The rumor started when Chris Levick, Australian poker professional and previous PokerStars sponsored player, tweeted that PokerStars would withdraw from the Aus market.
“In a stunning announcement Poker Stars has withdrawn from the Australian market from August 1st. Devestating [sic] news,” he tweeted Sunday morning.
Steve Day, a representative who posts under the name “PokerStars Steve” on the 2+2 poker forums, denied the rumor.
“The rumor that PokerStars has decided to block Australian players on August 1 is not true,” he said in a post on Sunday afternoon. “If the company decides to block players in Australia or in any other country it will notify players accordingly.”
As of Sunday evening, the short response by Day has been the only official word from PokerStars in the matter.
However, this did not change the position of Levick, one-time ANZPT Melbourne champion. Fielding questions from concerned players, he tweeted that “no official announcement has been released” but that he “was told by the most reliable source and assumed it was public knowledge in Aus.”
Responding to those with doubts, Levick replied, “I have $100k that says I’m right.” He also said that the source was well known, and that he would “post the emails publicly” if Stars did not make an official announcement.
In May, pokerfuse reported PokerStars’ subsidiary GP Information Services was under investigation by the Australian government for possible violations of the Australian Interactive Gambling Act. The act prohibits e-gaming operators from advertising real money online gambling games to Australians.
The Federal Government is being advised by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) “to start charging poker websites blatantly getting around Australian legislation, by outlawing their services.” The ACC sees online poker and the unregulated movement of funds as having the potential for “money laundering and revenue and taxation fraud.”
The Levick rumor gathered steam Sunday morning as QuadJacks, a popular live-streaming poker radio station, reported on the tweet and discussed it at length on the show. The story was reported on other poker media sites, further fueling the discussions on internet forums and on Twitter.
