Australia’s Federal Court has handed down one of the country’s largest gambling penalties on record. An illegal online poker operation copped AUD 24.2 million (around $17 million) in combined fines. The decision sends a pretty clear message about how seriously regulators are taking unlicensed operators targeting local players.

The Operation and the Players Behind It

Brisbane Poker ran three poker brands: PPPfish, Redraw Poker, and Shuffle Gaming. The company itself was hit with AUD 15 million in fines. Its director, Rhys Edward Jones, had to stump up an additional AUD 9 million personally. Even affiliate marketer Brenton Lee Buttigieg, who promoted the unlicensed sites, copped an AUD 240,000 fine for his involvement.

Both Brisbane Poker and Jones will cover the legal costs of the case too, which adds to the pain. Buttigieg had already admitted his role before fines were handed down, and that probably worked in his favour when it came to sentencing.

How the Scheme Worked

On the surface, PPPfish and its sister sites operated using virtual chips. Sounds harmless, right? The catch: players could buy those chips with real money and cash them back out again. That’s not recreational poker. That’s a money-laundering operation in disguise.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) spent years digging into this before establishing the sites were in flagrant breach of the Interactive Gaming Act. Online gambling is completely banned in Australia. These operators knew that and targeted local players anyway.

Enforcement Getting Serious

The ACMA filed legal proceedings in April 2022. This penalty shows the regulator means business. Beyond this case, the authority has been methodically blocking thousands of offshore gambling websites and affiliate services. The overall picture is crystal clear: Australia doesn’t tolerate unlicensed gambling anymore.

Will this fine actually deter other operators? We’ll see. But the message couldn’t be plainer.