As I have said before, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) – which was passed in 2006 and took effect June 1 of this year – does not ban online gambling in America. In fact, there is no federal ban of online gambling. There are several states in the U.S. that have online gambling bans, though. Washington is one of those states.

In the state of Washington, online gambling – including poker – is illegal and engaging in online poker is a felony. A felony!

The Poker Players Alliance – one of the largest online poker lobbies in the world – is challenging Washington’s law in court. Lee Rousso, State Director of the PPA, challenges that the law violates the Interstate Commerce Act. According to Rousso, the law states that no state can pass legislation that discriminates against a section of a particular industry. He argues that Washington’s law discriminates against the online section of the gambling industry. In other words, you can’t allow people to play poker in a land-based casino and not allow them to play it at an online casino.

I’m no lawyer, so I’ll avoid trying to interpret a small section of a law passed in 1887. The PPA is fighting the Washington law on the basis that it violates federal law by unfairly discriminating against the online gambling industry. So far the case has been heard by a trial court and then an appeals court. It is now set to be heard by the Washington State Supreme Court. The outcome of this case should definitely be interesting.

There has long been a debate about whether poker, or specifically Texas hold’em should be considered gambling. The term “gambling” seems to imply taking part in a game of chance. Poker, on the other hand, requires a lot of skill, especially the Texas hold’em variation.

Last fall, a South Carolina Circuit Court overturned the convictions of 5 Mount Pleasant poker players, stating that since Texas hold’em is a game of skill and strategy, it is not affected by the state’s ban on gambling. The 5 poker players likely celebrated the ruling, possibly by having a huge poker night, but the fight isn’t over.

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has appealed that court’s ruling. Normally, the appeal would go to the Court of Appeals, but the AG skipped that step and went straight to the state Supreme Court. His reasoning is that the legal issue deals with the wording of the constitution in regards to gambling.

In the earlier ruling, Circuit Court Judge Markley Dennis stated that a private game of Texas hold’em in one’s one home does not violate the state’s anti-gambling laws. The attorney general disagrees, stating that whether or not a game requires skill does not make a difference. Soon there should be a third opinion and one that counts much more than those two: one from the state Supreme Court. We’ll keep you posted.