Playing Poker in Washington State: No Longer a Felony?
There could be major changes on the horizon for online poker players in Washington. Currently, the Northwest state is among the harshest out there when it comes to online poker, making playing the game a felony. However, according to Poker Players Alliance Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineerMuny, “Legislation was proposed in Washington to reduce the penalty on online poker players from being a felony to being a civil infraction. While it’s nice to be seen as something other than felons, I think applicability to players needs to be repealed in entirety.”
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Muny shared the text of the billon Facebook. The two-page draft read in part, “Whoever knowingly transmits or receives gambling information over the internet or knowingly installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or receipt of gambling information over the internet in his or her primary residence for recreational purposes, commits a Class 3 civil infraction.”
It adds, “For purposes of this subsection, ‘recreational purposes’ means solely for the defendant’s own enjoyment and not as part of an enterprise that derives income from operating an internet website that transmits or receives gambling information.” Right now, playing online poker is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years behind bars and a $10,000 fine.
State Representative Paul Harris is spearheading the effort in Washington. The PPA alerted its members worldwide on Wednesday about the new legislation, saying in part, “PPA alerted the Washington membership, asking everyone to take action to tell their elected representatives to support this measure. The following day, the bill gained seven cosponsors.”
The PPA called the existing Washington state law “egregious” and said that the measure “has been on the books for far too long, so it is outstanding that the effort to change this is gaining steam. While we will not be satisfied until playing all forms of poker is legal everywhere, this is certainly a terrific first step.”
Margarita Prentice (pictured) was the engine behind the current law that makes playing online poker a Class C felony. She famously told ESPN that affected poker players should head to the nearest Shell station with a resume in hand: “I just think some of these arguments are utter nonsense. You mean you’re going to move so you can play poker? Gee, lots of luck in your life… I have nothing against card playing. That’s fine. If you want to do that, but I’m sure not going to worry about someone… You know… Let them go pump gas.”
Prentice has also been linked to a bill expanding keno as a way for the Washington State Government to pull in extra revenue. At the time the bill came up, she told the Seattle Times, “We wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t an absolute necessity.” The bill criminalizing online poker was passed in 2006 before the adoption of the UIGEA. Prentice left office in January of this year.
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