A sad day in Washington State

Today Full Tilt Poker sent me a email stating that I could no longer play at the site for real money because of the bill that was passed here recently that is outlawed on-line poker in this state. The PPA has been soliciting government officials here in the state for some time now but all has fallen upon deaf ears. I am still playing at other sites but fear that they too will be cutting off their services soon. I am not sure how many Washington players belong to this site or FTP for that matter but they too are affected. I have truly enjoyed the FTP site, the freerolls at CC ther on Saturdays, and poker in general. A sad day indeed.

that is sad for Washington , for the residents of Washington , for online poker and for fulltilt poker .
but WTF is fulltilt doing enforcing Washington state law ? they kept the US players after the UIGEA crap and helped get money in and out . we got tossed from lots of other online sites .

hmmm that's strange i thought all of the poker sites were banned in washington....maybe a few of the small ones slipped under the radar. But yeah, Washington has been cut off for sometime now. Good thing i live in Texas.

I was at Starbucks at lunch today In Portland Oregon And got a message they wouldn't allow me to play cash . W.T.F. I know Washington is across the river from Oregon but i live in Oregon and was trying to play in Oregon and it would'nt let me

Its been illegal for years now, but the legislature just recently upheld the law and the sites are voluntarily pulling out. Stars was first, now Tilt. Whos next?

It's probably due to the fact that the Washington law explicitly outlaws online poker, and it is not as hazy as many other state laws or even the UIGEA for that matter. It really doesn't make any sense to me that online poker is getting such resistance. If they just legalized it, and received taxes from it, the government and everyone else would be very happy. It would really be a win win for everyone. Those who have been playing for a while would get a) a huge influx of new poker sites which means new bonuses b) a load of new fish and new people trying out the game, not to mention tons of casual players c) the gov't would get the taxes that they want so bad.

I just don't see why we can't get it done. Didn't a bill recently pass a sub-committee or something and now will move to the actual floor?

Anyone know about this?

They stopped my Pokerstars. com money from me and it sucks. I now play the free games, for practice and take that to the casino's. Not sure what to do, vote the bastards out.

I recently viewed several hours worth of US Government comments about online poker. These were comments made before a Barney Frank committee regarding online poker. While not exactly the same, I think the substance is similar.

What I got out of it is there are misguided folks who think they are protecting kids from the evils of the world. There were Police folks there talking about the underworld corruptions and influences. Both miss the point that we want online poker to be out in the open, free from the corruption, and an option each of us makes individually, and freely.

What they are really doing is akin to the pot laws. They are creating a clandestine attitude where the kids believe there must be something inherently interesting going on for their parents to actually make it illegal. For those who avoid that subculture, there will be many who will get blindsided, and go broke once they find poker in real life.

Lack of preparation will destroy them.

I'm sick of laws getting enacted because it will protect the children. &*^# the children! That protection from real life is on par with witch hunts. As a parent if you want to 'protect' you children, YOU do it! Don't screw me, who lives thousands of miles away in some deviant scheme to protect your kid.

I would rather live in America, Land of the free and home of the brave than in Ameriqa land of the controlled, and home of the brainwashed.

Please everyone who reads this email, sign this petition to get Washington thier gambling rights back

http://www.petitiononline.com/37542571/petition.html

Thanks Kory

Is there actually no way around still playing? I'd of thought there would be some loop hole you could get through.

I'd hate to be in a position where they stopped me playing poker.

Individual poker sites can stop any individual from playing on their sites. Doyles and a few others blocked a number of states from playing before moving over to Cake network. I played on Party Poker until the US ban and in one day it was over for US players. The move, unfortunately is toward outlawing online poker in the US and I see no progress yet in stopping it from spreading. It is hypocritical in that they (government) have no problem with players playing in land based casinos through out the country. (money in it for them)

If it's not hypocrisy-it's not government. Not only do they allow land-based casinos, but off-track betting, bingo, lotteries, etc. The whole protect the kids thing is a joke. It's about who is lining their pockets and for some a misguided belief that they should decide how we spend our time.

My kids are MY problem. I object to the violent video games a lot more than to the fact that they might log on and play poker with a few play chips. Just keep the pedophiles out of the schools and sports. The rest of it is my job.

Here are some ideas:

For WA players:
An ostentatious organized boycott of lotteries and casinos and other gambling venues in WA might have some effect. When the bucks stop rolling in from other sources, the state legislature might reconsider. Picketing at various gambling sites might be interesting -- "If I can't play poker online, to hell with it all!" "Vegas here I come!" "If I can't have my fun online, you don't get my money here." And vote out all the legislators who did this. Get politically active. Get out informative flyers to educate people who could otherwise care less about online poker.

For the rest of us:
Those of us outside of WA could write the casinos in WA and voice disappointment about the new law, since you are now reconsidering travelling to WA to gamble. You don't want to do without your online poker, and can't want to take such a risk by being in WA. http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/wash…