Hi fellow poker players!

The Washington State Gambling Commission is holding a public comment on repealing the states current limit of $300 maximum bet for poker.

In WA there can also only be three raises per round, another dumb rule.

Send them your comments here to support the repeal:
https://wsgc.wa.gov/news/request-public-comment


Here's the current rule, WAC 230-15-135

Wagering limits for nonhouse-banked card games.

Card room licensees must not exceed these wagering limits:
(1) Poker -
(a) There must be no more than five betting rounds in any one game; and
(b) There must be no more than four wagers in any betting round, for example, the initial wager plus three raises; and
(c) The maximum amount of a single wager must not exceed forty dollars; however, Class F and house-banked card game licensees may offer a single wager not to exceed three hundred dollars;
https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=230-15-135

My comment submitted:

"This petition makes some very salient points. Poker games without wager limits are run safely and successfully in the other states where poker gaming is licensed and regulated. Wager limits do not provide protection to the compulsive gambler, who can still find many opportunities and venues to indulge their impulses. Adherence to the standard protections of personnel training, help line and a coordinated exclusion program at licensed facilities are effective deterrents to problem gambling; the wager limits are not needed for this purpose. As the petitioner posits, the wager limits force players of all means to play together at the same stakes. This creates an environment where players of lower means can be "out-gunned" at the tables, making the games untennable for such players. In addition, the foremost public mandate for licensed gaming is to provide a safe gaming venue for players through regulation of the games. With the wager limits in place, higher-stakes players may continue to engage in poker gaming outside the licensed facilities in underground games, where they are not subject to such limits. Eliminating the wager limits will lead to many such players opting for the safer games at the licensed facilities, which will fulfill the public mandate as well as increase revenues for the state through higher participation rates in licensed gaming."

Excellent points here!

I posted the request for comment in a few other places online. Trying to get the word out.

In a perfect world, we'd eliminate all those rules. Is that what we are asking, or is there a politically realistic compromise? $500 max, a la the tribes? Let me hear it.

The petition (click the link in the OP to read it) calls for eliminating all the wager limit rules. I can't see what the tribes would gain by keeping a $500 max limit.

That would be awesome. Good God, one time!

these rules are in the WAC (administrative rules code) as opposed to the RCW (statutes), and don't directly apply to the tribes. There may be similar rules in the tribal compacts, but this rule change is for state licensed cardrooms.

Thus, Tribal objection is almost certain

That said, someone should petition for this rule change every month

Oh, I get it. Protectionism for the tribal cardrooms. That makes it a tough battle.

just logged into twitter. are they voting on this today?

Commissioners vote unanimously to deny a petition for rule change regarding poker wager limits. The petitioner requested that we repeal WAC 230-15-135 and remove wagering limits for non-house-banked card games.

https://twitter.com/WAGambling/statu...03168994009088

the tribal places I have played have all closed their poker rooms - Swinomish, Angel of the Winds, Tulalip.

Do the tribes want to control all gaming, even what they do not offer?