The Washington legislature has passed, and Governor Jay Inslee has signed, a bill that creates a no-play list that people who are problem gamblers can place themselves to that casinos will not allow them on the premises.
The sponsor of the bill, Rep. Shelly Kloba, told My Northwest: “It’ll start out with just the card rooms and state lottery system, but the intent of the bill is to build a system so that someone, in a time of sort of clarity and resolve, can go to a place that is not a gambling facility—someplace neutral—and they can sign themselves up to be excluded.”
The law requires the State Gambling Commission to create rules to establish the self-exclusion network by June of next year. If a player insists on going to a casino after excluding himself, his winnings will be forfeited to a problem gambling account if he tries to cash out. Also included would be state offices, where persons who win more than $600 must go to claim their prizes.
Tribal casinos are not required to join the network, but some have shown an interest in joining it, said Kloba. Meantime the commission’s rules would apply to commercial card rooms and casino.
Recent studies have found that problem gambling is a growing problem in the state and that the funding for treatment programs is inadequate. The new law budgets $100,000 for study by a Problem Gambling Task Force of the need for services and whether that need is being met.
