Online poker in Australia is facing serious uncertainty thanks to a potential state crackdown on online casino gaming. However, one lawmaker there says he will fight for poker and is encouraging citizens to defy the government should a ban go into effect.

‘Screw the government, get yourself a [virtual private network]’ for online poker, said David Ean Leyonhjelm, a Senator for New South Wales representing the Liberal Democratic Party.

VPNs are known for helping poker players try to circumvent geo-location restrictions.

Senator Leyonhjelm’s comments were in a video posted to his Facebook.



“There are many Australians who love nothing better than to play a game they love on their computer after a hard day at work,” he wrote on a website that was set up to gather support for defeating the anti-poker legislation. “Unfortunately the nanny state thinks it knows better and it wants to apply a near blanket ban on many of the websites that Aussies frequent.”

Australians spend more on gambling than people anywhere else in the world ($1,000 per person). An estimated 80 percent of Australians gamble in some form, also the highest rate in the world.