You’ll want to join one of these Washington online gambling sites if you’re heavily into casino games, betting, or poker, and don’t care much about the other options. We’ve written guides for online casinos, betting, and poker in Washington State too, as well as made recommendations for the best sites that you can join in each category. Online poker is still illegal in Washington, meaning you’ll need to head north and over the border into Canada if you want to play legally online. This shouldn’t worry you too much though as the number of live poker rooms is quite high for a smaller and less densely populated state.
Superior Court Judge Mary Roberts of King County in Washington state, dealt a huge blow to online poker fans yesterday. Roberts upheld a 2006 law passed in Washington State, that made playing Internet poker a felony. Roberts announced her decision as nearly 70-80 poker supporters outside the Justice center exuded their disbelief.
“We are not criminals. We’re not people off in the hinterland. We really are average citizens,” said Drew Lesofski, the Washington, D.C.-based director of Poker Players Alliance. His group, which claims a million members nationwide, organized the rally. “This censorship can’t be tolerated,” he said.
Lee Rousso, an attorney fighting for Internet poker player rights, argued that this law violated a US Constitutional commerce clause and is cruel and unusual punishment. Rousso continued to ascertain that this law was a protectionist measure by the state that discriminates against legal, out of state companies, who would like to do business in Washington. The law forces gamblers in the state to frequent their local casinos and to spend money in the state as opposed to online.
Bill Sponsor
Not surprisingly, the original bill was sponsored by Senator Margarita Prentice, who’s district has a number of casinos and land based poker rooms that capitalize from the law. A similar type of practice is happening throughout Europe, where countries are trying to ban online gambling so that citizens spend money in their state operated card rooms and casinos. The Netherlands is one such country trying to crack down on Internet gambling, but is facing fierce resistance from the European Union (EU). The EU is giving countries like The Netherlands and Greece a final warning before bringing them to court.
The same thing cannot be said here as the US government shows no signs of stepping in to repeal this decision. Currently, there is no explicit federal law against playing Internet poker. Some argue that the 1961 Wire Act, which essentially made betting and making wagers on sports over a wire communication facility a crime, does not explicitly refer to Internet poker.
Punishment for Internet Gambling in Washington State
Since the law was enacted in 2006, no Internet poker player has been charged. A representative from the Washington State Gambling Commission stated that players do fall under the law, but their primary focus has been on operators of Internet gambling sites. Again, this law makes it a Class C felony, for a person caught playing poker online in the state of Washington, a crime on the same level as child molestation.
Internet Poker Player Reactions
“I don’t know why the government would want to put me in jail, because I want to relax and play poker a couple of hours a night in the privacy of my home,” said Linda McCabe.
For many Internet poker players, they want to see big brother stay out of their lives. They see it as a hypocrisy that the government can outlaw an average citizen from playing Internet poker, but still allow their citizens to purchase lottery tickets from them online. This is a serious issue not only for Internet gamblers but for individuals rights in the United States. It should be interesting to see if other states follow suit.
After reading this article, you may be interested in our articles on:
Poker in Washington
Live Poker Rooms in Washington
- 7 Cedars Casino (Sequim, WA)
- Aces Casino & Poker Room (Spokane, WA)
- All Star Lanes & Casino (Silverdale, WA)
- Black Pearl Casino (Spokane, WA)
- Buzz Inn Casino & Steakhouse (East Wenatchee, WA)
- Casino Caribbean Kirkland (Kirkland, WA)
- Casino Caribbean Yakima (Yakima, WA)
- Clearwater Saloon & Casino (East Wenatchee, WA)
- Crazy Moose Casino Pasco (Pasco, WA)
- Fortune Poker Room (Renton, WA)
- Hawk's Prairie Casino (Olympia, WA)
- Jamestown Saloon (Arlington, WA)
- Jokers Casino (Richland, WA)
- Lancer Lanes (Clarkston, WA)
- Lilac Lanes & Casino (Spokane, WA)
- Little Creek Casino (Shelton, WA)
- Mr. Z's Casino (Pullman, WA)
- Northern Quest Casino (Airway Heights, WA)
- Oak Bowl Card Room (Oak Harbor, WA)
- Palace Casino Lakewood (Lakewood, WA)
- Papa's Sports Lounge & Casino (Moses Lake, WA)
- Red Dragon Casino (Mountlake Terrace, WA)
- Roxbury Lanes Casino (Seattle, WA)
- Slo Pitch Sports Grill & Casino (Bellingham, WA)
- Suquamish Clearwater Casino (Suquamish, WA)
- The Last Frontier Casino (La Center, WA)
- Wild Goose Casino (Ellensburg, WA)
- Wizards Restaurant & Casino (Seattle, WA)
- Yakima Legends Casino (Toppenish, WA)
Washington Poker Information
Although online poker isn’t an option for poker grinders in Washington, this is only a minor inconvenience. Just take a look at the Poker Atlas map of rooms in the state — the peppering of pins tells the whole story. The majority of rooms in Washington operate on Native American Indian reservations, which enforce some restrictions in poker cash games. In many venues, maximum single bets are capped at $40, with a limit of three raises up to a total pot value of $500. Making the best of these restrictions, Washington is a great place to sharpen your pot-limit and limit hold’em skills.
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