Apple Pulls Australian Poker Apps

U.S. based computer giant Apple's Australian App Store has pulled the real money poker apps for 888Poker and PokerStars, citing government instruction as the reason why.

The move came from the direction of the Australian government. One member of the current Senate Richard Di Natale has said that the federal government should crack down on overseas operators offering action to punters down under.

Speaking about the blockade Di Natale said, "We don't allow online poker in Australia for Australian people under the Interactive Gambling Act ... they (Apple) have got an obligation to take down apps that are against Australian law and they should do it."

Speaking about their Australian issues PokerStars issued a statement through their Twitter account. Speaking in 140 character burst the company said, "We are aware that there are currently issues updating our mobile app in the Australian iTunes marketplace. You should be able to continue to play with your current version if it had one of the latest updates, however older versions of the PokerStars App may require an update. At this time it is not possible to complete the update process. We kindly suggest playing on desktop or laptop device. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding on this matter".

Later on the poker giant added: "The iOS version of the #PokerStarsApp has been removed by your local authorities. This will not affect the main client. Your local authorities are the best point of call for information. As far as we know it's a 'clamp down' on mobile gaming."