It has finally happened.
For five years now, playing poker in the state of Washington has been illegal. A class C felony, carrying with it a $10,000 fine and up to five years in prison. The same punishment handed out to a convicted child rapist. Or child seller, or buyer. Or lurer, like with candy. Basically anything bad having to do with children. Or animals. Or a whole host of other offenses.
But a lot of things that we take for granted are illegal, and we do them anyway. It makes us feel alive. Or it's just normal. I'm pretty sure having fun on Sunday's in Ohio is illegal too. So for five years, nothing had been done about this. Nobody in the state had been convicted of any crime, and it didn't seem as if anyone ever would be. On September 23rd, however, the State's Supreme Court upheld the law and brought new light to the issue, and poker sites were forced to respond.
PokerStars has since disallowed real money play on their site to all WA state residents. Full Tilt and the other sites may well be right behind them. And this has put me out of a job.
I often wonder what it would be like to be convicted of a crime I didn't commit, and know there was absolutely nothing I could do. Well, except scream. That's what every poker player in the state is going through at the moment. And whether they decide to move (most won't, or can't. Moving's difficult.) or not, the issue isn't solely about the residents of one state. It's about all poker players. All citizens. Washington may be just the beginning.
State legislators need to know that going to the casino's, spending way too much money in rake, getting dealt 15 hands an hour playing only the limits they decide to spread, and single-tabling tournaments they decide to offer is not an acceptable substitution for playing online. What about people with busy schedules, or without cars, people that smell or don't like wearing clothes, that hate cigarette smoke and being surrounded by assholes, (I guess that part's the same as online, except with no way out) people that like money and want to make more of it, to put back into the economy and make things work? What about people that want the right to do whatever they want with their money, because they work hard to earn it, spend it, and pay taxes on it? Legislators need to know that we're people too.
Here's what can be done:
Tell your friends, family, co-workers, enemies, and pen pals. Lawmakers need to know that playing poker is not a crime, and it seems the only way for them to understand that is for the people that vote for them to tell them. These things only take a few seconds, but can really make a difference. This is just the beginning, but we won't go down without a fight... When was the last time you met a politician that didn't like to play cards?
Here's what can be done:
Tell your friends, family, co-workers, enemies, and pen pals. Lawmakers need to know that playing poker is not a crime, and it seems the only way for them to understand that is for the people that vote for them to tell them. These things only take a few seconds, but can really make a difference. This is just the beginning, but we won't go down without a fight... When was the last time you met a politician that didn't like to play cards?
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