B&M Casinos support the ban. They think it will give them more business. I stopped playing at them when they started badmouthing online poker and saying they supported this archaic law. As for the players in B&M, they will love the ban. They want more people to play live. I like playing live, but its an hour drive to play. It is tough for someone who is disabled. And I also don't play the stakes they spread. If they had more options I would play more at the casino. But supporting a law that takes away our freedom is something I WILL NEVER DO. GOVERNMENT, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. I do this in the privacy of my own home. STAY OUT.

Yea, because Republicans are so for online poker! What a joke. Republicans will not repeal the law, but I bet Democrats will if we make it clear we will not stand for it. Make a lot of noise, see what happens! Make so much noise they can not ignore us. Make it clear that their jobs depend on it. But don't think that electing Republicans will be the answer. It would only make things worse.

That's irrelevant. They aren't in Washington state today anymore then they were before.

They were doing what the wanted to do and using the slightest of legal reasoning to try to back it up.

Have been planning a move for months because I suspected something like this (though not so dramatic) would happen.

I honestly never expected a full ban from stars for players in WA. But coincidentally I am moving to Las Vegas is two days.

This really sucks though as I stake players from washington still and not everyone can just up and move at the drop of a dime.

The government really needs to stay out of our private lives. They are there to protect the public not to try and protect us from ourselves. We make the money, we are adults. Who are they to say what I do with my money?

This is what I was thinking. How do we go from being served the whole time to fallout from these oral arguments that were brought to the capitol via Lee Russo and the PPA.

I'm trying not to think this or understand better but on the surface it looks like the PPA/this case made things worse!

TE, IYO, is this a lock that FTP will follow PS?

I sort of dont get the Stars legal logic. I understand ignoring state law because it violates the commerce clause. I understand reversing the decision to serve Washington State because that logic doesnt hold anymore.

However a number of sites already dont serve like 13 US states. Im really curious how Stars has determined this is the only law that counts?

Washington state was served the whole time because the law was being appealed.

If we don't fight back, we will lose. That's guaranteed. There's nothing we can do make things worse than that.

I don't know. They've not said anything yet.

I do not find fault with PS decision here. I don't like it, I wish it were otherwise, but I fully understand it. Lee Rousso, the PPA, PS and others fought this law. And the law won (at least so far). PS has always held itself out to be company that complies with the law. It has also acted according to its lawyers' view of the law when the law is unclear. As a matter of WA state law, the law is no longer unclear.

This is not the end of the matter, though, not by any means. The outrageous nature of this law (up to 5 years in prison for having the audacity to play poker online rather than in a WA casino!) compels further action. It is good to see (if a little late) the fired up attitude of most of the posters in this thread. Please do not let your motivation to act subside. It will take plenty of time and effort to get rid of this law.

As we speak the PPA is preparing for our next steps. We have not finalized our plans, but I expect them to include both legal and political activity. As a first step, follow the advice TheEngineer gave earlier in this thread. As a second step, stay active and involved and ready to participate as called upon.

I would also like to invite all WA online poker players to send me a PM with their personal story about how this law, and Star's decision, will affect their lives and livelihood. We will need every bit of ammunition to continue to fight this fight, and compelling personal stories (as sajeffe posted earlier) will be an important part of our arsenal.

Hopefully no one will remain complacent after this event. We will need everyone's help to change this.

Skallagrim

Skalla, in the microstakes limit forum, we have several players from Washington State. I will link to this message in our NC thread so that perhaps they can get in touch with you.

Does anyone know where I can find a list of everyone who voted for this horrible law? I would also be interested in seeing who voted against it.

can other washington state residents even connect to stars right now? whenever i open stars, the connecting box pops up, but i can't see any tables and i can't log in

There are 28 Indian Casinos in Washington State collectively earning more than 1.6billion annually. Oh and a state lottery of course. And let's not forget horse racing is still legal to bet on.

Our political system is driven by more than just collective values and ideals, but that's not necessarily something that has to work against us.

Can someone post a link on the progress of signatures and petitions to have this put on a public ballot in Washington? Is that even possible to have a vote to try to repeal this?

Is a trip to Federal court for an injunction possible? Like with the Arizona immigration law?

Not until at least 2011 Id imagine.

Not with these parties. Under Younger v. Harris, a federal court cannot enjoin state court proceedings. The only options for Mr. Rousso are to petition the Washington Supreme Court for rehearing or to petition the United States Supreme Court for certiorari (i.e., to review the decision).

But that doesn't mean that some other party could not bring a challenge in federal court, so long as they had standing (for instance, while they probably would not want to do so for various reasons, PokerStars could clearly bring a suit in federal court to challenge the law).

Got it, thanks.

Well I fundraise for the homeless getting ID;s thru chipin. I created a seperate chipin fundraiser here. http://micrograntsforthehomeless.chi...n-online-poker

I will complete the page and blog about it to on blogger. A twitter and myspace page will follow. Any suggestions on how to do this please pm me. Also if someone can get me an organizer in the state of Washington that I can ship it all to when the fundraising is done pm me.

Thanks

I live in Washington and work full time for a fortune 500 company and pissed off. Another reason to leave Washington. Also people talk about join the PPA do this and that. I have done everything the PPA asked me to do to fight for my rights and I see little to no progress. I am not saying don't do anything but some results would be nice.

Yes the House bill was a small win but for as many members as the PPA has it looks like not enough is going on just my 2 cents. Although I could just be kind of pissed off about the whole thing.

We're in a tough fight, as you saw here. We don't have a magic wand to wave at conditions that got us a 317-93 defeat in the U.S. House only four short years ago. What we do have is a group fighting for the right to play, and surely fighting back is superior to doing nothing.

That being said, I thank you for participating in the PPA actions. If more of us step up, we'll see more successes. If fewer step up, we'll see a reduction. It's that simple. I really hope people here will stop clinging to a hope of a perpetual status quo and will stand up for their rights.

I appreciate the hard work just pretty pissed off about the whole situation. I just wish the government would stay out of my private life such Aholes!

Here is a list of all who voted in favor of making online poker in Washington State a felony. Write each of them and let them know what you think of their vote, and that you will not be voting for them in the future if they put the wealth of Indian Casino's ahead of your rights as a citizen of this state.

Sponsor
Sen. Margarita Prentice

IN FAVOR

SENATE DEMOCRATS
Berkey (D)
Brown (D)
Eide (D)
Fairley (D)
Franklin (D)
Fraser (D)
Hargrove (D)
Haugen (D)
Jacobsen (D)
Kastama (D)
Keiser (D)
Kohl-Welles (D)
McAuliffe (D)
Prentice (D)
Pridemore (D)
Rasmussen (D)
Regala (D)
Rockefeller (D)
Sheldon (D)
Shin (D)
Spanel (D)
Thibaudeau (D)
Weinstein (D)



SENATE REPUBLICANS
Benson (R)
Benton (R)
Brandland (R)
Carrell (R)
Delvin (R)
Esser (R)
Finkbeiner (R)
Hewitt (R)
Honeyford (R)
Johnson (R)
McCaslin (R)
Morton (R)
Mulliken (R)
Oke (R)
Parlette (R)
Pflug (R)
Roach (R)
Schmidt (R)
Schoesler (R)
Stevens (R)
Zarelli (R)




IN FAVOR

HOUSE DEMOCRATS
Appleton (D)
Blake (D)
Chase (D)
Chopp (D)
Clibborn (D)
Cody (D)
Conway (D)
Darneille (D)
Dickerson (D)
Dunshee (D)
Eickmeyer (D)
Ericks (D)
Flannigan (D)
Fromhold (D)
Grant (D)
Green (D)
Haigh (D)
Hasegawa (D)
Hudgins (D)
Hunt (D)
Hunter (D)
Kagi (D)
Kenney (D)
Kessler (D)
Kilmer (D)
Kirby (D)
Lantz (D)
Linville (D)
Lovick (D)
McCoy (D)
McDermott (D)
McIntire (D)
Miloscia (D)
Moeller (D)
Morrell (D)
Murray (D)
O'Brien (D)
Ormsby (D)
Pettigrew (D)
Quall (D)
Roberts (D)
Santos (D)
Schual-Berke (D)
Sells (D)
Simpson (D)
Sommers (D)
Springer (D)
Sullivan, B. (D)
Sullivan, P. (D)
Takko (D)
Upthegrove (D)
Wallace (D)
Williams (D)
Wood (D)


HOUSE REPUBLICANS
Ahern (R)
Alexander (R)
Anderson (R)
Armstrong (R)
Bailey (R)
Buck (R)
Buri (R)
Campbell (R)
Clements (R)
Condotta (R)
Cox (R)
Crouse (R)
Curtis (R)
Debolt (R)
Ericksen (R)
Haler (R)
Hankins (R)
Hinkle (R)
Jarrett (R)
Kretz (R)
Kristiansen (R)
McCune (R)
McDonald (R)
Newhouse (R)
Orcutt (R)
Pearson (R)
Priest (R)
Roach (R)
Rodne (R)
Schindler (R)
Serben (R)
Shabro (R)
Skinner (R)
Strow (R)
Sump (R)
Talcott (R)
Tom (R)
Walsh (R)
Woods (R)

Question: So is it now illegal for us to play online poker in Washington State? Can we be charged with anything for playing online this past year? Is playing online at FT a bad idea if you live in Washington state?

Thanks for your help.

Also, now that we have this giant list of people to write, what is the best way to go about writing them and expressing our frustration with them?

Dear FTP,

Pokerstars sucks. They don't know what the hell they're doing. They piss of their regs, they don't know how to attract casual players, and they get their asses beat by Rush Poker

Please don't play follow the leader with these ******s. Back in 07 you stood up for the US players getting kicked in the balls, please stay true to us, and I promise whenever I hear the name "Full Tilt" I will sacrifice a virgin in your honor