Poker In Tasmania

While you will not find any poker cardrooms like what is found in crown or the star, there are still many ways to get your poker fix in Tassie. These include cash games at Wrest Point and Country Club or tournament players have Bullets and APL to choose from.

Due to legal regulations in Tasmania the only cash games available are at the casinos in Hobart and Launceston.

Because of the limited options in Tasmania you are very unlikely to find any sharks circling to take your money.

Unfortunately, No Limit Texas holdem is the only option except for very select infrequent Omaha games.

Wrest Point Casino

https://www.wrestpoint.com.au

No Limit Texas Holdem Cash Games

Infrequent Tournaments

Buy in $50 – $300

Blinds $1/$3

Rake 10% up to a max of $10

Wednesday to Saturday

2 Tables

6:15pm – 3:45am

$1/$3 Blinds – Buyin $50 – $300

$2/$5 Blinds – Buyin $200 – $1000

Phone 6221 1963

You can choose to either call up the cashiers or speak to one of the poker coordinators to put your name on the list.

My personal experiences playing at Wrest Point were good with action packed games and average players.

Know going in that all players will know each other but for the most part they are not rude to or targeting newcomers, it does result in a good overall atmosphere with lots of chatting and relaxed play.

With some changes made to wrest point the poker area is not as good as it used to be but I guess casinos are there to make the most profit so I understand the change.

There are no high hand or bad beat jackpots available, players also do not earn casino rewards points while playing poker.

The Higher limit game does not start until 8:00pm Wednesday and Thursday, or 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday.

Country Club Casino

https://www.countryclubtasmania.com.au/en/casino.html

No Limit Texas Holdem Cash Games

Buy in $50 – $300

Blinds $1/$3

Rake 10% up to a max of $10

Friday and Saturday Nights

7:30pm – 2:45am

1 Table

Phone 6335 5747

Be sure to call early from 9:30am the day you are looking to play as some nights the game fills up quickly and with only one table it can be a while before a seat opens up. You can only book your seat the same day you want to play.

After a recent change there is only one table available for poker at the country club and has been cut back to only 2 nights but is the only cash game option available in Launceston.

There are no high hand or bad beat jackpots available, players also do not earn casino rewards points while playing poker

The rake is one of the best available in Australia with 10% in a pot over $20 capped at a max rake of $10 with no time charge.

Games can sometimes finish early if its part the old guys bedtimes but can also get players later some of the APL or Bullets tournaments finish.

Players are friendly and is usually filled with regulars that all no each other but no collusion from my experiences.

Dealers are ok but not as experienced as other places in Australia due to the games only running twice a week.

There are no pros here with only a few players knowing more advanced poker concepts, most just have basic knowledge and play fairly standard.

Owned by the same proprietors as the wrest point casino.

Very basic poker experience with no running it twice or even live straddles.

Bullets Poker League

https://bulletspoker.com.au

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (some weekend events)

All over Tasmania

7:00pm – 11:00pm

No Limit Texas Holdem Tournaments

Limited Pot Limit Omaha Tournaments

Teams No Limit Holdem Event

New to the poker scene bullets was met with great reviews.

Bullets is a locally run operation owned by Tasmanians.

Bullets was set up by poker players that were unhappy to the current games on offer and definitely have a poker players outlook on the tournaments they set up.

With a variety of games throughout the state during the week they can be great fun to play with good people that enjoy poker but don’t have the same intensity or the experience as casino players.

Bullets also have a yearly poker series that in 2019 had a main event with a $10,000 prize pool

Promotion will be running to give player the opportunity to play at the 2020 World Series Of Poker in Las Vegas.

Be sure to checkout their website or facebook page for the current events.

At the time of writing venues include

Olde Tudor Hotel (229 Westbury Rd, Prospect)

TRC Hotel (121-131 Paterson Street, Launceston)

Grays George Town Hotel (75-77 Macquarie St, George Town)

Black Stallion Hotel (218 George Town Rd, Rocherlea)

West Ulv Recreation Ground (49 Amy St, West Ulverstone)

Burnie United Football Club (Terrylands St, Montello)

Devonport Football Club (James St, Devonport)

St Helens Football Ground

Hamer’s Hotel (Esplanade, Strahan)

Mount Lyell Motor Inn (1-5 Orr St, Queenstown)

APL / 888PL

http://www.playapl.com

7 Days A Week

6:00PM Rego for 7:00PM Start (for most events, some weekend events are played during the day)

APL and 888PL are owned by the same parent companies and the games essentially run the same

APL is the worlds largest free to play poker league.

APL offers no limit texas holdem tournaments around Tasmania.

By playing APL games you can gain tickets through playing their games to their main events which have a prize pool of over 1 MILLION DOLLARS

Although they advertise themselves as a free-to-play poker league playing these tournaments does cost money if you want a chance to win.

By purchasing merchandise, you get extra chips added to your stack, due to Tasmanian regulations they cannot make payment required to enter the tournament.

APL events are self-shuffled which required players to shuffle the cards when they are on the dealer button.

Like a large number of poker players I started playing poker through APL and is a great way for beginners to hone their skills and learn the rules of the game without outlaying and losing a large amount of cash learning.

Check the APL website to find out the games currently available

At the time of writing APL games are held at

Ulverstone Golf Club (West Ulverstone)

Granada Tavern (Berriedale)

Newstead Hotel (Newstead)

Molly Malones Irish Pub (Devonport)

Hotel Valem (Moonah)

Dewat Licensed Restaurant (Bellerive)

Tall Timbers Hotel (Smithton)

Deloraine Hotel (Deloraine)

Hobart Workers Club (Hobart)

New Norfolk RSL Club (New Norfolk)

The Alexander Hotel (Devonport)

Riverside Hotel (Riverside)

Burnie RSL (Burnie)

The Derwent Tavern (Bridgewater)

The River Arms (Ulverstone)

Scottdale RSL Community Club (Scottsdale)

Online

Australian law prohibits poker sites from being available to Australians so Tasmania is the same as the other states in this respect.

There are sites that still illegally offer this but normally through bitcoin transactions and are normally not the most reputable sites out there so certainly proceed with caution.

Home Games

Unfortunately, Tasmanian law is different and stricter than other states in regards to home games so larger home games are not generally organised.

Some people still chose to have home games in Tassie but it is normally just between close friends.

The police raided the last place that I regularly played home games with everyone questioned and IDs recorded.

I don’t know all the legal details of participating or hosting home games in Tasmania so I do not feel comfortable making recommendations so if possible ask a lawyer (not one that is going to cost you a bucket load of money) before hosting a game yourself.