Trivia answer: Grant Levy. Trivia question: Who featured on the cover of the final edition of PokerNews Australasia & Pacific (left)?
Welcome to pokermedia.com.au. The story of how and why this website exists is worth sharing, so here goes. As many of you will be aware, our core business over the past six years has been magazines – namely Bluff Australasia, which merged to become part of PokerNews Australasia & Pacific in 2009.
But our world changed on April 15 when the US Government pulled the pin on major online operators PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and UltimateBet/Absolute Poker. It took a few weeks for the impact to filter Down Under, but we were informed three months ago that PokerNews wished to discontinue the magazine due to the increased scrutiny on the promotion of online poker sites that, to the letter of the law, operate here illegally.
As we never had the chance to publish a “final” edition, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked on the magazine – from founding editor Kirsty Mullins who undertook the massive task of creating a new magazine from scratch to her successor Ben Blaschke, and all the advertisers and contributors. It was a great magazine, and I miss it dearly. We hope to soon have a new magazine in the market.
We weren’t the only ones impacted by the change in the legislative landscape. Our good mate Alfred Markarian ceased publication of Australian Poker Weekly, while the original home of Aussie poker news, PokerNetwork, has sat virtually untouched for several months. The efforts of PNW’s Heath Chick to maintain the history and records that lie within the PokerNetwork archives were hugely underappreciated. I sincerely hope they’re not lost forever.
Pokermedia.com.au represents our first foray into the brave new world of poker in Australia. Our initial aims are modest – to provide a new and fresh source of news, commentary and analysis relating to Aussie poker.
Having worked closely with two of the world’s biggest poker media brands – Bluff and PokerNews – in the past, we’re looking forward to resetting the boundaries of poker journalism under our own banner. Your support, feedback and contributions will play a major role in the success of the site. Enjoy www.pokermedia.com.au!
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