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Washington State Ban on Online Poker UpheldFri, May 16th, 2008 @ 12:00am Lee Rousso presented his arguments yesterday in court regarding the unconstitutionality of the state of Washington's ban on playing online poker, but the judge did not agree, so the ban making playing online poker a Class C felony remains in force. The state ban, which was passed in 2006, prohibits Internet-based card games such as Texas Hold'em that poker players in Washington have used to qualify for large prize pool tournaments played both live (like the World Series of Poker) and online. Other persons convicted of a Class C felony in the state of Washington include those guilty of possessing child pornography, stalking, drive by shootings, threatening the governor, family abandonment, heroin possession, unauthorized abortions or committing grand theft auto. The same punishment for playing online poker has been criticized as excessive by many state residents. Lee Rousso, lawyer, former gubernatorial candidate and Poker Players Alliance (PPA) regional director for the state of Washington, originally filed the lawsuit on the first day of the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, and has traveled a long legal road to finally get his day in court. In defense of the ban, Lawmakers claimed the ban was passed to make the state compliant with the Federal Wire Act that prohibits online sports gambling. Rousso says the ban doesn't put the state in compliance with the Federal Wire Act as it claims to do. He claims that instead, it protects Washington's own in-state gambling industry, which includes live card rooms and casinos that contribute to state revenues, from online poker competition. Thus it violates the Commerce Clause contained within the constitution which prohibits individual states from enacting laws that discriminate against interstate businesses. State attorneys expressed their pleasure with the judge's decision to uphold the online ban. Just before the hearing, Rousso told Phyllis Fletcher of KUOW NEWS that should he lose in court after his arguments were heard, that he would appeal the verdict. After the negative verdict was delivered, Rousso remained optimistic, saying, "Even though it was a loss today, I still think some good things will come of it." The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) had organized a rally immediately following the hearing to show their support for Rousso's efforts. Approximately fifty people, including professional poker players Barry Greenstein and Andy Bloch, attended the rally along with a number of media outlets. Read Related Articles:
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EGBA Sets New Best Practice Standards for Responsible Gaming The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), in support of their mission to promote fair competition for European-licensed operators and consumer choice in a regulated European online gaming market. has launched a new set of best practices to ensure consistent standards of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behavior in the European online poker, Internet gaming and betting environment.
World Poker Association Changes Membership Terms The new leadership under Founder and present Chairman of the World Poker Association (WPA), Jesse Jones, has taken immediate measures to address the needs of the over 1400 members who have joined the WPA to date, through several key membership changes. These changes include:
Stanley Ho's IPO Reveals Setbacks Since Macau Regulation, Competition Arrive The delayed listing of Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings (SJM) group on Hong Kong's Stock Exchange until today, 16 July, is characteristic of the many challenges the firm has faced since 2002, when foreign operators were allowed to build casinos, and regulations increased. Since then, the 86-year old billionaire's four decade dominance of the Portuguese colony's gaming market, determining where and when you could play poker has waned.
'November Nine' Final Table of the World Series of Poker Is Set From 6,844 to nine, the players for the final table of the Main Event of the 39th World Series of Poker have now emerged after nearly two weeks at the tables. The so-called 'November Nine' will return on November 9 after a 117 day hiatus as the most well prepared final table in poker history, as well as being guinea pigs for this first-ever delayed final table experiment.
Poker Tournaments in Bars -- The New Prohibition? While the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has devastated internet poker, separate, quiet battles are being fought, and won, to make poker legal in bars under state laws.
'November Nine' Emerge Today at World Series of Poker, Hellmuth Places 45th Today, July 14, is a big day at the World Series of Poker, when the three remaining tables of the Main Event will be trimmed to one, from the 27 players starting play today Day 7. That means that today we will learn the identities of the 'November Nine', the nine finalists who will return November 9 to play out the final table under the television spotlights.
Biggest $250,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament in Bodog History Coming History will be made this summer at Bodog Poker, as the online poker powerhouse hosts its largest guaranteed prize pool tournament ever on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 4 p.m. EST, with a guaranteed $250,000 in total prize money to be awarded-- regardless of the number of registrants.
$5 Million Guaranteed Prize Pool for 2008 Borgata Poker Open in Sept. Details of the 6th annual Borgata Poker Open series have just been announced: the 16-day tournament begins Sept. 3rd and concludes with the $10,000 buy-In 5-day World Poker Tour (WPT) / Borgata Poker Open Championship event, September 14-18, at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
PKR Now 15th Largest Online Poker Site Online poker site PKR recently announced that is has overtaken industry stalwarts Cryptologic and Entraction to claim 15th place in Pokerscout's online poker rankings, attributing its continued growth to highly innovative marketing campaigns.
Computer Beats Poker Pros in ReMatch Last weekend, a computer system called Polaris outperformed seven top online poker players at a human-vs.-machine competition held in Las Vegas. The score was computer 3, people 2, and one draw in the Texas Hold'em matches. |
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