Since 2020, businesses in Curaçao pay no tax on income derived from overseas customers — for an online casino, that is almost all of it. As affiliates of the casino, these streamers are entitled to a cut of the money lost by players they have referred to Shuffle. It is all part of an online game show run by Shuffle — an Australian-run online casino that is banned in its own backyard. It also called for better collaboration with overseas regulators, especially in places like Curaçao where illegal sites proliferate. The committee recommended blocking transactions to illegal gambling operators, and "stronger sanctions for companies and known individuals who profit from illegal gambling".
Online gambling
Before his alleged crimes came to light, he was a well-known Shuffle affiliate who often exchanged friendly banter with Shuffle’s staff on social media, including co-founder Noah Dummett. When asked about this practice, Australia’s media regulator, ACMA, said it knew of the company but was not aware of its affiliates using its products in Australia. Part of the patter involves spinning the slots and giving away the winnings to those watching. All of this is happening from the Shuffle office in Australia, where the service is supposed to be banned.
Australian Gambling Regulators
On the live stream, Haque interacts with viewers in the chat room, wiling away the time until the lottery is to be drawn. It is a handy hint — a quick Google search of "VPN" returns pages and pages of results offering the exact product needed to bypass Shuffle’s geo-blocker. Many streamers demonstrate signs of disordered thinking around gambling, says Dr Johnson, as do the viewers commenting in their live chatrooms. They ride the highs and lows, yelling over the microphone as they win and lose. Some real money casino regularly complain that they can not afford to pay rent and beg their audience for more money to gamble with. And yet key executives at Shuffle are gambling on the company’s own live broadcasts, plainly located in Australia as they do so.
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However, these offshore casinos must not violate the Australian Interactive Gambling Act. It’s a complex legal area that often confuses players, but in essence, playing online pokies and casino games is not illegal for individuals. Online sports betting and lotteries occupy a special place in Australia’s legal gambling landscape. Unlike online casino games and pokies, these forms of gambling are legal under Australian law, provided they are offered by licensed operators within the country. Lotteries, including traditional drawings and instant-win scratch cards, are widely available and regulated by state and territory governments. The legal landscape for online casinos and gambling in Australia is intricate, shaped by years of legislation and regulations.
It’s easy to check if the gambling operator is legal in Australia on the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website. If you don’t find its name on the register of licensed interactive gambling providers, then you know it’s operating illegally. The three streamers who were invited to Melbourne for Shuffle’s fake prison game show were all based in the US, where online "crypto casinos" are also banned. Mark R Johnson, a gaming culture researcher at the University of Sydney, has watched dozens of hours of gambling live streams across various online casinos.
