On Thursday, the Poker Players Alliance(PPA) will stage a rally outside of the Washington State Supreme Court at 10:00am PT. The rally will follow oral arguments inside the courthouse by PPA Washington State Director Lee Rousso, who is seeking to overturn a harsh law in the Northwest state that makes playing online poker a Class C felony. Online poker players found guilty of violating the statute are treated the same as those who possess child pornography and heroin.
The courthouse is located at 415 12th Avenue Southeast in Olympia. In attendance will be several members of the PPA, including Chairman Alfonse D'Amato (pictured at left), a former three-term Republican Senator from New York who commented in a press release distributed on Tuesday, “I’m shocked that a state as enlightened as Washington is making people felons for playing online poker in their own homes. This is the most incredible piece of state legislation passed in 2006.” Washington boasts legalized card rooms, making the severe penalty for gambling online even more troublesome for the PPA and its members.
On the PPA’s Facebook page, a petition supporting Roussoin his court case appears. The petition reads in part, “Sign this petition and register your support for PPA State Director Lee Rousso, who is challenging the constitutionality of the law. It is an easy way to show that you oppose this misguided law.” Rousso is charging that the 2006 law violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution because it protects in-state businesses from out of state competition.
In March 2009, the law was upheld in a decision released by the Washington State Court of Appeals. In an interview with PokerNewsDaily.com, Rousso explained why the lower court did not rule correctly: “The Court of Appeals took what I would call the ‘wrong inquiry.’ They asked whether the law treats all internet poker providers the same regardless of whether they are in-state or out of state, but there are no in-state operators. The correct inquiry is whether the law treats all poker providers fairly and the answer is no.” In addition to card rooms, Washington State has large-scale Indian casinos.
Appearing at the hearing will be D’Amato, PPA Executive Director John Pappas, Rousso, and Washington State native Phil Gordon (pictured at right), a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker. Gordon finished fourth in the 2001 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $399,000 and owns nearly $800,000 in career WSOP and Circuit Event earnings. He also won the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star event in 2004.
Ironically, one of the supporters of legalizing, regulating, and taxing internet gambling on the federal level, Congressman Jim McDermott (pictured at left), hails from Washington. The Democrat introduced HR 4976, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, back in March. The measure has attracted four co-sponsors and was recently discussed in the House Ways and Means Committee.
If you’re reading this article and don’t live in Washington State, why should you be concerned about its ruthless stance towards internet gambling? D’Amato explained in a video posted on the official website of the PPA, “If it can happen in the state of Washington, then it can happen anywhere… It’s ridiculous and that’s why we’re there to rally for people’s rights. It’s not just about poker… To regulate is one thing, but to ban and criminalize, that’s out of line.”