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STATE ONLINE BETTING LAW TO BE TESTED IN THE COURTS NEXT MONTH

Washington lawyer has a court date set for September 21

Lee Rousso, the American lawyer and poker player who is challenging Washington state laws against online gambling is to have his day in court on September 21.

Rousso claims that the Washington state ban on Internet gambling infringes the US Constitution’s protections of interstate trade.

Under Washington state law, playing online poker in the state is a felony, and Rousso has lodged a case with the King County Superior Court in an effort to overturn it (see previous InfoPowa report).

Rousso, who is also the Poker Players' Alliance representative for Washington, has secured a court hearing for September 21, and expects to file his next brief by August 24, leaving a month before the hearing.

The Washington law went into effect last June, extending an earlier ban on gambling by telephone or telegraph and increasing the classification of the offence from a gross misdemeanour to a felony. It shocked legal and industry observers as it places online gambling in the same category as criminal child abuse with stringent punitive measures, although there have thus far been no prosecutions of players.

Mainstream and industry media have been quick to point out that almost every other form of gambling available has a niche in the state, suggesting an inequitable and discriminatory posture on Internet gambling in general and online poker in particular.