Bad news for 2Tone and other Washington State online players...

Talking Poker · #1 09-30-10, 12:14 PM

Stars has officially pulled out of Washington State, effectively immediately.

Terrible news.

2Tone · #2 09-30-10, 03:15 PM

Fucking delightful.

By doing this, Stars gets to position themselves as a respecting the laws of the various jurisdictions. I wonder if they are thinking long-term, and are trying to remain in the good graces of federal regulators for if/when the UIGEA changes on a federal level.

Kurn · #3 10-01-10, 08:17 AM

This is terrible in a different way than UIGEA. The WA law is a case of infighting between gambling entities. IIRC, this law has been pushed by State reps with tie to B&M Indian casinos.

As opposed to people like Kyl and Goodlatte, who do what they do because they are opposed to gambling in general, this law is driven bt gambling purveyors being protectionist.

Government sucks.The older I get, the less I consider myself a libertarian and the more I lean towards pure anarcho-capitalism.

Talking Poker · #4 10-01-10, 12:11 PM

I'm sure this is what it is. If Frank's Bill ever were to become law, it has a specific provision that the gaming sites who operated with disregard to the UIGEA not be able to receive licenses under future regulation. Right now, that means Stars and FT.

Stars can claim that while this law was being challenged, they were operating in the state of WA legally (I personally disagree with this and think they will still be screwed), but now that the WA Supreme Court has ruled, they have no choice but to pull out if they want to look like they are playing along.

I'm sure they have a whole team of legal experts who are advising them and dictating and documenting every move they make... maybe it will be enough to get them a license someday, and maybe not. But I'm sure that's the reason for this.

And I wouldn't be surprised to see FT follow suit.