Poker Players Vent Political Outrage

In 2006, the governor of the state of Washington, Christine Gregoire, signed into law Senate Bill 6613, banning Internet gambling in her state. This ignited a firestorm of criticism, a lot of it coming from poker players. Part of the law states that the penalty for online gambling, including that by the player, is a felony offense. This bill was sponsored by five Washington senators: Margarita Prentice, Karen Keiser, Maralyn Rasmussen, Adam Kline, and Paull Shin. Sen. Prentice was the main mover behind the bill. It was passed by the Senate unanimously, 44-0, and 93-5 in the House. Voting no in the House were Reps. Bruce Chandler, Jennifer Dunn, Janea Holmquist, Jeff Morris, and Toby Nixon. There was hardly any discussion of this bill before it was voted on.

I recently visited a nonpartisan website called Washington Votes, which gets feedback from Washington citizens on various legislation. There were far more comments from citizens about SB 6613 than any other piece of legislation enacted into law, and more than 90 percent of those comments were critical of the bill. It is obvious that there is a great gulf between lawmakers and citizens when it comes to Internet gambling. I contributed the following commentary to the site:

"The Washington Internet gambling law would get my vote as the worst state law affecting poker-playing anyplace in our country. As the founder of FLOP, which is Fair Laws on Poker, I am well-acquainted with the various state laws on poker, and even authored a study called 'A Comparative Study of State Laws on Social Gambling.' Making the playing of Internet poker from your own home a felony offense carrying a penalty of up to five years in jail is a disgraceful piece of legislation. In many states, being a mere player is not even a chargeable offense. The proponents of this legislation say it is not aimed at the player. There is a simple solution to put that statement to the test: remove the felony penalty for being a player on an Internet gambling site. You can be sure that passing a law that is so draconian that it cannot be enforced in a responsible manner will bring nothing but disrespect for the law, discrediting the legislators who passed it and the people assigned the onerous task of enforcing it. Undo your blunder by removing the felony penalty for the mere player."

Here is a selection of comments from Washington poker players. The bill drew the most ire for the fact that live poker rooms are legal in the state of Washington, so making Internet poker a felony is tantamount to the state using its lawmaking powers to stifle competition.

"This is an utterly transparent attempt to protect a revenue source at the expense of personal liberty. Either gambling is a vice from which the (mindless) sheep must be protected or it is not. I just don't understand how the activity can be validated by the destination of the profits."

"If you feel that gambling is bad, ban all gambling in the state of Washington. If not, then regulate it all the same way. Should Amazon.com be made illegal while Borders and Waldenbooks are OK? For heaven's sake, legislators, be consistent! Wake up - this is the new millenium, and companies will do business on the Internet (some will even do it better and cheaper than brick-and-mortar versions). Make all businesses in the same market follow the same rules!"

"Do you actually think this is worthy of a felony? I have loved living in Washington all my life, but this absolutely incredible. Why not spend more time cleaning up the cities and crime, and less time on how people want to spend their hard-earned money!

"How can 100 people who don't play the game [poker] make the decision for the 20 million who do?"

"This law is absolutely absurd. It makes me ashamed to be a citizen of this Big Brother state."

"Are we going to be raiding peoples' homes now? 'Sorry, Billy, your daddy was playing poker online and now we've got to lock him up. It sucks to be you. We're still deciding whether or not to charge your mommy as an accomplice for paying for the Internet feed. Have a nice day; move along, citizen.'"

"Poker is not gambling. It is a game of skill that uses cards - just like bridge. Are you going to make playing bridge for a penny a point a felony, as well? This law is just plain dumb."

"Why am I a felon when I play in a poker tournament online, when the exact same activity at a cardroom is legal? What in the world are the proponents of this bill thinking?"

"This law scares me, and seems like a direct violation of civil liberties."

Here is a very angry response:
"I'm 76 years old and too old and cheap to drive the 60 miles to the nearest Indian casino to play poker. I play online now - no-limit, 25¢-25¢ tables. I generally make enough money each week to buy 10 state lottery tickets - and I have never won. Tell those idiots in Olympia that I am gonna continue to be a felon, and when they come to my home to arrest me and drag me to prison, they better be a packin', and I don't mean a pack of cards."

The new law not only aims to outlaw Internet gambling, but also to stifle any poker discussion that mentions Internet gambling sites. Look at this comment by a Washington citizen:

"Quote from gambling commissioner: 'It's what the feds would call aiding and abetting,' says the director of the state's gambling commission, Rick Day. 'Telling people how to gamble online, where to do it, giving a link to it - that's all obviously enabling something that is illegal.' Another quote about what Day told the Seattle Times to do with its poker articles: 'My suggestion to you is to remove from your paper any advice about online gambling and any links to illegal sites,' Day said."

I note that Card Player columnist Daniel Negreanu also writes a newspaper column, and the Seattle Times carries (carried?) it.

This next comment was my favorite, with a nice touch of wit and sarcasm:

"Class C felonies in Washington state include bestiality, assault on a child in the third degree, custodial sexual misconduct in the first degree, third-degree rape, four DUIs in seven years, second-degree assault, sex and labor trafficking, unlawful taking of endangered fish and wildlife, robbery (one count), animal-fighting abuse, or, most egregiously, going all in while playing in an online $5 plus 50¢ buy-in multiple-table tournament; 60 months in jail seems more than appropriate for going all in with less than a pair of jacks."

I think it is wonderful that 21st-century poker players are getting interested in the political process, and are willing to participate in public debate to protect the right to play poker in our own homes. I sure hope other states will realize that poker players are now an element in the political process that must be reckoned with.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered from Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert's Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.