|
PokerPages > Poker News > Poker News
Poker News - Poker News
Search News:
Washington State Online Poker Ban Legality ChallengedWed, Jul 11th, 2007 @ 12:00am A Renton, Washington lawyer celebrated the start of the Main Event of the World Series of Poker last Friday by filing a lawsuit challenging the Washington state ban on online poker, also called Internet poker in the media, according to reports in the Seattle Intelligencer newspaper. Lawyer Lee Rousso (49) filed his complaint claiming that the 2006 ban on Internet poker is a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution' commerce clause, which prohibits individual states from enacting laws that discriminate against interstate businesses. No one has yet been prosecuted under the Washington law. Rousso, who is the Washington state representative for the Poker Players Alliance, and has experience in both live poker as well as online poker tournaments, said his "first legal challenge to the law also should be the last." The lawyer also told the Seattle Intelligencer that he believed his chances of winning his case were "darn good." The state ban, which was passed in 2006 on Bill SB 6613, prohibits Internet-based card games such as Texas Hold'Em that poker players in Washington (Rousso among them) have used to qualify for large prize pool tournaments played both live and online. Rousso noted, for example, that Washington residents who won seats for the Main Event of the World Series of Poker likely did so through qualifying on online tournaments, even though it now is a Class C felony to do so. This has the same penalty as possessing child pornography, stalking, drive by shootings, threatening the governor, family abandonment, heroin possession and unauthorized abortions. Persons convicted of a Class C felony face a maximum of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Washington's Internet Gambling law also bans online sports gambling. Lawmakers claimed the ban was passed to make the state compliant with the Federal Wire Act. Originally approved in 1961, the act specifically called out only sports betting and was a federal effort to limit betting on sports over the telephone at a time the government was targeting mafia-run sports betting rings. 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. The complaint details seven points illustrating why the Washington State law is unconstitutional. It also calls out that the author of the original Internet Gambling bill, State Sen. Margarita Prentice, received contributions from the Washington casinos, alleging that these companies "were the intended and/or actual beneficiaries of SB 6613." Rousso is seeking a declaratory judgment against the bill, which would render it void and unenforceable.
Susan Arland, spokeswoman for the Washington Gambling Commission, said commission lawyers have not seen the lawsuit and would comment only after they had read it. "We don't have anything to say just yet," she said. Rousso's effort to challenge the state Internet Gambling ban for online poker follows an earlier effort this year by Washington State Rep. Chris Strow, R-Whidbey Island to exclude internet gambling played from a person's home from being a felony. He introduced House Bill 1243 on Jan 15, 2007 which has not gone farther than its first reading in the House, according to Washington State Legislature records (click here to see bill status). Read Related Articles:
More Poker News Articles
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland Poker Tour PokerStars.com has announced the start of a new poker tour with stops throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) will kick off in Galway, Ireland in mid-December, and the first event in the UK will be held in Manchester in February.
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World Poker Tour Enterprises According to a Monday press release, WPT Enterprises Inc., mothership of the World Poker Tour, is now the rightful property of Peerless Media, Ltd., subsidiary of online giant PartyGaming.
Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the Amazing Race Rail After surviving six legs of the Amazing Race by the skin of their teeth, poker pros Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho were finally eliminated in the CBS reality show's most recently aired episode. Michelle and Ho, the last women standing in the 2008 and 2007 World Series of Poker Main Events, gave reality television fans another chance to watch poker personalities compete away from the felt. Annie Duke garnered quite a following earlier in the year on another reality show competition, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice.
Isaac Baron Dominates Caesars Classic Main Event Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron ran over the final table of the Caesars Palace Classic $5,000 Main Event, amassing a huge chip lead and going home with the $246,928 first prize. It took two long days to narrow the 162-person field to the final ten. A very high percentage of the entrants were recognizable tournament circuit players, and unsurprisingly, the stacked field produced a tough final table lineup.
Tonight- ESPN shows Day Before WSOP Main Event Final Nine are Set- Oct 27 Tonight (Oct. 27) at 9pm ET, ESPN will broadcast highlights of action on the day before the Final Table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was set. Only 27 players remain when this one-hour show begins.
Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.
Vedes Conquers WPT Festa al Lago Final Table Tommy Vedes is the WPT's newest champion! Vedes outlasted 274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize. Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen's record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle for 4th place, leaving room for a new WPT champ. Click here for in-depth coverage of the action and photos from the final table.
Will Hungarians Get Taxed on Poker Soon? Hungarian lawmakers have plans to tax poker winnings and regulate clubs to generate much-needed revenues during the country's worst economic crisis since the end of communism, reports Germany's Deutsche Weele.
Freddy Deeb Leads World Poker Tour Final Table The WPT Festa al Lago Main Event is down to the final six after five tough days of play. Two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb brings the chip lead along with the benefit of his under-the-lights experience into Monday's televised final table. Deeb previously won the WPT Season III Aruba Poker Classic and the Season VII Celebrity Invitational. He also owns two World Series bracelets and has amassed over $6 million in tournament winnings. A win on Monday would add $1,218,225 to that total. Click here for photos from the felt and final table chip counts.
11 Remain in WPT Festa al Lago Main Event The fourth day of the Festa al Lago WPT $15,000 Championship began with 37 players, just ten eliminations away from the money. Though action was painfully slow at times, it hit break-neck speed before the end of the night, leaving only 11 players standing heading into Day 5. Click here for Day 4 photos and chip counts. |
 Online Poker »
Poker News »
Blog Coverage
Top News
PokerStars Launches New UK and Ireland...
Peerless Media Agrees to Purchase World... Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho Hit the... Top Tournaments
|
Discuss this article in our forum
Print this article
All Poker and free play poker content ©2009 Advanced Global Applications, LLC. All rights reserved.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, visit either: National Council on Problem Gambling or Gamblers Anonymous International Service