PokerStars Blocks Real Money Players From Washington State

The recent Washington State Supreme Court ruling on a state law banning online gambling has led PokerStars to disallow Washington residents from playing for real money on their site.

The Washington State Supreme Court recently found that a law passed by the Washington State legislature in 2006 – a law that outlawed online gambling, making it a Class C felony – was not unconstitutional. That law had been challenged by the Poker Players Alliance on the grounds that it violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. However, the law had been upheld at every lower court in the state, and the State Supreme Court found no reason to stray from the findings of the lower courts.

 PokerStars reacted to the news by sending an email to its players who reside in Washington, alerting them to their change in policy. According to the email, PokerStars had continued offering service to Washington residents “on the basis of legal opinions where the central advice was that the state could not constitutionally regulate Internet poker, or at least could not discriminate in favor of local card rooms and against online sites.”

However, based on the State Supreme Court ruling, PokerStars found that this position was no longer tenable.

“In light of this decision, following extensive consultation with our legal advisors, we believe that the right course of action is to now block real money play by Washington residents on the PokerStars.com site,” the email read. “In all of the jurisdictions where we operate, we are committed to making responsible decisions that are based on a full and considered understanding of the most up-to-date legal advice.”

While Washington residents will not be able to play for real money, any residents who still have active accounts with money in them will be able to make withdrawals, PokerStars said.

Lee Rousso, The Washington State Director of the PPA, was responsible for taking the case to court. Rousso has said that he will attempt to pursue the case as far as the Supreme Court of the United States, though it is unclear what the timetable would be for such an action.

As of now, other major poker sites that take business from the United States, such as Full Tilt Poker, have yet to makes statements regarding their policy towards Washington State players.