Washington DC Legalises Online Poker in Surprise Move

Washington DC Legalises Online Poker in Surprise Move

Last updated: 14/04/2011 14:44
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The first district in the United States to legalise online poker is now Washington DC! In a move that has rocked the world of online poker and provided hope to players all over the USA, Washington DC has become the first American jurisdiction to allow online poker gambling. The Lottery Modernization Act of 2010 was passed without any objections from Congress. What this amendment does is include poker in the umb3rella of games that are included under the law as a lottery. The lottery providers Intralot will be rubbing their hands in glee as they are the ones poised to provide legal online poker in Washington DC.
The city of Washington DC is tiny in comparison to the rest of the continental United States but what this signals is a move towards a more general legalisation of online poker in the United States. While there have been many vociferous calls to end the ban on online poker in the country, no states have yet allowed it in their jurisdictions and it is hoped that this new law in Washington DC will help move the country as a whole towards a general legalisation.
Online poker will not actually become available to the residents of Washington DC for some time since the fine print needs to be sorted out, especially with regards to regulation. This could be a real cash cow for the district with tax revenues amounting to a massive $13 million expected to flow into city coffers over the first 3 years alone. This new local law reflects what is perhaps the first step on the long road towards full legalisation across the country. It will be interesting to see if this test case really has paved the way for the rest of the country.

I don't now about you.. but this kind of pisses me off more... so, no one in the whole country can play poker online.. except for The President and politicians!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Yes, I'm well aware that more than just the president and politicians live in DC..

Their sick idea of a disgusting joke a day before they pull this shit.

http://www.osga.com/artman/publish/article_8998.shtml

Congress needs to wake the hell up and do this thing already. It's a win win for everybody except for maybe the casinos. I'm sure they are in a lot of pocket at Capitol hill.

If the poker boom dies down the Casinos will loose out in the longrun too IMO.

If they legalize online poker do you think the casinos would lose out there too. Or the more playing poker even online the better for them?

Different "theys" are involved.

The US Attorney's Office in Southern District NY has long been a pain in the butt right-wing stronghold. Same office that grabbed poker funds before. Prior to UIGEA. The same office that arrested Netteller bigwigs in 2007, and held all the US money. (See http://www.professional-poker.com/ne...ller-delay.htm for part of that story.) This bigger move has been coming a long time. The only surprise is that it took so long. No surprise the action came out of this particular DOJ office.

The DC legislators are plainly of a different mindset.

It's just annoying to see one group of government officials with their brains intact and another prosecutorial group that runs with ideas like rabid dogs. But face it, prosecutors are a very different governmental breed than legislators. It would be nice, however, if they focussed their mighty efforts on crimes with victims. But, wait -- serious violent criminals are scary. Much safer to go after businesses providing a much wanted service.