The other shoe drops: Full Tilt bans Washington residents
Internet poker players in the state of Washington were dealt another blow Friday when Full Tilt Poker announced players from the state will no longer be able to play real-money games on the site.
Seven weeks ago, the state's Supreme Court ruled that a state law making Internet gambling a Class C felony was constitutional. A week later, PokerStars announced it would stop accepting real-money play from Washington residents.
PokerStars and Full Tilt account for the vast majority of Internet poker play in the United States and in the world. According to PokerScout.com, the sites account for more than two-thirds of the Internet poker traffic, with only five other rooms or networks that allow U.S. players averaging more than 500 players at a time over the last seven days.
Full Tilt's policy regarding play from Washington residents varies slightly from PokerStars'. Most notably, PokerStars does not allow residents of the state to play real-money games even when they are travelling outside of the state's borders. Full Tilt, however, allows Washington residents to play real-money games if they are located outside of the state's borders.
This difference may provide some solace to professional players who live in the state – they'll be able to play games on Full Tilt when they travel to tournaments. Additionally, they could keep their permanent residence in Washington and set up an apartment as an "office" in Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia with the express purpose of playing their online poker outside of the state.
CEREUS Network sites (e.g., UB.com, Absolute Poker), Cake Poker Network sites (e.g., Cake Poker, Doyles Room, Victory Poker), Merge Network sites (e.g., Carbon Poker, Sportsbook.com Poker, Players Only Poker), and Bodog Poker are the largest available Internet poker rooms now available to residents of The Evergreen State.
Seven weeks ago, the state's Supreme Court ruled that a state law making Internet gambling a Class C felony was constitutional. A week later, PokerStars announced it would stop accepting real-money play from Washington residents.
PokerStars and Full Tilt account for the vast majority of Internet poker play in the United States and in the world. According to PokerScout.com, the sites account for more than two-thirds of the Internet poker traffic, with only five other rooms or networks that allow U.S. players averaging more than 500 players at a time over the last seven days.
Full Tilt's policy regarding play from Washington residents varies slightly from PokerStars'. Most notably, PokerStars does not allow residents of the state to play real-money games even when they are travelling outside of the state's borders. Full Tilt, however, allows Washington residents to play real-money games if they are located outside of the state's borders.
This difference may provide some solace to professional players who live in the state – they'll be able to play games on Full Tilt when they travel to tournaments. Additionally, they could keep their permanent residence in Washington and set up an apartment as an "office" in Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia with the express purpose of playing their online poker outside of the state.
CEREUS Network sites (e.g., UB.com, Absolute Poker), Cake Poker Network sites (e.g., Cake Poker, Doyles Room, Victory Poker), Merge Network sites (e.g., Carbon Poker, Sportsbook.com Poker, Players Only Poker), and Bodog Poker are the largest available Internet poker rooms now available to residents of The Evergreen State.
The other shoe drops: Full Tilt bans Washington residents
is republished from iGamingNews.com.