PokerStars to Stop Serving Washington State Residents - Page 17 - Poker Legislation

Um, WTF this is either wrong or there has been a lot of bad information passed and even within the WA poker players community, as I hadn't even heard of this.

Quote:

Washington State: Online Poker is no Longer a Felony in Homes
by PokerPages.com
Wed, Apr 25th, 2007 @ 12:00am

Washington State legislators last week passed Bill 1243 to correct excessive felony charges for online poker or online gambling when done in the privacy of a primary residence for recreation and not for organised profit.

State Rep. Chris Strow, R-Whidbey Island, introduced House Bill 1243 on Jan 15, 2007 to correct what he considers "an inappropriate penalty for an activity responsible adults should be allowed to do in the privacy of their home."

Strow at the time the bill was introduced stated, "Most certainly choosing to gamble, or play a game of skill such as poker, should not have been made a crime equivalent to possessing child pornography or threatening the Governor."

Under the state's 2006 internet gambling law, any online gambling in the state is a Class C Felony, which is the same penalty for possessing child pornography.

The Senate passed SB 1243 on 3 April with 45 yeas to 2 nays. The House followed suit on 17 April voting 62 yeas to 36 nays. So now, online gambling in the privacy of a home in Washington State is a legitimate defense against being convicted of a felony charge.

Click Here to review the bill that was passed.

Other sponsors of the bill include Representatives Kirby, Upthegrove, B. Sullivan, Simpson, and Appleton.

Ironically, the bill does not apply to online operators of gambling or gambling information sites located in the State of Washington. They are regarded as profiting from and promoting online gambling. So, in apparent contradiction, online gambling- the activity- is allowed, but the promotion and provision of it is not.

Read Related Article:

Read more: http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news...#ixzz13UaIsbgd
www.pokerpages.com

http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news...omes-29674.htm

Things to note:
1. Obv first is playing online poker from your home is not a felony (even though we knew no one was ever going to be charged, let alone convicted lol)

2. The landslide votes for repeal of the penalty.

3. The co sponsors of this bill

Can anyone comment on this? I happen to find this article by googling something non related and obv am surprised I'm only learning of something now, that happened in 2007.

Quote

10-26-2010 , 04:28 PM

#402

AC000000

enthusiast

Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 92

Unfortunately that was a bad news report. That bill was never passed:

http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/...hington-165571

Quote

10-27-2010 , 07:10 PM

#403

slavic

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,583

Strow was very active trying to work through an affirmative defense as an amendment to the RCWs. I don't understand the full workings of the proposal but you could admit that you were playing poker online and still not face the possibility of prosecution, or for that matter a felony.

Unfortunately, a republican getting something through the Washington state congress and signed by the Governor is rare.

Quote

10-29-2010 , 02:45 AM

#404

McNitt_03

journeyman

Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 247

For those of you who are WA residents or just want to show your support, Erik Ladenburg (Tacoma) created a facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143216675722896

Quote

10-29-2010 , 03:10 PM

#405

CajunDragon

grinder

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 571

I'm moving to LV. F this

Quote

11-01-2010 , 01:41 PM

#406

The Commish

centurion

Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 105

Quote:

Originally Posted by McNitt_03

For those of you who are WA residents or just want to show your support, Erik Ladenburg (Tacoma) created a facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143216675722896

Thanks for the support. The facebook group now has 946 members.

Check out this article about the Feds raiding a company for sending checks to poker players in Seattle -- http://makepokerlegal.com/blog/2010/...poker-players/

Quote

11-02-2010 , 03:28 PM

#407

benjammin509

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 460

The realization that PokerStars is never going to come back led me spread the message to the masses at the Seattle "Rally to Restore Sanity." A few poker players in the crowd knew what I was talking about, but the vast majority of people had no idea.

Since I only talked w/ people briefly, I hit em w/ the key points.
- State is being hypocritically since it obv condones poker and gambling
- Policy makes no sense since you can comfortably play online with much less money than at any B&M
- Law makes it a felony to play
- Law will only cause the reputable sites to leave and leave consumers w/ the shady sites.
- Civil / Privacy rights

Here is a pic I found on FLICKR. I had a good time and would likely do it again at an event that gets a good crowd.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/onemansvoice/5129836422/

Quote

Page 17 of 17

First

7 12 13 14 15 16 17

Last

Post Reply Subscribe

...

Page 17 of 17

First

7 12 13 14 15 16 17

Last