Flushdraw (and other media) report (August 13 2017) that Australia’s Senate on Wednesday confirmed changes made this year to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (IGA) Bill 2016. The approval of the changes to the IGA official signals the end for online poker and most other forms of online gambling in Australia, excepting sports betting, which the changes to the IGA specifically covered.

The changes made to the IGA require all online operators to apply for and receive official licensing from the country’s gaming regulators. However, since sports betting is the only online-gambling activity for which a licensing channel exists, online poker and casino-style games have no avenue through which licensing can be obtained, and therefore fall into a category of illegal games within the country.