Poker in Australia - An Overview of Australian Poker
Australia is a notable poker destination, and the game has rapidly became more popular in the last couple of years.
Poker in Australia: Playing Poker in Australia
You have to be eighteen or over to be able to play poker in Australia, and you will need to use the local currency, which is the Australian dollar (or AUD). Gambling-wise, Australia has many race tracks and race enthusiasts, but only a few casinos. Video poker game fans will be glad to hear that they ca play this game at most bars and pubs throughout the country.
Poker has become popular in Australia because people have seen poker pros rake in millions of dollars. This realization hit most Australians when the local Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker in 2005.
Joseph Hachem is an Australian and international poker role model. He is of Lebanese origin but now lives in Australia, and his 2005 WSPC changed the future of poker in Australia. Most people agree that Hachem single handedly popularized poker and poker tournaments in Australia and the rest of the world. Nowadays more Australians are willing to give their best shot in poker tournaments. Australians are known for being highly competitive and they love to take part and win in any game that takes their fancy. And thanks to Joseph Hachem, poker has definitely taken center stage in Australia.
Having said that, the game of poker is definitely nothing new in Australia. They have some great casinos, although they might be few and far between. One of their best casinos is the Melbourne based Crown Casino, which offers Australian poker players one of the best and most decadent settings for playing the world over.
Poker in Australia: The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour
The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (or abbreviated as ANZPT) is a great national poker event that is sponsored by PokerStars.net. This year’s event kicked off in February 2009 in the Australian city of Adelaide. The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour determines who the to regional players are, with lucrative prizes on offer. The two best prizes include a PokerStars sponsorship to either the ANZPT or the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT.)
PokerStars is hoping that the launch of the ANZPT will bring a whole new dimension to poker in Australia and will helping turn it into a truly international sport.
Poker in Australia: The National Poker League (NPL)
The Australian National Poker League (NPL) is Australia's top public poker company. They run more than 550 events per week in several venues across Australia.
They National Poker League started out in 2005, when the first Australian poker player managed to win ten million US dollars in the Las Vegas WSOP. The APL hosted their first free poker tournament in the same year.