkling of coins shattering on the collecting tray of the slot machine is sure to excite the player. Poker has been a game that has won many hearts, and this has been the case for many years now. From 2003, or so, there has been a steady growth of the popularity of Poker game. The poker slot machines in land-based casinos and even online have been a major draw.

While in the past, only those who loved to play Rummy or Bingo or even the lottery would go to a casino, pokies have changed the scene a great deal. Today, pokies draw as many gamers individually to the casinos. This is a phenomenon across the world, including countries like Australia. However, the biggest numbers of pokies players are in the suburbs or in the villages of Australia. Here, there are small communities of poker players who have lost more than they can ever recover and yet, most of them are not able to give it up.

The Magnetic Charm of the Poker Games

Few people have family members who were gambling addicted. Many people who have had generations of family members playing poker are not able to give it up and yet, they have realized that they have lost more than they can chew.

There are people like Ross Davey, who used to have a home, and a job, all that he lost thanks to his addiction to poker. There are also people like Allison Keogh, the spokesperson of Alliance for Gambling Reform who speaks out about how this habit of poker existed in her family from her mother. Her childhood saw her mother spending money behind these slots. However, in her own life, Allison Keogh regrets of the money she has lost.

The Compensation for the Loss- Just a Minor One

Though many local casinos claim that they use a fair percentage of the profit in setting up parks and other recreation for the society, this is not actually making up for the loss. This is a general feeling, and this is not just a case of sour grapes. But the fact exists that people are addicted to pokies and it is not helping the economy of a place by any big way. There is a large number of people facing unemployment and lack of opportunities as well.

However, one has to note that there are a certain set of slot machines that fool the people and cheat them too with their ‘misinformation’. In recent days, a former gambling addict in Australia has used the Aristocrat Technologies and Crown Casino for offering slot machines, which deceive players with wrong sounds and indications. The case has become the talk of the town more so because it shall change the attitude of the game developers and take the slot machine manufacturer seriously. It shall also help in making the local people wake up to the addiction of pokies that has gripped them.

Of late, a lot has been happening in the gaming sector in Australia. Poker has already become a hot favorite here is nothing new. In fact, the suburban parts of Australia are all literally going crazy about the game. However, that said, not just poker, slot games, both from land-based and online casinos are on a high here. But that is where the government of Western Australia and in other parts are thinking of making big and small tweaks in the law and tax scenario.

The government is currently trying to freeze the “Signing up” of new players on the online casinos. The online portals of Bet365, Crownbet, and the like are famous for offering credits, welcome bonuses and even freebies luring new players to signing up have been ordered to stop this right away.

What is the Government’s Agreement now?

The government in Australia know that the largest betting event, “Spring Racing Carnival” (www.springracingcarnival.com.au) is about to start in a few weeks. The government also saw a surge in the number of punters from Australia, who sign up to bet in these online sites or even urge a friend to sub it for them and sign up. With the Spring Racing Carnival just around the corner, it is time for operators to urge more punters and potential betters to sign up and start betting too now. So, they felt that there should be better norms to keep check of the consumers now more than ever.

The government is actually undertaking a major revamp of the set of restrictions on online gaming and hence this restriction that they have imposed is just a part of it. The full set of new laws and framework would be ready by the middle of the year 2018.

The Consumer–friendly Approach from the Government

The Human Services Minister, Alan Tudge has claimed that the government found that this was just a measure to ensure bet-loving Australians did so with caution. Since gambling addiction is a serious issue and people end up losing more than ever with careless betting during a session the government had to do something.

By this year-end, the state and federal government’s gambling ministers are planning to disclose the entire list of new rules and regulations. However, these rules are not just for the operators alone, but even for the players who should be equally accountable for the amount they wish to spend on betting. There would be a chance for them to set their limits for a grace period of seven days, and then it would be extended too.

Hard Times Call for Tough Action

There is a never-seen-before rise in the number of players and that is not just in the land-based casinos, but by over 15% on online casinos. So, in a bid to curb the rise the number of players and the money they lost, this is a major step that is all set to revolutionize the iGaming scene in Australia.

gamblingGerman gambling has quite intelligent look, with roulette, Black Jack and more recently, poker forming the main group of interest. By the way, for the opening of the casino, you must have a state license, which gives by the regulator of an appropriate federal land. The lion’s share of the income is taxed and replenishes the state treasury. Such enterprises are also subjected to higher taxes. In 2013, the total profit of the German casinos totaled 289 million euros, 118 million of which due to the mandatory contributions and taxes flew to the budgets of federal lands.

Lotteries and betting are legally allowed in the country Germany. Every newspaper and cigarette kiosk offers the magic pieces of paper with numbers. Profits from these lotteries are directed to socially useful purposes: for example, to help zoos and support cultural and sporting events.

The legal part

The criminal law expert Mohammed Ebadi says that a clear legal distinction between illegal and legal gambling houses in Germany is still there, although in the Criminal Code of Germany, there is a clause prohibiting illegal gambling business. Participation in organized illegal gambling in Germany is not criminally punishable, responsible are only the organizers. Officially considered gambling games that focus only on getting unreasonably high profits when the enjoyment of the game itself is placed on the back burner.

According to the expert, the existing legislative regulation is far from reality. At the moment in the country sparked controversy about the legality of gambling halls. Because of the vagueness of the definition thousands of small gambling halls with a one-armed bandits that operate in the grey zone are constantly opened.

Berlin is full of beer bars housing the machines. Sometimes the owners are charged a small fee for the opportunity to host – thus one can play slot machines in numerous gambling halls. In addition, the rate in slot machines deliberately limited to a minimum size, so that appreciable gain cannot be expected. Nevertheless, gambling people can still sit all the day in front of the screen even paying 50 cents per game. So far, the law limits only the total number of machines.

The owners of Internet gambling are mainly located outside Germany, according to Apnet – casino website with reviews based in Sweden. Even though Mohammed Ebadi claims there is a large number of major Internet portals, which at least do not cheat customers and regularly pay a profit. The amount of online gambling establishments cannot be compared with the number of state licensed gaming enterprises. Another tricky case is that the lawmakers say the definition of sports betting is not unequivocal. As long as they are not considered illicit gambling, they require the expertise of a sport (e.g. when placing bets online one must understand the characteristics of the horses and jockeys qualification). Currently, however, the lawyers and the government begin to seriously think about the new legal adjustments and the possibility, on the one hand, to prohibit the abuse of the available games, on the other – to protect gamers from addiction and dramatic outcomes.