***NEWS FLASH***
Residents of Washington State are going to have to find another way to keep themselves occupied on Sundays. The Northwest state has long been one of the strictest anti-online gambling states in the Union, but a recent decision by the Washington State Supreme Court and subsequent action by online poker room PokerStars makes it more dangerous and more difficult to log on to the online tables.
On September 24th, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the state law outlawing online gambling. Lawyer and Poker Players Alliance member Lee Rousso challenged the law, claiming it violated the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution, but the Supreme Cout saw it otherwise. According to their ruling, the law does not discriminate between in and out of state online gambling institutions, therefore it does not violate the Commerce Clause.
While Rousso can still appeal to the US Supreme Court, PokerStars is not taking any chances and will no longer accept Washington residents as customers. The online poker room issued a statement to Washington residents via e-mail informing them of the new policy. Here is an excerpt from that statement:
“To date, PokerStars has operated in Washington on the basis of legal opinions where the central advice was that the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favor of local card rooms and against online sites. Last week, however, the Washington Supreme Court for the first time rejected that position and upheld the state’s Internet gaming prohibition. In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars.com site.”
Washington players will still be able to access funds currently in their PokerStars account and can cash out or transfer to another account. Their VIP status will be frozen and, should the Washington law be overturned, players will be reinstated at the same level they left off. PokerStars has set up a page for frequently asked questions regarding the Washington decision.
The new law also affects anyone visiting the state of Washington, as it is now illegal to play online within state lines. If a player is caught logging time on the online tables, they could potentially be charged with a felony.
As of now, other major online poker rooms like Full Tilt Poker, UB Poker have not released any statements regarding their stance on online poker in Washington. Blocking players who reside in a specific state is not an unprecedented move. The Cereus Poker Network temporarily blocked Kentucky residents from logging onto their site following an appellate court decision upholding the state’s attempt to seize 144 domain names related to online gambling sites.
Northwestgambling.com does not endorse online play and or the opinions written herein.
(origionally posted by Bluff Magazine 10/01/10)
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