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Lawyer fights to revoke state ban against Internet poker
Lee Rousso, an attorney based in Renton has filed a lawsuit against state of Washington in an attempt to revoke the state laws banning Internet poker. These laws have been in existence since the year 2006 and have done much to stem the flow of internet gaming in the state of Washington. Rousso’s lawsuit will be the first ever official challenge against these state laws of Washington. The Renton-based lawyer has high hopes for his suit and would like it to be the first and the last.
Rousso’s lawsuit claims that the state of Washington’s ban on Internet poker is a direct violation of the United States’ Constitutional clause regarding commerce and should be removed.
The ban came into effect since the Spring of 2006 and which has been approved of as the Senate Bill 6613. It has specific prohibitive rules against most of the card games on the Internet today. These games include the very popular type of poker known as ‘Texas Hold 'Em’ that many gamers play in the state of Washington. Rousso, the lawyer from Renton is one among them.
Currently, hundreds of gamers and avid poker fans are eagerly following the commencement of that illustrious event known as the World Series of Poker. This event draws poker players from all around the globe to participate in a poker showdown right to the end, when the last man with the best hand is the winner. Players who wish to participate in this tournament may do so by qualifying via online games or through a fee $10,000.
Since Internet based poker games have been used as a qualification basis for the yearly multimillion-dollar poker tournament – the World Series of Poker, the ban has inevitably created many obstacles. Rousso believes that those residents of Washington who had managed to qualify for the tournament would have most probably qualified through the Texas Hold ‘Em online games available on the internet even though it was now regarded a criminal offense or felony to do so.
This year's World Series of Poker tournament will be the biggest yet in its 37-year history prize money worth over 12 million dollars.
Rousso had managed to qualify in the year 2005 World Series through the Internet tournament and lasted a long 14 hours into the famous poker tournament.
Rousso’s complaint against the state laws of Washington is that they are in violation to the Constitutional commerce laws. Rousso made his case against the state of Washington in King County Superior Court last Friday. He also stated that the state law of Washington was not in compliance with the federal wire act, since the federal wire act only makes a reference to Sports gambling and not poker.
The Renton lawyer made his case by saying that the act was not to put the state of Washington in accordance with the federal wire act but rather to provide protection to the state’s gambling industry, which includes card rooms and casinos.
This, Rousso mentioned, placed Washington in distinct conflict with the Constitution's commerce clause, which forbade individual states from passing protectionist measures against the businesses of other states.
Rousso is quite confident about the strength of his lawsuit and expects a victory.
"I think my chances are darn good," he stated.
However, Susan Arland, the spokesperson for the Washington Gambling Commission did not have much to say on the subject. According to her, the lawyers of the Washington Gambling Commission had not seen Rousso’s lawsuit and would comment only after they had read it. "We don't have anything to say just yet”, the spokesperson concluded.
By Poker Man
Sep 19, 2007
© Copyright 2004-2005 www.realpoker365.com
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