In 2006, Washington State ruffled feathers in the poker world by criminalizing online poker, making those who play the game on the internet Class C felons, the same as third degree child rapists. Someone playing a little game of Hold’em could face up to five years in prison. It is a terrible law, one which many feel was created to help protect the territory of Washington’s brick-and-mortar casinos. With the legalization of online poker in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware, as well as the introduction of initiatives in other states, poker players in the Evergreen State have decided the time is now to mobilize. A group led by Curtis Woodard has filed a pair of initiatives that would put online poker back in good standing in the state.
The first one, Initiative Measure 582 (I-582), also called the Washington State Internet Poker Act (WSIPA) of 2014, is the more important of the two, as it aims to legalize and regulate online poker within state borders. Section 1 of the initiative sums it up nicely:
The intent of this act is to authorize the play of real money internet poker, to direct the Washington state gambling commission to license operators providing internet poker, and to regulate licensed operators’ activity within the state of Washington.
Amongst the proposed rules for online poker are:
• A licensed poker operator must have a physical location in the state which houses servers and staff.
• Player funds must be held in a segregated trust account in Washington and transactions must be completed within three days.
• An operator must have experience in electronic gaming.
• An operator must have a procedure in place to ensure players are at least 21-years old and located within state borders.
• An operator must provide problem gambling information on its site.
The second measure, I-583, or the Internet Poker Player Decriminalization Act (IPPDA) of 2014, is more of a fallback if I-582 does not go anywhere. Rather than making online poker totally legal, the goal of I-583 is to eliminate any penalties against online poker players. The key text, which would be added to the current law, is as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, persons may knowingly transmit or receive gambling information over the internet and may knowingly install or maintain equipment for the transmission or receipt of gambling information over the internet when acting solely as a player in any game over the internet where the wagering is only between two or more players and no person or enterprise that derives income from operating an internet web site that transmits or receives gambling information benefits directly from the outcome of the game.
Now that the initiatives have been filed, the goal is to get 300,000 signatures so that further action can be taken. If the signatures are acquired, the measures will be introduced in the legislature. From there they could be adopted into law or, if no action is taken, be put on the November 2014 ballot for statewide voting. It is also possible that rather than voting on each initiative separately, voters will be asked to choose one or the other.
Woodard and company will actively seek the support of legislators and Tribal leaders over the course of the year so that even if the 300,000 signatures aren’t gathered, the initiatives could make it to the legislature, anyway.
