New Washington Online Poker Law Stretches Tentacles
On June 7th, the new law in the state of Washington criminalizing online gaming and poker took effect. While this hasn't seemed to slow down the residents of the Evergreen State from playing in the 300 or so online poker rooms that are scattered across the Internet, the legislation is stretching its reach to extend into another very delicate area: poker information sites.
In an article in the Seattle Times by Danny Westneat on June 17th, it is reported that a poker information site has come under fire from the state. The site, called Integrity Casino Guide, is basically an information site for other Internet users which culls different information on the poker rooms on the Web and offers other pertinent details. The owner of the site, Todd Boutte, was concerned about the new law but, since he wasn't taking any wagers on his site, figured that all would be OK. In a chilling sequence that could be compared to an Orwellian scenario from "1984", the state has said that he is still in violation of the new law in Washington.
Because the site contains advertisements, links and information about poker rooms, it is viewed in the same manner as the offshore sites themselves. This could earn Boutte charges punishable with a Class C felony in Washington, which (as we have previously detailed here at PokerNews) is punishment usually reserved for serious criminals.
For now, Boutte has shut down his site and is attempting to possibly restart it at sometime, albeit housed outside of the state. Later in the article, Westneat also points out that his own newspaper publishes poker professional Daniel Negreanu's poker column on a weekly basis and wonders if they are violating the new law.
June 20, 2006
Posted By Hector Rodriquez
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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