Washington State passed the strictest online gambling laws in the country in 2006. The law made playing online poker a Class C felony, though no one has ever been arrested or prosecuted under the law.
Now, some forces are trying to roll back the strict penalties in the state.
“There have been a few efforts in both the legislature and by way of initiative to repeal or lessen our State ban on internet gaming but those have not advanced very far,” Chris Stearns, commissioner of the Washington State Gambling Commission told PokerNews.com.
Washington State Senator Margarita Prentice was seen as the principal force behind the 2006 ban, but she left the state Senate in 2013.
Poker activist Curtis Woodard, part of the Washington Internet Poker Initiative group Stearns told PokerNews that the group is ready to push for a new initiative to change the state’s law.
“I’ve been pushing an idea for legislation based on the network model, separating the card rooms from the software providers, with emphasis on shared liquidity,” Woodard said. “There has been some interest shown but I haven’t really made any big strides this year. This is a work in progress and I don’t have all the details worked out, and actually I want the Tribes to give some input to assure they know we are concerned about their interests.
“The goal this year is to come up with a measure that can be agreed upon in the next session in 2015 that runs January-April. Failing that we can look at an initiative drive for next year that would likely put the measure on the ballot in 2016.”
