Online casino operators in Australia thrived for years, capitalizing on the reputation as home to the worst gamblers. Australian gambling laws were not very clear when it came to online gambling services so many iGaming operators ran very successful online casinos. They welcomed players with a range of special bonuses that gave them free spins, free cash and free chips to play with and try their online offerings.
Casino operators advertised and marketed their services with little to no restrictions. The success of the online casino industry in Australia also resulted in a spike in problem gambling numbers, according to an October 26 story in Business Matters.
Then the government stepped in, introducing the Interactive Gambling Amendment Bill in 2016. The Senate approved in March 2017 and the bill took effect in September 2017. The bill eliminated any gray areas.
An Australian iGaming company could no longer operate legally in the country and provide online casino games to other jurisdictions and unlicensed operators are not legally allowed to offer services to residents in Australia.
The decision to ban all forms of online casino games did not come as a surprise to iGaming operators since the Australian government discussed the potential ban for more than a year. Once implemented, iGaming operators said sayonara to Australia.
Some of the smaller operators stayed on for a little while longer, but the ban on iGaming operators left the market dry and caused hardships for thousands of Australian players who were used to making a living playing online casino games.
The lack of big name developers in Australia made it difficult for online casinos to offer their players an impressive selection of games. This meant that gamblers had to work with a limited number of slot games from smaller providers, did not have access to progressive jackpot games and the variety in their online casino games was very limited.
A number of unscrupulous iGaming operators took advantage of this situation and started targeting Aussie players. Stories about players not being paid or having their accounts closed have become common place. This could have all been avoided if Australia regulated the market. The authorities and state gaming regulators continued to crackdown on those operators but have found it difficult to shut them down completely as they keep using different names and domains to evade authorities.
While harder to find, there are still a number of reliable and reputed online casinos that offer Aussies a great online gaming experience. Some of best deals Australians can get at online casinos are of the no deposit variety, because they are practically risk free. Go to Casinoshortlist.org. The no deposit bonus ensures that players do not spend any real money of their own and hence removes them from all risk. The list of recommended no deposit casinos usually offer a lot of free spins.
There are some no deposit casinos that offer free cash which allows Aussie players to use it on classic table games. A few no deposit casinos offer players a combination of free spins and free cash to let them try out multiple offerings.
These smaller casino operators may not have a large gaming portfolio but their services are reliable, their games entertaining and their payouts safe and secure. Online casinos like True Blue Casino, Pokie Spins Casino and Play Amo have proven to be a hit with Australian players over the last couple of years.
